Prayer for the Intercession of Leonie Martin and asking that she might be named "Venerable"
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Leonie Martin, Sister Francoise-Therese, of the Visitation Monastery at Caen, 1940, aged 78.
Now that the bishop of her diocese has requested permission to open Leonie's cause, she has the title "The Servant of God." If Rome grants the "nihil obstat," the diocesan inquiry into her holiness will be opened. The next big step in the process is to be declared "venerable." A candidate who is called "Venerable" has been found by the Church to have practiced the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude) and the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) to an heroic degree.
On March 25, 2012, Mgr Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, granted the imprimatur for a prayer that Léonie might be declared "venerable." Please recite it in thanksgiving today. If you want the favor you might receive to be eligible to be accepted as a miracle that could lead to her being named blessed or named a saint, you must ask only Leonie, no one else, to intercede with God for it. Of course, if you invoke her with others, God may still send an "unofficial miracle!"
Let's not turn Leonie into a political candidate, but instead ask God for the grace to imitate her virtue in our lives and circumstances and to live in her spirit. Her life is a testimony to the power of transformation. She was transformed by reading Therese's "Story of a Soul" and by the spirituality of her little sister, which she incarnated with struggle and generosity. She is a source of strength to wounded souls and a witness to the power of forgiveness and healing. About the maid who abused her, Leonie said later "I forgive my tormentor, and I am grateful to her for the care she took of my mother in her last illness." Although her sisters did not always understand her, she always loved them.
The prayer for Leonie's intercession, asking that she might be named "Venerable"
Dear Leonie our Sister,
You have already intervened with God on our behalf,
and we would like to be able to pray to you officially,
so that many more might know you.
Come to the aid of parents who risk losing a child,
as you nearly died at a very young age.
Continue to uphold the families
where different generations
have problems living together in peace.
Enlighten youth who question their future
and hesitate to commit.
Show to all the way of prayer
which permits you to bear your limitations
and your difficulties with confidence,
and to give yourself to others.
Lord, if such is your will,
deign to accord us the grace that we ask of you
through the intercession of your servant Léonie, and
inscribe her among the number of the venerable of your Church.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Imprimatur: March 25, 2012
+ Jean-Claude Boulanger
Bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux
Persons who receive favors by the intercession of Léonie Martin,
in religion Sister Françoise-Thérèse, are asked to make them known to the Monastery of the Visitation:
Monastery of the Visitation
3 rue de l'Abbatiale
14000 CAEN
FRANCE
translated by Maureen O'Riordan.
Permission is granted to reproduce the prayer without alteration. Please include this language: "translated by Maureen O'Riordan for leoniemartin.org." If you repost the prayer online, please include a live link to leoniemartin.org.