Blessed Louis Martin and the Panama Canal - 100 years since it opened on August 15, 1914

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Panama Canal under construction, 1907

Excavation and removal of dirt at the famous Culebra Cut, Panama Canal, 1907 By H.C. White Co. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know that in 1888 Blessed Louis Martin, the father of St. Therese of Lisieux, invested and lost a great deal of money on the Panama Canal?

August 15, 2014 was the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal.  Its successful construction by the United States was preceded by many earlier attempts:

In 1881, France proposed a sea-level Panama canal, without locks to raise and lower ships to accommodate changes in elevation, along the same basic route as the Panama Railroad. But owing to engineering problems and high worker mortality, the project went bankrupt and was abandoned in 1889 when it was about 50 percent complete. France had spent $287 million and an estimated 22,000 workers had died.
("Panama Canal Anniversary 2014: 100 Years Ago Today, Navigation Project Launched 'American Century,'" by Alan Huffman.  International Business Times, August 15, 2014).

Louis Martin invested the fortune he and his wife had  earned as artisans in various enterprises, including real estate.  In May and June 1888, very soon after Therese's entrance, he was preoccupied with putting his affairs in order; he wanted to provide for his daughters and to purchase Les Buissonnets, their home, which he held by lease.  During those two months, while Therese was a postulant, Louis made several trips to Paris on business in connection with investing in the loan to finance the Panama Canal. 

On July 1, 1888, his daughter Pauline, Sister Agnes of Jesus, who had been in Carmel for almost six years, wrote to him:

Men of genius may very well occupy themselves with cutting through Panama.  We, too, shall cut through whatever could hold us to this earth, and it is then that the ocean of love will surround us on every side." 

When "the scandal of Panama" swept over France, many investors lost vast sums of money.   His daughter Celine, Sister Genevieve, later wrote that the Martin family "lost fifty thousand francs on the Panama enterprise and different sales of property" at the time of her father's illness.  (Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Volume I, 1877-1890.  Washington, D.C.: Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, 1982.  LC 94, footnote 5, pp. 485-486).  This did not prevent Louis, when his pastor announced that he was launching a drive to raise 10,000 francs for a new main altar for St. Pierre's Cathedral, from donating the whole sum immediately.  (Sainte Therese de Lisieux (1873-1897), by Guy Gaucher.  Paris: Editions du Cerf, 2010, p. 300, footnotes 2 and 3). 

The extent to which the Panama Canal was in the news in France is also reflected in two letters to Therese, who was preparing to receive the Habit, from her prioress, Mother Marie de Gonzague. 

December 10, 1888 (?):

Yes, child of Jesus, the Cross is our lot!  Let us rejoice in this blessing1  It is from heaven and not from earth.  What a joy, a humiliation! This is worth all the treasures of Panama.

December 13, 1888 (?):

My darling grain of sand [nickname for Therese] laughed at my Panama jackpot as compared to her little humiliation . . .
(Letters, op. cit.,pp. 485-486).

Part of the fortune Louis and Zelie earned through their hard work was invested and lost in the New World, in the Panama Canal Zone, which, from 1903 through 1979, was controlled by the United States.  During that same century, both American continents might well say that it was thanks to St. Therese that "the ocean of love surrounds us on every side." 

July 29, 2014 - 120 years since Blessed Louis Martin entered into life. A celebration at Alencon.

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Celebrate at Alençon the 100 years since Blessed Louis Martin entered into life.

The programme:

- 12 noon:  Mass at the Basilica of Notre-Dame, followed by a picnic lunch at the Providence Center

- 3:30 p.m.: A presentation on the great “Trial of Louis Martin” by Father Thierry Hénault-Morel, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Louis Martin’s death.

- Pilgrimage to the Butte Chaumont, where Louis loved to go on foot.  (By car from Alençon to the foot of the Butte Chaumont, then on foot.

- 5:00 – Solemn Vespers in the church of Roche-Mabile

[The above article is translated with thanks to the Web site of the Shrine at Alencon.  Read it here in French.]

