After a special Mass, Leonie Martin's body now lies in her new tomb in the chapel of the Monastery of the Visitation at Caen - January 21, 2017

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Bishop Boulanger presiding at the Mass on January 21, 2017 to celebrate the deposit of the body of the Servant of God, Leonie Martin, in  her new tomb at the Monastery of the Visitation at Caen.  Photo credit:  Archives of the Monastery of the Visitation at Caen

"Today, the Eucharist presided over by Monseigneur Boulanger for this occasion before the deposit of the casket of the Servant of God, Sister Francoise-Therese, in her new tomb in the chapel, January 21, 2017."

- translated with permission from www.leonie-martin.fr

In the photo above: in the sanctuary, wearing his miter, Bishop Boulanger; at right, Father Sangalli, postulator of Leonie's cause.   Leonie's coffin lies in the center aisle, draped in red.  The Visitation nuns are visible in the front pews on the right.  

Leonie's tomb is now at street level.  The crypt was accessible only to those who could handle stairs.  What a joy to think that anyone who can travel can pray in the presence of her tomb now!  May it be a blessing to the whole world.  

Leonie is the only one of Therese's four sisters not buried underneath Therese's shrine at the Lisieux Carmel.  Her sister Pauline, then prioress, had offered her the honor of being buried there with her sisters, but Leonie declined.  She wanted to remain at the Visitation in death as she had in life. So her tomb, a pilgrimage site, remains in Caen, the city where she found a home and where her father Louis spent his "three years of martyrdom" at the Bon Sauveur hospital. 

On June 6, 1941, ten days before her death, Leonie wrote to Pauline that her superior "told me I will be buried in the crypt beside our other revered Mother Superiors, and that she in turn will join me there. Yes, there’s nothing I’d like more, but may it be as late as possible. This decision of the Council encourages me to embrace my insignificance even more."  [from the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux].  If the honor of being buried in the crypt with her superiors made Leonie feel insignificant, what would she have felt at the celebrations of today?