Celebrating the feast of St. Therese
of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face on October 1

 

A film of St. Therese's feast in Lisieux
produced by Susan Ehlert

 

 

The feast of Saint Therese is celebrated in Lisieux on the last weekend of September every year.   On Saturday evening the reliquary of St. Therese, containing the remains of her body, is escorted in procession from her Carmelite monastery through the streets of Lisieux to the basilica of St. Therese.  As the pilgrims walk in procession, they sing, as hymns, the poems Therese wrote.  All participate in a Mass or a prayer vigil at the basilica.  At the end of the evening, the people light their candles again and leave them at the foot of St. Therese's statue outside the basilica parking lot.  After Vespers on Sunday, the reliquary is again taken in procession through the streets to Saint-Pierre Cathedral, where Therese and her family worshipped.  Finally it returns to Carmel.  Several thousand pilgrims travel to Lisieux for the feast-day ceremonies every year.

[I thank Susan Ehlert for generously contributing her unique videos and her services as a translator to make St. Therese more widely known and loved, especially among English-speaking persons].