In June 1887, Thérèse went on a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Grâce in Honfleur with her sisters Léonie and Céline and her father Louis Martin. She asks the Blessed Virgin that the Pope agrees to intervene with the responsible authorities and allow her to realize her project of entering Carmel at the age of 15.
The Carmel of Lisieux also has a special history with Our Lady of Grace. In fact, long before Thérèse was born, theFather Pierre Nicolas Sauvage and the Gosselin ladies, founders of the Carmel, had come there on pilgrimage on January 13, 1837, after many unsuccessful attempts to find a Carmel to help in the foundation of that of Lisieux. Shortly after, the Carmel of Poitiers responded favorably, trained the two young foundresses and provided the founding swarm.
