b. Therese of Lisieux_b. Therese of Liseux 25/10/2012 11:49 Page 4
4
IN THE WORLD Home and Infancy On 2nd January 1873, in a simple house in the rue de Saint Blaise, Alençon, a little child was born whose name was one day to be upon the lips of Catholics the whole world over, and whose prayers and sacrifices were to win souls to God in every corner of the earth. That little child was Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin, later to be raised to the Altars of the Church as St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, and to be known more popularly as “the little Flower”. The surroundings of her birth, outwardly at least, gave no indication of the wonderful future that was to follow. Her father, M. Louis Martin, had a small watchmaker’s and jeweller’s business in the rue du Pont Neuf, and his wife, Zélie Martin, added to the family resources by making and selling Alençon lace. Both M. Martin and his wife were most devout Catholics. Every morning at 5.30 they attended Mass at the Church of Notre Dame, and though daily Communion was not possible they endeavoured to receive the Blessed Sacrament as often as they could. In spite of the fatiguing duties of the household and of the business, they observed the fasts and abstinences of the Church most rigorously, and that