“Holy Popes, friends of Thérèse, pray for us!”

                                   – Father Olivier Ruffray, rector of the Shrine at Lisieux

 This editorial was written by Father Olivier Ruffray, rector of the Shrine at Lisieux, for
Thérèse of Lisieux (a publication of the Shrine at Lisieux), no. 954, May 2014.
Translated by Maureen O'Riordan, it appears with Father Ruffray's kind permission.

 We rejoice fully in the holy Popes whom Pope Francis offers to the official prayer of the Church.  They are the friends of Saint Thérèse.

Saint John XXIII came to Lisieux in 1930, on September 11, then three times more as Apostolic Nuncio in France.  We keep at the Shrine a photo-souvenir taken in the court of St. John’s House on August 15, 1951.  He loved to talk about Thérèse and about “her quiet and precious way of bringing to souls the riches of God.”  He also emphasized her powerful intercession as Patron of Missions.  The “Good Pope John,” as he was called by those who had tasted his charity, which was matched only by his simplicity, opened for us the Second Vatican Council.  Thanks to him, we “rediscover the Word of God;” we welcome the Church as “a light to the nations;” we think of “the Church in the Modern World;” we receive the Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church;” we hear as a spiritual and ecclesial encouragement the “universal call to holiness.”   We understand how the Holy Spirit is at work in the Church and in the world. We divine how the spirituality of St.  Thérèse could have inspired, for its part, the Council. It pleases us to think also that the Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, by the witness of their lives and their social commitment to the little ones, opened with others, in the seething nineteenth century, the paths of the Social Doctrine of the Church. It was under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II that they were declared venerable, on March 26, 1994.

Saint John Paul II came to Lisieux on June 2, 1980 after his appeal at Le Bourget (the airport near Paris) that still rings in our hearts : “France, the eldest daughter of the Church! What have you done with your baptism? ...” At that time, Cardinal Marty presented the Pope to young people gathered at the Parc des Princes as the “sportsman of God!" At Lisieux, Pope John Paul II reminded us that the saints never get old because  they are “witnesses of the future world."  He thought of St. Thérèse, whom he was going to name the youngest Doctor of the Church on October 19, 1997 in St. Peter's Square, calling her doctrine the "science of love." Yes, Thérèse teaches us to love according to the heart of God, as it seems to us we read in the luminous gaze of Pope John Paul II, contemplating the Basilica in the photograph that shows him in the Esplanade of the Basilica, June 2nd 1980. In Rome, recently, the young Pietro Schilirò and his parents met with Pope Francis. They told him about the little Carmen in Spain (the child whose healing has been submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to be considered as the miracle for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin). The Pope reportedly replied that he knows it . . . How beautiful the Church in the light of Easter! She is our Mother, and we love her.  With the Virgin Mary in her month of May, with all the saints of Heaven, a happy and holy Easter time.

Holy Popes, friends of Thérèse, pray for us!

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

Pray in the presence of their relics on Sunday, June 1, 2014
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

“The Marital Spirituality of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin:
Spouses Carrying Each Other to God"

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

Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 3:30 p.m.
with a special blessing for couples

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.

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

See a short video of the Carmelite nuns of Lisieux today gathering in the choir to make their silent evening prayer in the same place where St. Therese of Lisieux made hers.  The French audio consists of readings from what St. Therese wrote about prayer, but you don't need to understand French to enjoy this rare look at the place where St. Therese spent several hours every day of her Carmelite life.

St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II

As the world looks forward to the canonization tomorrow of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II, we remember that both Popes held St. Therese as a dear friend.  Many Popes have loved St. Therese and trusted confidently in her intercession for them.

Pope John XXIII (public domain photo, released by the Vatican)

In his lifetime Angelo Roncallli, Pope John XXIII, made five pilgrimages to Lisieux, most while he was Papal Nuncio in Paris, but also as Apostolic Delegate in Bulgaria.  He said:

"I shall never cease blessing and exalting the little and great saint who has always been, and always will be, the lucky star of my mission in France. It was at the altar in the chapel dedicated to her in Ankara, in the heart of Turkey, that I bade farewell to the Orient, where I had spent twenty years of apostolic ministry. Every day, I look at her marble statue in my private chapel in the nunciature; better still, I turn to her in prayer and confide to her all my problems and difficulties in the ministry of reconciliation and peace which is my mission in the service of the Holy Church and of France also."

Pope John Paul II showed his love for St. Therese from the very start of his pontificate.  On June 2, 1980 he made a Papal visit to Lisieux. 

(© Yves Jeanmougin, http://www.yvesjeanmougin.com)

The photographer, M. Yves Jeanmougin, graciously created for this Web site a gallery of his enchanting photographs of Pope John Paul II's visit to Lisieux. 

June 2, 1980:  Pope John Paul II praying in the infirmary where St. Therese died. 

Years later, on March 26, 1994, Pope John Paul II declared Therese's mother and father, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, "venerable" (an important step on the road to sainthood).  Thet were declared blessed by Pope Benedict XVI on October 19, 2008.

On August 24, 1997, in his Angelus message at the close of World Youth Day in France, Pope John Paul II announced that he would name St. Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church on Mission Sunday, October 19.  Three days later, at his general audience on August 27, 1997, he described Therese as the "authoritative teacher" of the "overwhelming message of God's love."

At the ceremony on October 19, 1997, the Pope's Apostolic Letter proclaiming St. Therese a Doctor of the Church, was proclaimed; it was titled "Divini Amoris Scientia" (the Science of Divine Love).  He said that Therese's teaching

excels for the depth and wise synthesis it achieved. Her doctrine is at once a confession of the Church's faith, an experience of the Christian mystery and a way to holiness. Thérèse offers a mature synthesis of Christian spirituality: she combines theology and the spiritual life; she expresses herself with strength and authority, with a great ability to persuade and communicate, as is shown by the reception and dissemination of her message among the People of God.

In this letter the Pope also stressed the importance of Therese as a woman, a contemplative, and a young person.  In his homily at the Doctoral Mass, Pope John Paul II stated:

Therese of Lisieux did not only grasp and describe the profound truth of Love as the center and heart of the Church, but in her short life she lived it intensely. It is precisely this convergence of doctrine and concrete experience, of truth and life, of teaching and practice, which shines with particular brightness in this saint, and which makes her an attractive model especially for young people and for those who are seeking true meaning for their life. Before the emptiness of so many words, Therese offers another solution, the one Word of salvation which, understood and lived in silence, becomes a source of renewed life. She counters a rational culture, so often overcome by practical materialism, with the disarming simplicity of the "little way" which, by returning to the essentials, leads to the secret of all life: the divine Love that surrounds and penetrates every human venture. In a time like ours, so frequently marked by an ephemeral and hedonistic culture, this new Doctor of the Church proves to be remarkably effective in enlightening the mind and heart of those who hunger and thirst for truth and love. An eminent model and guide for Christians today.

 The next day, in his speech to the pilgrims gathered in Rome for the doctoral Mass, Pope John Paul said:

For our time Thérèse is a powerful and accessible witness of an experience of faith in God, the faithful and merciful God, who is just by his very Love. She lived deeply her membership in the Church, the Body of Christ. I think that young people really find in her an inspiration to guide them in the faith and in ecclesial life, at a time when their way can be crossed by trials and doubts. Thérèse experienced all kinds of trials, but it was granted to her to remain faithful and trusting; she bears witness to that fact. She supports her brothers and sisters on all the paths of the world.

 We rejoice to see the Popes who understood the mission of St. Therese of Lisieux so well join her as canonized saints.