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A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin – Bearer of Hope with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Episode 8
In this episode, Fr. Gallagher begins to share more fully the letters exchanged between Léonie and her sister, Thérèse.
Léonie has returned home after a failed attempt of joining the Poor Clare’s and she eventually hopes to join the Order of the Visitation, founded by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
Thérèse, 10 years younger than Léonie, proves to be a strong spiritual friend and companion for her sister. Through this episode, we begin to get a glimpse of their tender, encouraging relationship. But as she has experienced in the past, this attempt to enter the Visitation Monastery in Caen will have its challenges and sufferings.
Fr. Gallagher says, “Léonie’s life holds a very important story because she was the forgotten one; she was the one who was in the last place; she was the one who was less gifted than the others. Today we would call her a ‘problem child,’ and we’ll see that she certainly was the source of great anxiety to her parents, especially to her mother, Zélie, who loved her dearly.”
As a child, Léonie suffered from severe illnesses and physical maladies that would plague her entire life. She also struggled with understanding social clues and interactions and with behaving appropriately. Conventional educational models of the day failed to meet her particular needs, and she was labeled “developmentally delayed.” Yet those who knew her well described her as having a “heart of gold”.
Who was Léonie and what were her struggles? Why has her cause of canonization begun? Father Gallagher, along with Kris McGregor, answers these questions and explains why Léonie is “a bearer of hope” in this landmark series.
Marie
Pauline
Céline
St. Thérèse
St. Louis Martin
A resource used for this series
Images in this post of the Martin/Guerin family are used with permission from the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux website for strictly non-commercial use. We encourage you to visit the website for more information on this remarkable family.
For more series Fr. Timothy Gallagher podcasts visit here
Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life: The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit his website: frtimothygallagher.org
Hello from Madrid. Good morning Fr. Gallagher. Good morning Kris. Will there be more podcasts on Leonie? Eventually? Thank you so much for this lovely series of talks, and the many others, all of which have been so helpful to me. With grateful prayers for your dedication, and asking God to bless your work, to make it fruitful, and to protect you all.