A sunny start to the day here. Cold though, a real nip in the air now. Boots and cosy coat weather.

On this day in 2008, the parents of St Thérèse, Louis and Zélie Martin, were declared Blessed. They are the first spouses in the history of the Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple and an example to all of us who choose married life.

Here is the prayer for their canonisation:

Prayer for the Canonisation of Louis and Zélie Martin and to obtain favours through their intercession:

God Our Father, I thank You for having given us Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Therese. United and faithful in marriage, they have left us an example of Christian living and evangelical virtue. In raising a large family through trials, suffering and bereavement, they put their trust in You and always sought Your will.

Deign, Lord, to make known your will in their regard and grant the favour I ask, in the hope that the father and mother of St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, may soon be canonised and thereby held up to the Universal Church as model for the families of our time. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen

(Here mention your request)

On a more positive note, I was pleased to come across some parenting tips from the Little Flower's mum Zélie, via Twitter.

She started praying for their holiness from the time she was pregnant. I especially love the prayer she taught them to say each morning:

My God, I give You my heart; please accept it that no creature, but You alone, my good Jesus, may possess it.

St Thérèse's lovely day

On Monday, Mum, Wee and me went to Knock. It was the national day in honour of St Thérèse and this year they celebrated the 150th Anniversary of her parents, Louis & Zelie Martin's marriage.

It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine and a soft breeze: the kind of day that is at a premium in Knock, in my experience. There were huge crowds there too: we went into the Basilica about 2 o'clock to venerate her relics (one of her feet apparently) and the place was filling up already for Mass at 3. Wee isn't terribly keen on waiting quietly in very slow-moving queues, so after a little while we decided to find somewhere to sit for Mass.

For the Responsorial Psalm, they sang the Magnificat, which I really love. (So much so that we asked a good friend and angelic singer to sing it at our wedding Mass.) They also sang The Love of my Lord is the Essence, among other things. James Kilbane sang beautifully.

Unfortunately, I missed the sermon, due to tending to Babba-roo. I got back to the basilica in time for the Anointing of the sick. After Mass, they continued venerating St Thérèse's relics by getting people to line up and process in front of the altar. There was a bit of an un-Christian stampede for this, so we reluctantly left to avoid Roo getting trampled underfoot. We were disappointed and baffled that they didn't bless the whole congregation with the relics. Outside the basilica, we noticed a statue of St Thérèse (pictured) so we said a prayer there and made for home. On the way, we stopped at the bookshop and bought some beautiful children's books, including this one, by Maite Roche, which is lovely to read before bedtime. Mum bought one of her books, Je vous salue Marie, for Wee in Nevers last year and it's funny to see him 'reading' it solemnly in his cot as if he understood every word.