I'm happy to present, for the first time in English, "Miracle of Life in Valencia," the video (15:35) of the healing of little Carmen Perez Pons of Valencia, Spain, which was accepted as the miracle for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin.  This documentary was filmed on location in Valencia.  It shows little Carmen and her family and the hospitals where she was treated as a newborn.  Interviews with the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Serra tell the story of how Carmen's father, Santos, came to their monastery seeking prayers for his desperately sick baby daughter and of the sudden healing that followed.  The documentary includes film footage from the opening in January 2013 and the closing in May 2013 of the diocesan tribunal that evaluated the miracle and submitted it to Rome.  Carmen and her family attended both sessions.  This documentary was completed while the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examined the miracle.  For the rest of the story, read "Pope Francis today approved the decree recognizing the miracle for the healing of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin - March 8, 2015: new details about the healing of little Carmen," a communique from the Shrine at Alencon.

I thank the producers, AVAN (Servicio Audiovisual Diocesana of the Diocese of Valencia) for permission to translate the documentary into English.  My special thanks to Teodolinda Garcia of Panama, whose devoted work as a translator has permitted me to report on this healing since it was announced in 2012. Teo worked with me to produce an English transcript of this documentary, and I had the joy of creating the English audio you will hear.  On the eve of the announcement of the canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin, may the story of this real-life family's faith bring hope to many others.

Articles about the healing of little Carmen

• "The cure of Carmen: Is this the miracle that will make Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, canonized saints?" by Maureen O'Riordan for "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  January 20, 2013.  The first story in English about the cure of little Carmen and of the opening of the process in Spain to inquire into whether it was a miracle.  
   
• La curación de Carmen: ¿Es este el milagro que hará que los Beatos Luis y Celia Martin, los padres de Santa Teresa de Lisieux, sean canonizados santos?" - May 4, 2013.  The same story in Spanish.
   
• "Vatican to investigate 'presumed miracle' attributed to Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux.  Will the healing of little Carmen make them saints?"  by Maureen O'Riordan for "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  May 28, 2013. Story of the diocesan process, at which eight doctors testified that Carmen's recovery could not be explained by science, and of the closing of the process on May 27, 2013.  
   
• "Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux: A Step Closer to Canonization," by Maureen O'Riordan.  Carmelite Review, Volume 52, No. 3., Summer/Fall 2013, p. 12.  The first appearance of Carmen's story in a print publication in English.
   
• "The history of the diocesan inquiry into the healing of little Carmen, the "presumed miracle" for the canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin," by Fr. Antonio Sangalli, O.C.D., vice-postulator.  Published in French at the Web site of the Shrine at Alencon and translated into English by Michael J. Miller.  This is Father Sangalli's speech at the conclusion of the diocesan phase of the canonical process, May 21, 2013.
   
• "Pope Francis today approved the decree recognizing the miracle for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin: new details about the healing of little Carmen.  Shrines at Alencon and Lisieux issue a joint communique with previously unpublished details." March 18, 2015.