The Parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux a Step Closer to Canonization.
(seated in center) Archbishop of Valencia, Carlos Osoro Serra, during the canonical investigative for the
cause of Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin.
BY MAUREEN O'RIORDAN
On May 21, 2013, the diocesan tribunal
in Valencia, Spain, finished examining
the cure of a newborn baby which has
been attributed to Blessed Louis and Zélie
Martin. The tribunal sent the file to the
Vatican Congregation for the Causes of
Saints. If the Congregation recommends the
cause to Pope Francis, the way will be open
for their canonization.
Story of a miracle
The little Carmen, whose family has
remained anonymous, was born in Valencia
on October 15, 2008, four days before
Louis and Zélie were beatified. (See
Carmelite Review, Vol. 47, No. 4," and
link to my beatification article at
http://www.carmelitereview.org/issues/v47n
4/tracing.php)
Father Antonio Sangalli, OCD, vicepostulator
of the cause of Louis and Zélie,
remarked: "Apparently, nothing seemed to
connect the two events, but later faith
allowed us to discover the mysterious ties
that point to a 'miracle'."
Born three months early, Carmen had
many life-threatening health problems. She
"suffered multiple pathologies, among
them, a double septicemia and an intraventricular
grade IV cerebral hemorrhage,
the most severe." The doctors could do
nothing, and her parents were told to
prepare for the worst. Her father and
mother, "seeing the danger of death, immediately
turned to God, and, thanks to the
nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery
of Serra, the parents, family, and friends
started a novena to the blessed Martin
spouses," continued Father Sangalli. The
Carmelites gave the child's parents a prayer
card with images of Zélie and Louis and a
prayer for their canonization, and the nuns
joined Carmen's family and their friends in
a sustained prayer for her healing, "a real
and intense communion of prayer of the
family, of friends, of the monastery of Serra,
of all those concerned for little Carmen,
who was fighting against a sure death,"
Father Sangalli explains. As soon as the
novena started, the baby began to get better,
culminating in her "astonishing recovery,
without any medical explanation."
Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin
The Parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux a Step Closer to Canonization
The cure was referred to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and a team at Lisieux,
with Father Sangalli, collected and analyzed the information. It was Father Sangalli who urged
the parents of Pietro Schilirò, the newborn Italian child, to pray to Louis and Zélie for his
cure, which was accepted as the miracle for their beatification. One more miracle is necessary
for their canonization.
The diocesan inquiry
In the autumn of 2012, the Archbishop of Valencia, Carlos Osoro Serra, was asked to
open a diocesan inquiry into the "presumed miracle" to determine whether it could be
explained scientifically. On January 7, 2013, Archbishop Osoro opened the canonical process
to investigate whether Carmen's recovery was a miracle obtained through the intercession of
the Martin spouses. Eighteen witnesses testified: Carmen´s parents and grandparents, her
teacher, a priest, four Carmelite nuns of Serra, and eight doctors."
All the doctors testified that Carmen's recovery is "scientifically inexplicable."
Monsignor Ennio Apeciti, the tribunal's judge, said that all eight doctors "joined in agreeing
that, due to her severe health problems, the little girl should [medically speaking] have died.
All the physicians were astonished that Carmen survived. Monsignor Apeciti added that she is
"completely healthy" today, at age four.
Archbishop Osoro told Carmen's parents their actions were "a precious gesture,"
"because you believed in the intercession of the Blesseds and, through their hands, you put
your daughter into the hands of God."
The closing of the diocesan process is an important advance toward sainthood for Louis
and Zélie. Father Sangalli explained that the diocesan court "does not pronounce, does not
announce a position on the authenticity of the miracle, but on the seriousness of the
collected documentation." The final decision to name saints is always made in Rome.
Father Sangalli brought the documentation immediately to Rome, where doctors, theologians,
bishops, and cardinals will examine it. If the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
recommends to Pope Francis that Zélie and Louis should be named saints, the way
will be open for their canonization.
For information and to see the prayer for the canonization of Louis and
Zélie, scan the QR code to the right with your smartphone or tablet device or
visit the website at www.louisandzeliemartin.org.
