The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will welcome relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and of her parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, with a series of public events Oct. 4-15.
The relics will be publicly displayed at St. Mary in Stillwater, the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and St. Therese in Deephaven. The relics will also be privately displayed at the Discalced Carmelites of Our Lady of Divine Providence in Lake Elmo.
Father Leonard Andrie mapped the relics’ local tour: “They’re starting … on the eastern border, then they’re going to come down (Interstate) 94 (to the) Cathedral, Basilica and then down (Interstate) 394. They’re going to go literally through the heart of the archdiocese out here to St. Therese.”
Father Andrie has been pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven for over seven years and helped coordinate the relics’ arrival.
“Every once in a while, the good Lord will put something in my heart,” Father Andrie said of time he spent in prayer roughly two years ago. In this case, it was “the desire to have the relics come to the archdiocese.” Though Father Andrie has a devotion to St. Thérèse, he described it as a desire that “frankly, kind of came out of nowhere.”
Not long afterward, a series of events furthered the process.
Father Andrie said he received a phone call from Father Bob Colaresi. Father Colaresi — who serves at the National Shrine of St. Therese in Darien, Illinois — said coordination to have relics of the three saints sent to the Chicago area was underway and he asked Father Andrie if there would be interest in the relics traveling to the Twin Cities.
“I said, ‘I would love it,’” Father Andrie said. “I said, ‘This is odd because I was just praying about this.’”
Father Andrie mentioned it to Archbishop Bernard Hebda. “Immediately, he said yes, most definitely,” Father Andrie said.
To assist the effort, in April 2021, Archbishop Hebda sent a letter to Father Olivier Ruffray, appointed this year as vicar general of the Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux in France, requesting coordination for relics of the three saints to be sent to the archdiocese. Approval was granted about five months later, and preparations began.
Without knowing about the relics coming to the archdiocese, Father Tim Tran, who has been parochial vicar at St. Stephen in Anoka for over a year, said he reached out to Father Andrie in December 2022.
“I’ve been really reflecting on St. Thérèse as an image and model of what the Eucharistic Revival really is,” said Father Tran, archdiocesan point person for the National Eucharistic Revival that began in June 2022 and continues through Pentecost 2025. “It’s through that personal, silent encounter and loving God greatly in the small ways, her little way — I honestly think that’s the key to (the) Eucharistic Revival.”
Knowing “that 2023 was a very big year for St. Thérèse” — the 100th anniversary of her beatification and the 150th anniversary of her birth — Father Tran said he asked Father Andrie, “What do you think about partnering up, doing at least something to recognize St. Thérèse? … He said, ‘It’s funny that you called because actually, we’re working on something right now.’”
Preparation
Preparing for the relics’ arrival has been a collaboration among members of the archdiocesan clergy and laity. It has included planning a rosary procession with the relics from the Minnesota State Capitol to the Cathedral and a Cor Jesu event at the Cathedral Oct. 6.
Father Tran said having those two events in the same area “is going to be a powerful moment.”
A Holy Hour will be held the following day at the Cathedral as well as a Mass to pray for the renewal of the family and for vocations — “two things this saintly family serves as a prime example and model,” Father Tran said.
Father Andrie envisions the various events as drawing together “different families, all these different kinds of walks of life; some people are sick, some are healthy, some are wealthy, some are poor, different ethnicities, all of them coming together around this little family from France in the 19th century that had a deep love for Christ and really embraced our beautiful faith in a radical way.”
Laura Hunziker — a St. Therese parishioner who this year started her role as human resources manager and community life coordinator for the parish and school — said more than 400 people have signed up to volunteer when the relics visit the parish.
“But we are looking for so many more volunteers because we want to make sure that it’s a prayerful, joyful, safe environment that people enjoy,” she said.
Volunteer roles include parking attendant, greeter, relics attendant, adorers, and food preparation for a community dinner. With a series of events planned, Hunziker said there are many volunteer opportunities.
“I encourage those who are thinking about volunteering, who may be on the fence about doing it — this is an opportunity to not only have this wonderful chance to be part of St. Thérèse’s and her parents’ relics being here, but also it’s an opportunity to meet new people, be a part of a community.”
