Saint Th�r�se of Lisieux: A Gateway

November 2011

The "Crucifix of Mercy" Kissed by
Henri Pranzini,Th�r�se's "First Child" 
Crucifix Pranzini kissed on the scaffold

The crucifix the chaplain, M. l'abb Faur, held out to Henri Pranzini,
who kissed it on the scaffold before his execution on August 31, 1887.
 
Special thanks to Father Pascal Marie and the Pilgrimage Office at Lisieux

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St Therese Touching Lives
St Therese Touching Lives
Vignettes of Persons Praying before the reliquary in the Philippines, 2008, set to Josh Grogan singing "You Raise Me Up"


Relics of St. Therese in Peru, September 2011
Llegada a Jesús María (ver. corta)
See the enthusiastic reception of the relics of St. Therese in Peru


Greetings!

Thanks to the kindness of the friends of St.Th�r�se in France, I have the joy of presenting the photograph of the very crucifix Henri Pranzini, St.Th�r�se's "first child," kissed on the scaffold just before he was executed. 

I am also delighted to share with you an historic event: the first known film of the farmhouse at Saint Ouen le Pin where Th�r�se stayed with the Gu�rins and some of her sisters in 1884 and 1885, together with footage of the surrounding countryside and the church. 

I would like to reach all the persons who are interested in what this newsletter has to offer.  If you know any of them, please do me the favor of forwarding it to them.

Please let me know what topics you'd like to see featured in future newsletters. 

With all good wishes for the month of November.

Sincerely,

Maureen O'Riordan
Saint Ouen le Pin: Two New Films
of the site of Th�r�se's summer vacations in 1884 and 1885.

A virtual pilgrimage to Saint Ouen le Pin:
Site One
Exterior and surroundings of the farmhouse at St. Ouen le Pin where Th�r�se stayed with her relatives in 1884 and 1885 
Exterior and surroundings of the farmhouse at Saint Ouen le Pin where Th�r�se stayed with her relatives in 1884 and 1885.  Courtesy of saintetherese.net  Eight minutes. 
A beautiful and meditative film, set to music, an "online pilgrimage" to Saint Ouen le Pin, about six miles from Lisieux, where Madame Elisa Fournet, the mother of Cline
Gu�rin, who was the wife of Thrse's uncle, Isidore
Gu�rin, owned a farmhouse in which Thrse stayed at least twice. In the film above, see the little parish church where
Thrse and the Gu�rins worshipped. 

  

 

At the beginning of August 1884 Thrse, then eleven, came to stay in the farmhouse at Saint Ouen le Pin together with her aunt, Cline Gu�rin; her aunt's mother, Madame Fournet, who owned the house; her cousins, Jeanne and Marie Gu�rin;  
and her sisters Lonie and Cline.  The girls were recovering from whooping cough. On August 7, 1884 Madame Gu�rin wrote to her husband:

We are all very happy here. Thrse's face is always radiant with joy.  She is enjoying herself very much at sketching; she and Marie have undertaken to do the house on the farm. . . . Cline and Jeanne are doing another landscape.  They are sketching the building on the farm.  . . . Yesterday morning, we went to Mass at seven.  It was charming.  We were witnesses, it seemed, of Nature's awakening.  In the afternoon, we went with Ernest to Mourerie, and we were present, in the evening, at the milking of the cows.  We go there every evening, and each has a glass of very warm milk.  . . . Cline caught a small trout. . . .

Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Volume I, tr. John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1982, p. 209.

The next day Thrse completed this sketch of the "house on the farm." Her aunt wrote on it "Very, very good."
 


A virtual pilgrimage to Saint Ouen le Pin:
Site Two    
Interior of the farmhouse owned by Madame Fournet, the mother-in-law of Th�r�se's uncle, Isidore Gu�rin, where Th�r�se stayed during the summers of 1884 and 1885 
Interior of the farmhouse at Saint Ouen le Pin owned by Madame Fournet, the mother-in-law of Th�r�se's uncle, Isidore Gu�rin, where Th�r�se stayed during the summers of 1884 and 1885.  Courtesy of saintetherese.net.  Three minutes. 
At the end of July 1885  Thrse returned here with her AuntGu�rin, her cousins Jeanne and MarieGu�rin, and her sister Lonie.  She was now twelve years old.  On July 29, 1885, MadameGu�rin wrote to her husband:

  

Lonie is a very good girl.  Had you seen her yesterday taking care of grandpapa and grandmama, you would have been charmed with your niece.  She shows me very much affection, and she shares little confidences with me.  I have just allowed all four of them to make a tour of the property by way of the field, the meadow, and the Theil woods.  They left filled with delight . .  . Marie and Thrse are enjoying themselves very much.  Mamma was telling me yesterday that she had never seenThrseso gay, with her face so frankly happy.  Yesterday, she and Marie came home all decked out in little bouquets.  Marie had cornflowers, Thrsehad forget-me-nots.  All was perfectly arranged.  They were wearing their Breton aprons, with well-made bouquets at each of the corners, on their heads, at the end of their pigtails and even on their shoes.  One was Rosette, the other Bluette . . . . 

Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Volume I,tr. John Clarke, O.C.D..  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1982,
pp. 228-29. 

A Call to a Deeper Love

image of the book's cover with photos of Therese, Louis, and Zelie

 
Treat yourself to the letters of Blessed Z�lie and Louis Martin.  Readers write enthusiastically about this gold mine of day-to-day information about the Martin family.  
A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of The Parents of Saint Th�r�se of the Child Jesus, 1863-1885, edited by Dr. Frances Renda and translated by Ann Connors Hess, is available in paperback; 464 pages, with 32 pages of photos. $29.95.  Learn more . . .   

 

Buy Now  

The books are shipped by Angels of Our Lady Bookstore, 592 Schuylkill Road, Phoenixville, PA  19460.  If you have questions about your order, please e-mail angelsofourlady@aol.com or call them at (610) 917-9470.