The Beatification of
Venerable Zelie and Louis Martin,
Parents of St. Therese 

Icon painted by Paul Orlando for the Parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Trieste, Italy.  Displayed on thereseoflisieux.org with permission.

 

Saturday,  July 11, 2008, 7:00 p.m. EDT:  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.  For news, watch this space.        

     The Beatification

• The Pope approves the beatification of Louis and Zelie Martin, August 19, 2008, Catholic News Agency

• "Couple to be beatified on Mission Sunday"
  July 13, 2008, Zenit.org

• "Saint's Parents Get Anniversary Gift"
  July 4, 2008, Zenit.org

• "Miracle Attributed to St. Therese's Parents"
  July 3, 2008, Zenit.org

• "Bodies of parents of St. Therese exhumed in France"
  June 5, 2008, Catholic News Service

• Communique about the cause from Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm, director of the National Office for St. Therese in Ireland, Summer 2008

• Communique from Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm., April 16, 2008

• Cardinal Saraiva Martins reveals that the parents of St. Therese will be beatified in 2008. January 8, 2008: Zenit.org.
  

• To learn about the miraculous cure of the baby Pietro Schiliro in Italy in 2002, visit this page.

International Sites

• French: the site of the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, with much information about Venerable Zelie and Louis, their beatification, and the miracle.

• French: the site of the diocese of Sees, in which Zelie was born.  French text of the conference and the homily Cardinal Saraiva Martins gave at Alencon and Lisieux at the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of their wedding, July 12-13, 2008

• Italian: the site created by Fr. Antonio Sangalli, OCD, priest-friend of the family of Pietro Schiliro, who was cured by the intercession of the Venerables in 2002.  His testimony and that of the doctors; interview with the Schiliro parents; Italian text of the above-mentioned conference and homily.