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Oct. 4-6 — The relics of St. Thérèse and Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin will be displayed and venerated at St. Mary in Stillwater. More information can be found at stmichaelandstmarystillwater.org
Oct. 6-7 — Veneration and activities at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul will include a Catholic schools rosary; a rosary procession from the Minnesota State Capitol; and Cor Jesu — a time for adoration, worship and confession with Archbishop Bernard Hebda presiding. More information can be found at cathedralsaintpaul.org/events-news
Oct. 7-10 — Veneration and events at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis will include a reception Mass, solemn vespers, a Holy Hour and a closing Mass. Additional information is online at mary.org/event/relics-of-saint-therese-of-lisieux/
Oct. 12-15 — The relics will be displayed and venerated at St. Therese in Deephaven, with talks by Shane Page, director of evangelization at St. Michael in Gastonia, North Carolina; Masses with celebrants Archbishop Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen; confessions; Holy Hours; community dinner; and Father Francis Hoffman (“Father Rocky”), the executive director of Relevant Radio, hosting Rosary Across America. Information on events at St. Therese can be found at st-therese.org/relics
The full schedule of events can be found at archspm.org/st-therese-relics/
Saints and the Archdiocesan Synod
In his request letter to Father Ruffray, Archbishop Hebda said, in part: “Through the Synod process, I trust that the Holy Spirit will bring about much-needed healing and renewal for our local church. I believe that Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, along with her saintly parents Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, can help bring about that healing and renewal. Their prayers and fervent love for one another in family life can greatly help and inspire the faithful and their families in our Archdiocese.”
In Archbishop Hebda’s pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” year one of the Archdiocesan Synod implementation focuses on small group formation at parishes. Year two focuses on the Mass and emphasizes the Eucharist as the source and summit of the faith. Year three encourages parent and guardian faith formation, as they are the primary evangelizers of their children.
Both Father Andrie and Father Tran said this saintly family’s example coincides with the implementation of the Archdiocesan Synod.
“Where God dwells is the family,” Father Tran said. That Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin were canonized as a married couple, as parents, “is a beautiful witness.”
“It’s a reminder for us that this renewal, this Synod, is not something that’s more or less from the top down, but it’s from the bottom up, in the family,” Father Tran said. “It begins there.”
“We want to renew families because … raising kids is hard,” Father Andrie said. “And we know that this little family wants to help us.”
Father Tran went on to explain that the “Eucharist was primordial to them — year two of the Synod. And small groups, well, the family is a small group — year one. So, their entire image is encapsulated there” in the Synod implementation process.
These saints also exemplify the virtue of hope — a much-needed virtue for our times, Father Andrie said.
“As Pope Francis says, this family is a family of hope, (and) God’s grace can just do great things through us and our families if we’re open to it. And there’s something really quite peaceful and delightful to be around somebody who’s a person of encouragement and a person of hope.”
Father Andrie is encouraging all those interested in seeing the relics to “please come.”
“Try to make it to at least one place and trust that great things will happen.”
MEET THE SAINTS
This year marks the 100th anniversary of St. Thérèse’s beatification, the 150th anniversary of her birth, the 165th anniversary of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin’s marriage, and the 200th anniversary of St. Louis’ birth.
Laura Hunziker — a St. Therese in Deephaven parishioner and human resources manager and community life coordinator for the parish and school — said she began learning more about this saintly family with pastor Father Leonard Andrie’s encouragement.
“He shared with me a novena from St. Thérèse … now my husband and I pray it every day to help with our struggles with infertility,” Hunziker said. “It’s very refreshing to have this family to pray to, to reach out to for help with our struggles, knowing that they struggled as well.”
A watchmaker and lacemaker, respectively, Sts. Louis and Zélie were married on July 13, 1858. Sts. Louis and Zélie had seven daughters and two sons; four died at young ages.
The couple participated in daily Mass and prayer and taught their motto to their children: “God must be served first,” according to materials prepared by St. Therese parish.
Pope Francis canonized Sts. Louis and Zélie on Oct. 18, 2015. They were the first husband and wife to be canonized as a couple.
Their daughter, St. Thérèse, desired to be a saint from a young age. Her early life was marked by the death of her mother, her sister joining the local Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, and personal illness.
At 15, she felt called to enter Carmel. Though her request was denied, even after asking the pope, she ultimately was able to join two of her sisters in Carmel of Lisieux.
As a discalced Carmelite nun, St. Thérèse developed her “little way” of seeking heaven.
She was inspired, in part, by letters St. Théophane Vénard wrote, said Father Tim Tran, parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka. A French missionary who traveled to Vietnam and was martyred, St. Théophane used language “roughly saying, I’m just like a little flower being plucked from our heavenly father’s garden,” Father Tran said. St. Thérèse “wrote in a letter saying that (St.) Théophane Vénard lived her ‘little way’ the best,” Father Tran said.
Vietnamese himself, Father Tran said he appreciates this connection and calls St. Thérèse “a very beautiful sister and a very great friend.”
“I attribute my vocation to her intercession,” Father Tran said.
St. Thérèse died at age 24 from tuberculosis. She was canonized on May 17, 1925, and was declared a doctor of the Church in 1997. Her feast day is Oct. 1.
“The Church needs hearts like Thérèse’s, hearts that draw people to love and bring people closer to God,” Pope Francis said during a general audience in June, as he announced he planned to write an apostolic letter dedicated to the saint, to be released on her feast day.
