The anniversary of the death of Blessed Louis Martin on Sunday, July 29, 1894
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Blessed Louis Martin in death
The letter from Celine Martin, at La Musse, near Evreux, to her Carmelite sisters in Lisieux to tell them about the death of their father:
July 29, 1894
Dear little sisters,
Papa is in heaven! . . . I received his last breath, I closed his eyes. . . . His handsome face took on immediately an expression of beatitude, of such profound calm ! Tranquility was painted on his features . . . He expired so gently at fifteen minutes after eight.
My poor heart was broken at the supreme moment; a flood of tears bathed his bed. But at heart I was joyful because of his happiness, after the terrible martyrdom he endured and which we shared with him . . . .
Last night, in a sleep filled with anguish, I suddenly awakened; I saw in the firmament a kind of luminous globe . . . . And this globe went deeply into the immensity of heaven.
. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . Today, St. Martha, the saint of Bethany, the one who obtained the resurrection of Lazarus . . . .
Today, the gospel of the five wise virgins. . . .
Today, Sunday, the Lord's day . . . .
And Papa will remain with us until August 2, feast of Our Lady of the Angels. . . .
Your little Celine
(from Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Volume II. Washington, D.C.: copyright 1988 by Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, ICS Publications, pp. 874-875. Used with permission).
Below, courtesy of the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux, is a photograph of the small building at La Musse in which Blessed Louis Martin died on that Sunday morning a hundred and eighteen years ago.
