Fr. James Geoghegan, O.C.D. kindly permitted me to post his 1974 conference about Louis and Zelie Martin, "The Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux."  This conference, one of the few modern articles on this topic in English, has not dated since 1974.

To read the story of the miraculous cure of the Italian child Pietro Schiliro, told by his parents, please visit http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/the-miracle/?SSScrollPosition=0  On July 3, 2008, Pope Benedict signed the decree certifying this miracle for the beatification of the Venerable Zelie and Louis Martin; the ceremony is on Mission Sunday, October 19, at Lisieux.

Saturday,  July 11, 2008, 7:00 p.m. EDT:  Joyful news:  Venerable Zelie and Louis Martin are to be beatified on Mission Sunday, October 19, 2008, at Lisieux.  Cardinal Saraiva Martins announced it this afternoon when he presided at a Solemn Pontifical Mass at Notre-Dame Church at Alencon in honor of the 150th anniversary of their wedding.  Fr. Linus Ryan, O. Carm., director of the National Office for St. Therese in Ireland, notified me by telephone just now.  For films and stories about the lives and significance of the new blesseds and for news stories about their cause, please see http://thereseoflisieux.org.  The news has not appeared in the media yet, but I will post stories there as they appear. 

Let's rejoice together.  On July 3, 2008 Pope Benedict XVI received Cardinal Josef Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree on the miracle of the cure of the Italian child Pietro Schillero due to the intercession of the Venerable Louis and Zelie Martin.  This authorization means that St. Therese's mother and father will be declared blessed.  A July 3 communique from the diocese of Seez, in which Zelie was born, stated that Cardinal Saraiva Martins will announce the date and place of the beatification ceremony when he presides at the ceremonies at Alencon and Lisieux July 12 and 13 commemorating the 150th anniversary of Louis and Zelie's marriage, which took place on July 13, 1858.

For more about St. Therese's parents and their cause, please see my Web site at http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/their-lives/

Dear friends of St. Therese,

I have the joy of sharing with you the news that Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, announced that Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin, St. Therese's parents, will be beatified later this year.  The Cardinal announced this in an interview to be published on Wednesday, January 8, in the daily Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano.  Please see a short story about this news in English at http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11379

Let's rejoice with St. Therese, who wrote "God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth." 

For a communication from the Order of Discalced Carmelites about this news, dated January 31, please see http://www.discalcedcarmel.com/vernoticia.php?Id=1106.