The photographer of the blog "l'instantane normandie" has graciously permitted me to display 72 of his beautiful photographs of the countryside around Lisieux, little changed since the day of St. Therese.  Many of the scenes he has photographed are places the Martin family would have included in their family walks, picnics, and fishing trips.  Please see them here.

As today's gift to prepare for Therese's feast, I invite you to visit an online exhibit of 116 photos of Lisieux "au temps de Therese."  These photos are from the album of Francois Bidet, who was proprietor of a pharmacy near that of Isidore Guerin, Therese's uncle. I thank La Bibliotheque Electronique de Lisieux for mounting this exhibit.  The photos are the property of the Musee d'art et de histoire de Lisieux.  Jean Bergeret wrote the accompanying text.  You can see townspeople shoveling snow before the Cathedral Saint-Pierre on the Place Thiers during the bitterly cold winter of 1895; a man begging who could be one of the people helped by the Martin family; a Eucharistic procession in the town square; market day, and many other photos.  Please visit them at this site.

Susan Ehlert's four-minute photo show "A Pilgrimage Visit to St. Therese's birthplace, Alencon"

Scroll to the fourth video on the page.  You will see many photos of Therese's birth house, 36 Rue Saint Blaise, Alencon, as it appeared before the restoration of 2008, and of the garden.

For the nine days leading up to the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux on October 1, I want to offer a feast-day gift every day.  The first one is a gallery of more than a hundred photos, icons, and images of St. Therese.  It is the work of M. Franck Monvoisin, and I thank him for permission to link to it.  As we prepare to celebrate the feast, may they be "windows of God" for us.

On September 8, 1890 Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face professed her religious vows in the chapter room of the Lisieux Carmel. 

"In the morning of September 8, I felt as though I were flooded with a river of peace, and it was in this peace which surpasses all understanding that I pronounced my Holy Vows.  My union with Jesus was effected not in the midst of thunder and lightning, that is, in extraordinary graces, but in the bosom of a light breeze similar to the one our Father St. Elias heard on the Mount.  What graces I begged for on that day!  I really felt I was the Queen and so I profited from my title by delivering captives, by obtaining favors from the King for His ungrateful subjects, finally, I wanted to deliver all the souls from purgatory and convert all sinners."                                    

Sister Therese's Carmelite crucifix 

I prayed very much for my Mother. my dear Sisters, my whole family, but especially for my little Father, who was so tried and so saintly.  I offered myself to Jesus in order to accomplish His will perfectly in me without creatures ever being able to place any obstacle in the way.

This beautiful day passed by just as do the saddest since the most radiant day has a tomorrow; it was without sadness, however, that I placed my crown at the Blessed Virgin's feet. 

 The crown of roses Therese wore on the day of her Profession

I felt that time could not take away my happiness." 

(Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, tr. John Clarke, 3rd edition.  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1976 pp. 166-167).  For many other details about Therese's dispositions and circumstances at the time of her Profession, see Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Volume I, 1877-1890 (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1982. 

For the photos I thank Liane and Peter Klostermann; for permission to display them, the Pilgrimage Office at Lisieux.