June 6, 1944 "D-Day!"

The Martin Sisters

                                                                         

Four months after Pauline’s beloved sister Marie died, France was invaded by Nazi Germany. It was a fear cast down by many Frenchmen and a fear that would soon be realized on May 10, 1940. A German dictator by the name of Adolph Hitler decided to invade France. The French army thought that the Germans would attack them on the  French and German border, where they had a strong line of defense. However, the Germans decided to attack France through Belgium instead. The French army made an enormous effort to stop the German army from  penetrating the front lines. However, they were no match to the German arsenal of weapons. On June 22, 1940 the French and German governments signed an Armistice agreement that called for two different zones. One zone occupied by the Germans and the other zone occupied by the French. Unfortunately, Caen and Lisieux were both positioned in the German occupied zone. The Germans setup outposts in most of the major cities in France, Caen and Lisieux being no exception

                            Mère Agnès de Jésus             Seour Genevieve de la Sainte Face

                                (Mother Agnes of Jesus)        (Sr. Genevieve of the Holy Face)

JUNE 6, 1994 ~D-Day "Normandy Landings" Normandy, France,  

landing operations of 

Allied Forces during WWII

~at this time Pauline (Mother Agnes of Jesus, 83) and Celine (Sr. Genevieve of the Holy Face, 75)

After four years of occupation of France by the Germans, the decision by the Allied Forces to invade France was imminent. On June 6, 1944, the first course of action by the Allies was the bombing missions prior to the troops landing on the beaches of Normandy. The barrage of bombs came several hours later, in the middle of the night, upon Lisieux on June 7th destroying two of the main churches as well as a couple other monasteries. The first bombing mission lasted for over forty-five minutes and the majority of the bombs fell on the city center as well as the railway station. The main objective of the Allies was to destroy the transportation routes of the Germans but due to the heavy cloud cover over Lisieux the bombs rained down on the small town indiscriminately.

Later that afternoon the second round of bombings commenced. This time the immediate area around the Carmelite monastery was on fire and they too were now in danger of losing their lives. As Pauline and her Carmelite sisters heard the sounds of the explosions of the bombs, one of the fathers, associated with the monastery, rushed to find Pauline and advised her to leave the monastery immediately with her sisters and take refuge at the Basilica. Pauline agreed to his request and was escorted with her sisters to the Basilica. The only thing Pauline and her sisters were able to take with them, while they were being bombarded, was Therese’s relics. They were forced to leave behind all of the other possessions associated with Therese and all of the work they had accomplished for decades with the risk of losing it forever. About eighty-five bombs landed in the Carmelite gardens, luckily not dropping on the main buildings of the monastery. Their gardens were destroyed, leaving them with little food to eat in the coming days. A barrage of fire had started to commence on the monastery as a result of the bombs. But luckily the fathers were able to put it out saving the monastery and the chapel.

After two days of bombing raids on Lisieux ended, over seven hundred people died including the majority of the nuns at the Benedictine monastery, which housed the relics of Therese’s First Holy Communion. Despite the dangers that were lurking in their sites, all of the Carmelite sisters made it to the Basilica unharmed. Many of the townspeople had already gathered in the crypt of the Basilica when they arrived. It was for Pauline as well as for Celine a great culture shock. They were forced back into the world once more, a world they had abandoned years ago.

Pauline and her Carmelite sisters went to the altar of the crypt and prayed in the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Smile. There they set up a temporary place for them to continue their life of prayer. Hours upon hours they would pray numerous prayers for their own safety and also for the safety of all who were involved in the fighting for the liberation of France.

