UPDATE: the series of monthly days of prayer in the presence of the reliquary of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin and of St. Therese at the Carmelite Monastery in Philadelphia will end on Sunday, October 5, 2014, with the conference "A Map of St. Therese's Way of Confidence and Love."  The reliquary will not be in Philadelphia on the first Sunday of November.  The Magnificat Foundation has announced its third Magnificat Day of Faith for Saturday, November 1, 2014, in Memphis, Tennessee. The relics will be venerated in Memphis—please tell your friends in the South-- so the day of prayer announced for Sunday, November 2, 2014, with the conference "The Martin Family and the Communion of Saints: Grief, Healing, and Eternal Life" in Philadelphia will not take place.  We apologize for disappointing you.

See more about the Magnificat Day of Faith in Memphis on November 1, 2014. 

To attend a day of prayer at the Philadelphia Carmel, act now.  There are four days left: on the first Sundays of July, August, September, and October.  Please come to the next day on Sunday, July 6, 2014, when the topic of the conference will be "The Eucharist as the source and summit of the spirituality of the Martin family."  For other chances to pray in the presence of the reliquary in Philadelphia after October 5, 2014, please stay tuned.

An updated flyer is below.  You may download the flyer as a PDF or as a jpeg.

The Carmel of Lisieux today announces the long-awaited "virtual visit" to the last cell of St. Therese. Therese occupied this cell from shortly before Celine's entrance on September 8, 1894 until she was brought down to the infirmary on July 8, 1897. I can't describe this five-minute video in words; you have to see it.

On February 27, 1945, the relics of St. Therese left Lisieux for the first time.  This rare archival film (2:42) shows the ruins of Lisieux, the procession leaving the service of farewell at St. Pierre's Cathedral (one of the few buildings left standing in the town center), and the departure of the reliquary by car for Paris. The reliquary was placed first in the private chapel of Emmanuel Cardinal Suhard, Archbishop of Paris. He presided when it was venerated by fifty thousand young people in the Parc des Princes. The reliquary was carried successively into the principal churches of Paris. ending with solemn ceremonies at the Cathederal of Notre Dame in the presence of all the cardinals and archbishops of France.  Watch the procession into the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the procession through the streets afterward.  The occasion for this historic visit was the May 3, 1944 decree of Pope Pius XII naming St. Therese of the Child Jesus secondary patron of France along with St. Joan of Arc.  The Blessed Virgin is the principal patron of France.

This film was produced by Les Actualites Francaises.  We thank the Institut National Audiovisuel for making this treasure available online.  See also a short newspaper article about this visit in The Observer of Rockford, Illinois, February 25, 1945, which mentions a special Mass in Paris exclusively for the officers and enlisted men of the American Forces. 

An Encounter with St. Thérèse of Lisieux
and her parents, Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin 

Pray in the presence of their relics on Sunday, July 6, 2014
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

“The Eucharist as Source and Summit
of the Life of the Martin Family"

- a conference by Maureen O’Riordan at 1:00 p.m.

Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 3:30 p.m.

Carmelite Monastery                                Bookstore Open
1400 66th Avenue                                     10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
(66th Avenue and Broad Street)               Spiritual books, 
Philadelphia, Pa.                                     children's books, DVDs,
Free parking in monastery lot                  and religious articles.
on 66th Avenue                                        Cash and checks only

Chapel is handicapped-accessible.

Download the flyer

as a PDF

as a JPEG

Learn more about Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin at the Web site "Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin."

119 years ago today, St. Therese of Lisieux spontaneously offered herself to Merciful Love on Trinity Sunday, June 9, 1895.  I've prepared an anniversary gift for you.  Please help me by unwrapping it: click where I indicate to see several documents and photographs related to the Offering on the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.  Please bear with these paragraphs of unrelieved text, for the links are a doorway to beautiful images and words related to the Act.  These are but a taste of the treasures the Archives site is sharing with the world.

At the end of 1895, Therese wrote in her first autobiographical manuscript about the inspiration she had received to offer herself to Merciful Love. Thanks to the kindness of the Washington Province of Carmelite Friars and the Archives of the Carmel, you may see a photo of the handwritten manuscript and also read in English her description of how, on  the morning of June 9,1895, "I received the grace to understand more than ever how much Jesus desires to be loved."  She received this grace in the choir.  Within the next two days she wrote the Offering out; see the manuscript and the English text of her "Offering of myself as a Victim of Holocaust to the Merciful Love of God."   This prayer has often been called the "Act of Oblation," but, as you will see, that title is not from Therese; she wrote only "Offering of myself."  For all its solemnity, her written Offering retains its spontaneity; she did not write in formal terms like "Act of Oblation."  "We have nothing to fear from this Offering," she often declared happily.

To see Therese's appearance at about this time, see the photo of the Carmelites of Lisieux taken closest to this date; Therese is in the second row, second from left. 

The text of the Offering appears in Story of a Soul.  For a fuller understanding of the Offering and its significance in Therese's life and spirituality, I highly recommend the marvelous little book The Prayers of Saint Therese of Lisieux (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996), which contains the text of the several copies and adds rich commentary.  I recommend it especially if you are thinking of offering yourself to Merciful Love with Therese and want to understand the offering better.  To "search inside" or for more information, please click on the text link or the image above.  The book also contains twenty other prayers written by Therese, and it brings her to life in a unique way.

To read more reflections on the offering right now, see my page "Offering of Myself to Merciful Love, June 9, 1895."  Blessings on the anniversary of this great day of grace.