For 2 days, on 15 and 16 July, Podlaskie Mońki became a halt to the nationwide peregrination of the relic of Saint Teresa from Baby Jesus and her parents, Zelia and Louis Martin. The relics were accepted in the parish of Our woman of Czestochowa and Saint Casimir there, where the faithful gathered at prayer at the remains of the Carmelite from Lisieux and her holy parents. Peregrination goes through Poland under the motto “By assurance in love”, and a tiny Podlasie halt became an chance to remind 1 of the most meaningful stories of holiness experienced in the family.
Two days of prayer in the parish of Podlasie
Two days have passed since the relics were welcomed to their farewells in Mońki. During this time, the faithful from parishes and surrounding areas could pray at the remains that have been wandering through subsequent Polish dioceses since the beginning of July. The sisters of Theresian women, a congregation grown out of the spirituality of the Holy 1 of Lisieux, were active in the preparation of the visitation.
The full peregrination is planned in Poland from 2 July to 10 August. Its way primarily includes Carmelite monasteries and churches in the northern part of the country, and a tiny Podlasie town has hit this map alongside much larger centres.
A Carmelite female who taught “little way”
Teresa Martin, known as Teresa from Baby Jesus or Teresa from Lisieux, lived only 24 years (1873–1897). She joined the barefoot caramel in Lisieux as a teenager, died of tuberculosis, and left an autobiography of “The Acts of the Soul”. It was this evidence that spread throughout the planet its "small way": the belief that holiness is led not by the heroism of large deeds, but by faithfulness to God in small, everyday matters.
The church confirmed this intuition rapidly and highly. Pius XI canonized her in 1925, 2 years later she was announced as a mission patron, though she never left the monastery. In 1997 John Paul II made her a doctor of the Church, 1 of the fewer women in this group.
The parents who first came to the altar together
A separate relicary conceals the remains of the Holy Parents, Louis (1823–1894) and Zelia (1831–1877) Martin. Their life remained long in the shadow of their celebrated daughter, though they formed the home from which she came out. In Alençon they ran a lace store and a watchmaker's plant, they had 9 children. 4 died as a child, and 5 daughters who lived to adulthood entered the order.
In 2015, Pope Francis canonized Louis and Zelia together, during 1 ceremony. They were the first spouses to be elevated to altars together, as a couple. For peregrination it is simply a point of gravity: relics talk of the full family, in which holiness was inherited almost from generation to generation.
Home-shaped relic
The symbolism of both relics is thoughtful. The larger 1 houses the bones of Saint Teresa. The smaller, dedicated to parents, hides fragments of bones from their feet, which is to remind us of the way the spouses went to holiness.
Louis and Zelia's relic itself has a form of home. It will be decorated with ornaments referring to laces that Zelia made, and relics remainder on the image of the 2 braided rings. The relic lists the names of all 9 Martin children. It is hard to have a clearer sign that this is about the holiness at the heart of matrimony and parenthood.
Family sign
Visiting Mońki was a local event, but it carried universal content. At a time erstwhile household sustainability is questioned, the Church sets a concrete example for the faithful. The home where religion moved from parents to children, he issued a saint present recognized as 1 of the top teachers of spirituality. Will the faithful who prayed with these relics for 2 days read them as an invitation to imitate? The answer stays in their homes long after the relics moved on to another parish.
Source: Radio Maryja