Martin Sisters at Lisieux Carmel
with St. Therese at far right and their cousin Marie Guerin (Front)

Days after the initial bombings, the German army made their retreat from the Normandy beaches and set their sights on many small French towns as they retreated eastward. They made several attempts to regroup their armies so that they could make an attempt to counterattack the Allies invasion on June 8th. An order was sent to the German Panzer division to regroup in Lisieux but due to the Allied bombings, the German army became disoriented. German General Speidel changed his division’s direction from regrouping in Lisieux and turned around and headed to the town of Caen instead. As the fighting went on, a number of the German soldiers, after being separated by the fighting, retreated to Lisieux and took refuge in the upper half of the Basilica. The Germans made many attempts during the fighting to use the townspeople as a buffer between them and the Allies. Pauline and Celine as well as their Carmelite sisters and many of townspeople were also used as a buffer from the Allied forces while they were forced to stay in the crypt of the Basilica. The Germans also gathered up many of the townspeople and forced them to repair the roads and bridges that were destroyed by the Allied bombs.

To get a glance at the town they once knew from childhood, Pauline and Celine walked up the steps to the top of dome of the Basilica. It was very heartbreaking for Pauline to see all of the destruction that lay before them. As tears fell from her eyes, there were only memories left of the town she once knew for most of it was destroyed.

When fighting had stopped temporarily, the Carmelite nuns grouped themselves into pairs of two, risking their lives to try and find some food in Lisieux. Pauline and Celine traveled throughout the ravaged town several times trying to find anyone, which would be willing to share with them some food to eat as well as for their sisters. As they went searching for food, they took the opportunity to go to Les Buissonnets and see whether it survived the bombings, it of course did. When Pauline and Celine reached the door of the house that they once spent their childhood in, many of the fond memories that they had shared resurfaced.

When there was another opportunity for them to venture out in Lisieux, they walked to the cemetery where their family members were buried. Pauline and Celine prayed before the graves of their father and mother as well as their brothers and sisters. They also had the opportunity to see and pay their respects to the Carmelite sisters they once knew while they were in the monastery. These were the first and only times they were able to see what they thought they would never see again in their lifetime.

Due to the Germans having a stronghold in and around Caen, it delayed the liberation of Lisieux until August 23rd. Once the British troops reached the outskirts of Lisieux, word had spread throughout the town that the Allied forces were nearby. On the 21st of August, the British finally reached the outskirts of Lisieux. In the distance, they could hear the bells of the Basilica ringing even though the German army was still occupying the town. Soon, the German army retreated to a ridge overlooking the town, leaving snipers behind. The Germans waited for the British troops to arrive before they started to commence firing mortars on them and the townspeople. The rain delayed the British troops briefly but they soon took control of the town.

When the British troops arrived at the Basilica, their first intentions were to blow it up. Because it was thought that the Germans were still in the Basilica, however, they had already left. By a miracle alone, the British commander ultimately changed his mind and spared the Basilica. After the British troops had complete control of Lisieux on August 24th, it was time for Pauline, Celine and the sisters to return to the monastery. On August 27th, a procession carrying Therese’s relics made its way from the Basilica and back to the Carmelite monastery. It was a day filled with tears by both Pauline and Céline, the worst was finally over.


After they returned to the monastery, there was minor damage done to the monastery compound itself as well as to the Basilica. It was time to repair the damage that was done. Life soon resumed as normal or at least what could be thought of as normal. For years after, the Carmelite monastery and the town of Lisieux were still mending its wounds from the devastation that the war had caused. Much had been lost of the medieval houses that inhabited the town as
well as the damage done to the famous Cathedral. Life was very hard for all.
~source : Martin Sisters

"Normandy is marked by the landings. It is inscribed in people's hearts, in memories, in stone, in rebuilding, in memorial plaques, in street names, everywhere."

- the Rev. Rene-Denis Lemaigre, priest of Lisieux.

********

This is the prayer originally entitled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout" written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Allied troops were invading German-occupied Europe during World War II. The prayer was read to the Nation on radio on the evening of D-Day, June 6, 1944, while American, British and Canadian troops were fighting to establish five beach heads on the coast of Normandy in northern France.

~The History Place

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.