Shrine of Sts. Louis and Zelie in Alençon | Archives des Family of Louis and Zelie - Shrine of Sts. Louis and Zelie in Alençon

Finding “your center” and knowing how to forget yourself

June 2021 – Letter 50 The first time that Léonie knocked on the door of the Monastery of the Visitation in Caen, on July 16, 1887, her cousin Marie Guérin said these words full of perspicacity: “I am happy to finally see Léonie in her center.” How are we to understand these words if not that […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #44

December 13, 2020 « I cannot fear a God who made himself very small for me… I love him! For there is nothing in Him but love and mercy. » From Thérèse to Abbé Bellière (LT 266) “A little child! Ah! How can you not be attracted to the good Lord who is made so low! Such […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #39

July 13, 2020 I intend to make sure you have a good vacation “My dear Pauline[…]The beautiful days are here, and that makes us want to roam. Even I feel the need for it and often say to myself that if I didn’t have the Alençon (Alençon lace made by the Martin family) lace holding […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #38

June 13, 2020 Léonie, patroness of delayed answers to prayers? Between the prayers that are quickly answered and those that are seemingly not answered at all, what do we make of those prayers that are postponed – answered at a later time?

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #37

May 13, 2020 Quarantine, end of quarantine, these are words which have suddenly come out of disuse and dominate our conversations. At a time when the second term seems to prevail over the first, two ends of quarantine come to my mind.

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #36

April 13, 2020 “Let us do our best and leave the rest to Providence. The Abbé de Rancé was right: it is in vain that the raging sea foams and roars, that the waves dash and howl, that the vessel is tossed about; if the breath of Providence swells its sails it cannot be wrecked, […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #35

March 13, 2020 One day Mother Agnes saw Saint Thérèse, her sister, sitting in the garden of Carmel in her wheelchair throwing flowers at the statue of Saint Joseph wedged in the wall. She asked her: « What are you doing? » Is it to obtain some grace? » And Thérèse replied: « Ah no! It’s to make him […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #34

February 13, 2020 « This doesn’t keep me from praying that the Blessed Mother will cure me. I’m impatiently waiting for a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and certainly, if my family needs me, I’ll be cured, because it’s not faith that I’m lacking. Nor do I lack the will to live, the future has appealed to me […]

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #33

January 13, 2020 “I wish you a happy New Year, good health and Heaven as late as possible, because I believe that you’ll only enter it willingly when you have no other choice….” Zélie Martin to her brother, Isidore, January 12, 1865 (CF 11)

The family of Louis and Zelie – Letter #32

December 13, 2019 “I can tell you that Thérèse, my little Queen, as I call her, for she’s a fine-looking girl I assure you, – is completely recovered; the numerous prayers finally took Heaven by storm and God in his goodness saw fit to give in.” Louis Martin to Mr. François-Julien Nogrix, Lisieux, 1883