Interestingly, Father Thierry Hénault-Morel is a lateral descendant of Louis Martin.  He is the great-grandson of Adolphe Leriche, Louis's nephew.  Adolphe's mother, Louis's sister Fannie, died when the child was very young, and Adolphe lived with Louis and Louis's parents in the house on the Rue Pont-Neuf.  In 1870 he purchased the watch-shop from Louis and was in business there until his death in 1894.  His daughter, Berthe Leriche, married Victor Hénault-Morel; she was the grandmother of Father Thierry Hénault-Morel , who, until recently, was the rector of the Basilica of Notre Dame in Alençon.  Could Louis ever have imagined that his parish church would be raised to the rank of a basilica after he and Zélie were declared blessed, or that a descendant of his family would one day be rector there?  Or that, 120 years after his death, a member of his family would speak about his great trial?

A mother and daughter testify to healing after invoking Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin. July 12, 2014

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Yvonne Barra with her husband and the certificate declaring her cancer-free

Today is a joyful day for the friends of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin.  In 2013 Andrea Barra, who teaches in a Catholic school in Leawood, Kansas, wrote to me to share the story of her family's encounter with Blessed Louis and Zelie and their intercession for her mother, Ivonne.  Ivonne.  Andrea and Ivonne tell their story below.

Testimony of Andrea Barra
of Kansas City, Kansas.  June 17, 2014

My family has a tradition.  As each of the children reached the age of 12, my parents began to pray with our family for that child’s future spouse.  As a little girl, I often prayed to my favorite saints that they would serve as an extra protection shield for my future spouse, protect his purity, and lead him closer to Christ.  I had always considered St. Therese of Lisieux a childhood friend, and I had prayed to her often.  I had often read that her parents were very holy people who inspired religious vocations in their daughters.  But that was the extent of my knowledge of her parents.   I had “liked” the Facebook page of the Web site “Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway” when it was sharing the novena for the parents of St.Therese of Lisieux in honor of their 150th wedding anniversary.  Unknown to me, they had already been beatified!

I shared the novena with my family, and we prayed that through their intercession, God would lead to us to God-loving husbands who were noble of character.  I also had this persistent need to pray for the protection of our family in our intentions, and that remained with me the entire summer. As my prayer life intensified, I wanted to find out more about this couple, so I Googled Zelie and Louis Martin.  “Blessed Zelie and Louis Martin, the Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux,” Maureen O’Riordan’s Web site about Bl. Zelie and Louis Martin, came up, and I just fell in love with them.  Right away I started making heart connections with them. 

I loved how Louis Martin gives Zelie a medallion with Sarah and Tobit and what it represented to their marriage.  I had recently encountered the book of Tobit through daily Mass and lectio divina. When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, I remembered that Zelie had succumbed to breast cancer and was around my mom’s age.  So we began to research as a family about them.  Maureen’s Web site was a godsend; it had books that one could read, information about them in English and Spanish.  It had pictures and videos, and information on the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia that has custody of the reliquary of the Martin family. 

So we began our Calvary, and the more we would read about the lives of Zelie and Louis Martin, the less we felt alone, the closer we felt they were accompanying us on our journey. It was hard to see my mom in pain, constantly sick, and, as the treatments intensified, so did the side effects. My mom’s nausea got worse: the headaches, the dizziness, and then the recovery from the surgery was painful, as she worked at regaining the full mobility of her arm. Then radiation began, and it’s so hard to see the third degree burns in her chest. Yet throughout it all she remained joyful and filled with complete trust in God. We were consistent in our prayers day and night, with spending hours at Eucharistic Adoration, mortifications, fasting, and with a constant knocking on heaven’s door, looking for Zelie and Louis Martin’s intercession.  God granted us the miracle when, against all odds, the oncologist declared my mom cancer-free.

Testimony of Ivonne Barra
of Kansas City, Kansas: June 17, 2014

Diagnosis

On the date of September 18, 2013, I was diagnosed with stage II aggressive breast cancer.  The ailment that I feared the most because of my mother’s death was the challenge I was facing.  My oncologist explained to me that, to treat my cancer, I would have to endure chemotherapy, surgery, and seven weeks of radiation.  Furthermore, I had two tumors.  One tumor was spreading into the surrounding lymph nodes.  Those were the main reasons for radiation after chemo and surgery.  My chemotherapy consisted of two drugs.  The chemo side effects were the worse because they were notorious for severe nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. 

