Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway

Canon Jean-Baptiste Delatroette, parish priest of St. Jacques

1818-1895.  Canon Delatroette was pastor of St. Jacques and priest-superior of the Lisieux Carmel from 1867-1895.  He opposed Therese's entrance because he thought she was too young.  At the small entrance ceremony on April 9, 1888, he said "Well, my Reverend Mothers, you can sing a Te Deum.  As the delegate of Monseigneur the bishop, I present to you this child of fifteen whose entrance you so much desired.  I trust that she will not disappoint your hopes, but I remind you that, if she does, the responsibility is yours, and yours alone."  Later, however, he was impressed by Therese's way of living in Carmel, and he said "She shows great promise for this community."

Father Maurice-Joseph Reverony, vicar-general of Bayeux

1836-1891.  Father Reverony was present at the interview Therese and her father had with Bishop Hugonin on October 31, 1887, and he led the diocesan pilgrimage to Rome in November 1887.  It was he who presented Celine, Therese, and Louis Martin to Pope Leo XIII.  At first uncertain about Therese's entrance, he later became her advocate and was instrumental in obtaining permission for her to enter at fifteen. 

Father Leconte, cure of St. Pierre's Cathedral in Lisieux

Abbe Leconte made the pilgrimage to Rome and was often in company with the Martin family there.  It was probably he who offered the private Mass at the Holy House of Loretto at which Therese and Celine joined him, and he permitted them both to receive communion.

Most Reverend Flavien Hugonin, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux

Monseigneur Hugonin was born in 1823 and died in 1898.  He was bishop of the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux from 1866 through 1898.  He confirmed Therese in 1884, received her on October 31, 1887 when she asked permission to become a Carmelite, authorized the prioress of Carmel to receive the postulant, and presided at Therese's reception of the Habit on January 10, 1889.  In "Story of a Soul" Therese speaks of how kind he was to her on his visits to Carmel.  He always spoke of how, in their first interview in 1887, she had put her hair up to look older.

Pope Leo XIII, of whom Therese begged permission to enter Carmel at 15

Pope Leo XIII received Therese and the other pilgrims from her diocese on November 20, 1887.   Therese begged for permission to enter and had to be carried away from the Pope's feet by the guards.  Therese wrote to Celine "The good Pope is so old, one would think he is dead," but, despite his fragile health, when Therese died in 1897, he was still living in Rome.

Madame Elisa-Ernestine Fournet (1816-1901), Celine Guerin's mother

"Madame Fournet," as Therese called her, born Petit, was the mother of Celine Fournet, who married Therese's maternal uncle, Isidore Guerin. 

Marguerite-Marie Maudelonde

Two photographs.

Helene and Celine Maudelonde

These two sisters, daughters of Madame Guerin's sister, were the first cousins of Therese's cousins, Jeanne and Marie Guerin.  It was to Celine Maudelonde that Therese, in the summer of 1897, dictated the message:  "Tell Celine that . . . God is calling her to be a saint in the world, and He has special plans for her and a special love."

Jeanne and Marie Guerin, Therese's cousins

Celine and Therese Martin

1881

Madame Maudelonde, the sister of Celine Guerin

Marie-Rosalie Fournet, born 1843, was the sister of Celine Fournet Guerin, Therese's aunt by marriage.  She married Cesar Maudelonde.  Her family was close to the Guerins and the Martins.

Celine Fournet

Celine Fournet (1847-1900) married Isidore Guerin, Therese's uncle, in 1866.  She was very close to Therese's mother, Zelie, and it was to give his motherless children the advantage of associating with the Guerin family that Louis Martin left Alencon for Lisieux in 1877.  Her niece Celine described her as "an angel of peace and sweetness."

Marie-Isidore-Victor Guerin (known as "Isidore"), 1841-1909

Therese's uncle, the brother of her mother, Zelie.  Isidore was a pharmacist at Lisieux until an inheritance he received through his wife's family made it possible for him to give up that profession.  With Louis Martin, he was the chief benefactor of the Lisieux Carmel, which his daughter Marie entered in 1895. 

Isidore Guerin in his later years

"Felicite" Hubert, a maid of the Martin family

Marie Hubert, known as "Felicite," worked for the Martin family at Les Buissonnets from 1884 through 1886.

Students of the Benedictine Abbey of Notre Dame du Pres at Lisieux

A class at the Benedictine Abbey gathered around their teacher

Madame Valentine Papinau, Therese's tutor after Therese left the Abbey school

Therese's cousin Marie Guerin, later Sister Marie of the Eucharist

Therese's cousin Jeanne Guerin

Jeanne married Francis La Neele, a physician at Caen.