Wandering around Lisieux in September 2021 visiting the shops, Cathedral, Carmel of Lisieux and the town. Beautiful flower displays everywhere. There is evidence of much rebuilding and few historic buildings survive because tragically a major part of the historic town was destroyed in World War II bombings. However, many of the places associated with the greatest figure of 19th-century Lisieux, Thérèse Martin, survived. Sadly ran out of time to visit the Basilica of St Theresa but did visit the small Carmelite Chapel. The religious city of Lisieux draws vast numbers of Catholic visitors. In fact, it is considered the second most important pilgrimage site in France, thanks to its 19th-century saint, Thérèse Martin. Thérèse’s popularity also explains Lisieux’s extravagant 20th-century hillside basilica, which outdoes its medieval cathedral and is often compared to the basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre in Paris.
Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon in the south of Normandy, Thérèse moved with her family to Lisieux when she was four. Following the example of her older sisters, she became fascinated with religious life from an early age. She joined the Carmelite nunnery in Lisieux at the exceptionally tender age of 15, by special dispensation. Not just because of her exemplary pious life, but also because of her clear writings on faith, she became one of the best-loved Catholic figures of her century. She died young, having achieved a great deal. In the 1920s, she was made a saint, as Sainte-Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her just the 33rd Doctor of the Catholic Church because of her spiritual writings – at the time, she was the only woman to be given this exceptional title. Some 700,000 pilgrims visit Lisieux every year, making it the second most important pilgrimage site in France.
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