Sacred paths 6/7: Sainte Thérèse, the beautiful soul of Normandy

At the sound of our footsteps, the silent square wakes up, bathed in morning light. On its side, sole guardian of the sleepy little town, stands the basilica Our Lady of Alencon (Orne), shaped by more than six centuries of history.

It was in this proud church of Flamboyant Gothic style that, on January 4, 1873, to the joyous ringing of bells, an infant was immersed in the water of the baptistery. The Church is celebrating a newborn baby: little Thérèse Martin, the ninth of her siblings, four of whom are already in heaven. Who would suspect then that this two-day-old baby would, only one hundred and twenty-four years later, be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church? That the story of his soul would sweep across the world in record time?

A very pious family

“The Martin family has left a bright trail behind them and the graces are abundant!” marvels Patricia with her soft voice. At the bottom of a dead end adjoining the square where our journey begins, the volunteer runs the Maison d’accueil Louis et Zélie. A peaceful haven in which to spend the night, the building, built in 2019 in the spirit of the canonization of the Martin spouses, offers welcome comfort to passing pilgrims.

Indeed, the parents of the famous Carmelite – Louis was a watchmaker and jeweler, Zélie, a lacemaker – were also proclaimed saints. Her sister Léonie, sooner or later, will follow in their footsteps… “Thérèse grew up in a family where we knew what the love of God is”, sums up Helene Mongin, author of several books devoted to them. Bringing money and food to the poorest, hosting a destitute man are actions that permeate the daily life of the Martin clan, carried by an unwavering faith in a loving God. A rather rare vision at this time, where France is still marked by an intransigent and painful theology, largely based on fear. “When little Thérèse came down the stairs, she called her mother, at each step before crossing it, and as she waited, each time her mother answered”, says Father Thierry Hénault-Morel.

The distinguished rector of the basilica turns his schedule upside down to guide us through the mysteries of the city of Alencon, the first of the 18 stages of the path imagined fifteen years ago by the diocese of Sées, the department of Orne and Alençon tourist office. In the center of the town, granite and limestone play on their contrasts on the facades dressed, here and there, with typical Norman half-timbering. “As for Louis, his father, he had the art of pedagogy, images and symbols. Do you know the Tombi Carabi? These are little men that Louis Martin made, wooden cones fixed on a bit of molten lead . A flick to topple one over, and hop, he jumps up. Still standing, the Tombi Carabi!” Thus Thérèse learned, in the adversities and shocks of life, to draw inspiration from these good men. It is no other way that the Carmelite will later define holiness: straightening up after each misstep, staring at the divine sun.

Spirit Overpower

An atmosphere that favors, of course, but does not entirely explain the inner elan felt, very early, by the child of the country. “She would not fail, for everyone, to say her prayers”, wrote her mother. “Since the age of 3, I have refused nothing to the good Lord”, will see herself the youngest many years later.

We stroll through Alençon, following in the footsteps of this little girl whose spiritual radiance never ceases to amaze. Every street corner is an opportunity to evoke the first years of his life. Here, the house where she grew up, which has become a sanctuary; there, the pavilion bought by his father for fishing and meditation; again, the place where they liked to walk and fish. A fisherman is sitting precisely where Louis, two centuries earlier, cast his line. To contemplate it on the shady path that runs along one of the meanders of the Sarthe, time seems to have frozen.

But already, you have to reach Semallé, a few kilometers from Alençon. Because over there is the hovel occupied by Rose Taillé, Thérèse’s nanny, and her family. This woman’s milk saved the baby; Zélie Martin, in too fragile health, unable to feed her. Little Martin spent more than a year with the Taillés, sharing their simple, country life. Guy Fournier, volunteer at the sanctuary, who has just traded in his gardener’s outfit for a checkered shirt, is inexhaustible on this episode. “How many separations has she experienced!” exclaims Patricia, who accompanied us from Alençon. Along the way, one cannot help but meditate on these words. Indeed, Thérèse was barely 4 years old when Zélie, her mother, died. A few years later, her sister Pauline, whom she had chosen as a second mother, entered the Carmel. For the hypersensitive girl, it’s too much. A terrible illness followed, from which she miraculously recovered after seeing the Virgin Mary smiling at her.

The shine of flowers

Could it be from this period lived in Semallé that Thérèse maintains a love of nature? She will remain very attached to flowers and birds, she whose room contains an aviary and a planter. A love probably transmitted, too, by his many family walks in the Alencon region. It is there, not far away, in the Écouves forest, that we are following his trail. Here, the ferns border the paths which sometimes cross at crossroads with bucolic names, to set off each in their own direction. Around one of them, a pond seems to hold up a mirror to the sky. A myriad of ducklings suddenly emerge from their hiding places. They are maybe fifty. The sun peeks gently through the clouds. From time to time its rays pierce the tops of oaks and beeches. Woods and forests with centuries-old trees, villages and Normandy bocage intertwine all along the way. Sées, its basilica and its cathedral, Villebadin, Vimoutiers, the Touques valley. The roads meander, lined with apple trees, half-timbered houses and meadows where horses graze.

Lisieux, finally. The sun is shining at its zenith. The imposing basilica, perched on a hill, welcomes the exhausted pilgrim. The entire city is in tune with its illustrious ambassador, whose 150th anniversary will be celebrated in 2023.

birth anniversary. A blue line runs through the streets. His utility? Guide pilgrims in the footsteps of Thérèse. In Les Buissonnets, the elegant and peaceful house where the Martins moved after Zélie’s death, visitors from all over the world meet every day. Yesterday, pilgrims from Burkina Faso, today from the United States, tomorrow from Canada… In the flower garden, two strollers converse in German, during a Teresian break. “I’m not sure that there are many other saints with such international influence,” observes Sandrine Papini, president of the association Villes sanctuaries in France. “What an influencer! She is followed by millions of “followers”

(followers or subscribers on social networks editor’s note)

It must be said that her trajectory defies all human logic: without having left her Carmel until her early death (at age 24), she became the patron saint of the missions! Contrary to the discreet spirituality of the Carmelites, Thérèse crosses the borders happily, she who dreamed of becoming a missionary. And if we follow her audacity, by extending the path to Trouville-sur-Mer, where the young Normande came to visit her uncle and her aunt? The sea is streaming with sun when we get there. On the English Channel, the star descends gently, drawing a golden furrow; the same in front of which the fervent believer decided never to take her soul away from the gaze of Jesus. Little Thérèse is decidedly a very great lady.