Treatment

 As the days progressed, my treatment was difficult, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually.  It was during this trying time that I began my devotion to the Martin Spouses because my daughter Andrea did a novena to them, and she introduced me to these new friends.  Both, along with St. Therese, became my companions in a time when Faith, hope and love were my only fuel to keep fighting.   My family and I prayed so intensely as the weeks progressed. As the treatments continued, I constantly had to battle the side effects (constant nausea, pain, headaches).  I would hold on to my Catholic faith and my saint friends, who would intercede for me.

At the end of my chemotherapy treatment one of my tumors disappeared, one significantly shrank, and I started the treatment with three to seven cancerous lymph nodes that were decreased to only one, which was later removed in surgery. Then around the middle of May, 2014, when I felt that the obstacles were insurmountable, I had a dream.  In this dream, I opened my eyes, and I saw St. Therese of Lisieux with a lady who was dressed in an old-fashioned white dress with white shoes. Behind my visitors was a bright blinding light that prevented me from seeing this lady’s face.  I knew that this visit came at the right time, which gave me a push to keep hope alive.  My friends came when I needed their encouragement the most.  The Martin family was a family that I would read about and pray with. Through their example, I prayed to Mary and Jesus.  My Martin friends always pointed to Our Lady and Jesus.   I would pray that the Martin Spouses would adopt me as their spiritual daughter.  I prayed for their intercession so that I could be healthy again. Once I read that Louis had wanted to name a daughter Yvonne after the region where he had come from. They felt so close to me as we had so many things in common.  They raised all daughters like I have done, and even their fishing pastime was like our family.  

Cure

On June 5th, 2014 I met with my oncologist after going through chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation.  She told me I was cancer-free.  My heart was overjoyed at the mercy and love Jesus bestowed upon my family and me.  I have been blessed to continue to be a witness to my husband and my children’s lives.  My saint friends never left me and I am grateful to them for their prayers and love.

A note from Maureen O'Riordan:

The novena through which Andrea Barra discovered Louis and Zelie appeared originally in French on the Web site of Sainte-Therese parish in Metz, France.  The first visit of the relics of Louis and Zelie to that parish accomplished a profound spiritual renewal there, the story of which is told on the parish Web site.  The pastor, Father Jean-Claude Lange, generously allowed me to reproduce that story in English, including the novena.  Mary Davidson of North Carolina (who, with her husband, Jim, sponsors this Web site) translated the novena.  Gordon Henry of Vancouver worked with Mary and me to translate the Metz site. I thank Father Lange, Mary and Gordon for creating the space which led to Andrea's encounter with Louis and Zelie.  Please join us in thanking God for Ivonne's healing and for the depth of her family's encounter in faith with the Martin family and with the God they served first.

At Lisieux, celebrating the feast of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin

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Celebrating the feast of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin at Lisieux with Cardinal Baldasseri, secretary-general of the synod on the family

At 10:30 a.m. Cardinal Baldasseri will preside at a solemn Mass for the feast of the Martin spouses in the presence of Mgr Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, and Mgr Jacques Habert, bishop of Seez (the diocese in which Alencon, where Louis and Zelie spent their married lives, is located).  This Mass will be celebrated in the crypt of the Basilica, where the reliquary of Louis and Zelie is venerated.

At 3:00 p.m. the "petits chanteurs de Saint Vincent" of Taiwan, a children's choir, will present a concert in the crypt of the Basilica.

At 3:45 Valter and Adele Schiliro, the parents of Pietro Schiliro, the Italian child whose healing was accepted as the miracle for the beatification of Louis and Zelie, will present their testimony.

At 4:30 p.m. Vespers will be celebrated.

See the source  (in French) at the Web site of the Shrine at Lisieux.

The feast-day celebrations of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin at Alencon, July 12, 2014

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On Saturday, July 12, 2014, the Feast of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, who were married at midnight during the night between July 12 and July 13, 1858, will be observed in their home city of Alencon with a "march" for couples; a conference by Cardinal Baldisseri, the secretary-general of the Synod on the Family); visits to sites frequented by the Martin family; special activities for children; and a solemn Mass at whichh Cardinal Baldisseri will preside.  The schedule:

July 11: 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in the Chapel of the Martin family home, a vigil of adoration.

July 12:
• 8:45 a.m. : March of husbands and wives
• 4:00 p.m. Conference by Cardinal Baldisseri
• 6.00 p.m.: Mass at the Basilica of Notre Dame, where Blessed Louis and Zelie were married.

Source: Web site of the Shrine at Alencon.