Meeting Heroes in France

What a grace-filled day in Lisieux and Normandy! Today we were reminded of the heroic humility of St. Thérèse and the heroic sacrifice of the American soldiers in World War II.

After a 7:30 breakfast at the hotel, we departed for a 9:00 a.m. private Mass celebrated by Fr. Swink at the Carmel of Lisieux, the Discalced Carmelite convent where St. Thérèse spent the final years of her life as a cloistered nun. Just off the chapel is the reliquary of St. Thérèse, containing some of her bones beneath a wax figure of the young saint. Praying before her earthly remains was such a moving experience! The French affectionately call her La Petite Thérèse (“Little Thérèse”), both to distinguish her from St. Teresa of Ávila and to highlight the heart of her message: Littleness is the path to holiness. Fr. Ray's homily reminded us that Thérèse is a constant spiritual companion.

Just before 10:00 a.m., we traveled down the street to the childhood home of St. Thérèse, Les Buissonnets, where she lived from age four to fifteen before entering Carmel. In this home, she was miraculously healed of a mysterious illness at age ten, experienced her “complete conversion” at age thirteen, and asked her father for permission to enter Carmel at age fifteen. The beautiful home remains mostly unchanged from her time there, and it was surreal to walk through the rooms where this great saint ate, slept, and prayed.

As we made our way toward Normandy, Margaret and our driver, Dedier, kept their eyes open for a place to eat lunch, and we eventually discovered a charming sit-down French brasserie called Restaurant Brasserie Bar La Crémaillère. Margaret went in to ask for a “table for fifty,” and they were surprisingly able to accommodate us quickly. Although the menus were in French, the friendly staff spoke English quite well, and we enjoyed excellent pizza, salads, and more. Their “D-Day” beer was popular among our pilgrims, but I instead ordered a large coffee, which is about three and a half ounces in France.

After lunch, a Normandy tour guide named Colin joined us on the bus, providing a detailed and moving history of D-Day. We were able to walk along Omaha Beach, the deadliest of the D-Day landing sites, where thousands of young American men lost their lives as the Allied forces began to liberate France from Nazi occupation.

Colin then continued our tour at the Normandy American Cemetery, where over nine thousand American soldiers who lost their lives before, during, and after D-Day are buried. Colin recounted the stories of several of the young men whose lives were lost there.

One particularly moving story involved a fighter pilot named Billie D. Harris, a young newlywed whose plane was shot down during the war. Although he could have ejected to save himself, he stayed in the plane to steer it away from a French village. His wife never received proper notice of his death and was unaware that he was interred at Normandy until 2004—sixty years later. From then on, Billie’s widow sent flowers to his grave ten times a year until her own death.

After Colin’s tour, Fr. Ray shared a heart-wrenching story on the bus involving his own uncle, Francis Schmidt, who served as a U.S. bomber in World War II. In France, in the midst of battle, Francis encountered a young German man waving a white flag and shouting in broken English, “Surrender! Surrender!” Overcome with anger at the loss of so many friends at the hands of the Nazi forces, Francis shot the man multiple times, saying, “This is for Jim! This is for Steve!”—naming a different fallen friend with each bullet. When Francis went to pull out the German man’s dog tags, he discovered that he was wearing a St. Thérèse medal nearly identical to his own. The story was a poignant reminder that war can turn even brothers in the Faith against one another.

After our daily Rosary on the bus, we arrived at our hotel by 6:30 and were immediately stunned by the view of Mont-Saint-Michel rising across the bay. We’ll be visiting tomorrow, but even from a distance, its size and beauty are breathtaking. Photos truly can’t do it justice.

After settling into the hotel, we headed off to dinner but encountered an unexpected traffic jam. 

We eventually arrived at another delightful French restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious meal and great conversation.

The entire group is very excited to spend most of the day at Mont-Saint-Michel tomorrow. Be sure to read more about our destinations in the pilgrimage guide!