Devotion To St. Therese And Alencon Lace

[Laurie]

For anyone with a devotion to St. Therese, ordering a bit of Alencon lace could be a beautiful way to pay tribute to her and her family and give her thanks for interceding on behalf of your vocation!

 

Therese's mother, Zelie Martin, made Alencon lace. She ran the business out of her home.

 

Here's a website that sells Alencon lace today:

 

http://www.housefabric.com/Alencon-Lace-C84.aspx

 

Here's one pattern, of many (this one is lace trim):

 

 

This lace could be used for a veil on a wedding day (for the various vocations), to hem a handerchief on a wedding day (especially for the groom), etc.

 

It could also be used to celebrate a first communion (veil for girl, handkerchief trim for a boy).

 

You get the idea.

 

It would also make a beautiful bookmarker (there are other patterns that are long, narrow rectangles). You could get it blessed and then laminated. This would make a nice gift for a Mother Superior of an order you are entering, etc.

 

I've also made some relevant comments on another thread (wedding dresses for CVs) that I'll paste below:

 

[You know, I get it that some Catholics in the USA in these days (lay people, families) want to distance themselves from the crazy materiaistic culture we live in. I sympathize with a desire to not get sucked in to the shallowness of the culture. 

 

At the same time, most people don't realize that St. Therese's mom was in the midst of the haute couture of her day! Alencon lace was posh and in high demand. She had a slew of rich ladies coming in and out of her parlor, all day long, ordering the high end lace that she made. (She made it herself, and she also oversaw women who made it, under her direction.) Eventually, Mr. Martin sold his watch shop to help his wife, because her business was booming! 

 

(Another interesting tidbit is that partly because they were immersed in a posh world, Mr. & Mrs. Martin got up super early each morning to attend the "workers' mass." It was at 6:00am, or so, don't remember exactly. But they wanted to attend the mass that the poor attended, the only mass that a grunt worker could go to, if he or she would go to daily mass at all. I think that is a beautiful way to combine living in a posh culture with ordering your day towards God.)]

 

 

 

 

[Ima Lurker]

You know, this is a wonderful idea!

 

I am saving up to send some of my "Sisters" from my former life bookmarks from this website!

 

Their material needs are pretty much taken care of and this, I'm sure will be a very pleasant surprising gift! Too much fun thinking outside the box!

 

Thanks for the link! 

[TheresaThoma]

That is a wonderful idea!

[brandelynmarie]

Very interesting insight into the balance of life for the Martin family...I never really paid close a!ttention to this lace before, it's gorgeous!

Edited August 24, 2013 by brandelynmarie

[brandelynmarie]

Double post & my phone is glitchy, apologies. What sort of price range is there for the lace? Are the prices listed typical?

Edited August 24, 2013 by brandelynmarie

[nikita92]

Yes. Depending on the type of design, it can run quite high! $$ I don't know if the website has a minimum one must order or not. For a book mark one doesn't need very much though. It really is beautiful. I wonder if what they offer is machine made or handmade?!

[truthfinder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USXZLM1wDHY&list=PLuvgpjwg1feJjf6iDk3BILotqxs-CO4Bv

 

This video gives a sense on how this lace is made, and it would be no wonder that handmade Alencon lace would be very costly.  ( I have a feeling, which might be wrong, that only handmade Alencon lace can be considered as such).

[Pia Jesu]

[attachment=3195:St. Therese.jpg]

 

Beautiful Alencon lace on St. Therese's collar and dress!

[brandelynmarie]

I like to think that as Blessed Zelie made the lace, especially for her daughters, that she would pray for them....what a gift!

[AnneLine]

Last February, at the request of one of the Phatmothers, I posted a novena to Bls Louis and Zelie in open mike.  During the 9 days I posted a lot of info about the entire Martin Familyh, including quite a bit about Bl. Zelie and the lace.

 

I know a lot of VSers don't always venture out of VS, so it's possible you missed the novena and the general info.

 

Here's a link to the entire novena....

 

http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/127316-prayers-for-baby-leo-a-novena-for-healing/

 

And here is the info on Bl. Zelie and the Lace that was posted during the novena (garnered from several posts).  

 

Alencon, where Louis and Zelie lived, is at the center of the French lacemaking trade. It was common for women to take classes to learn this skill, which was one that took many years to perfect, and which was a very well-paid skill. It was also one that young women realized could be continued even after marriage and raising a family. Mme. Martin had been taking lacemaking classes, and her eye settled on Zelie Guerin, a young and very capable lacemaking student.

 

Here's a picture of a young woman working on some of the lace.... and of a sample of the lace... but it is NOT a picture of Zelie working on it!):

 

 

Zelie's specialty was in combining all the little strips of lace that the various lacemakers in her employ created. Louis also helped by designing the tiny patterns, a skill very comparable to the fine watchmaking work that he had done while employed in his own watch and clock making business.

 

I also think it is wonderful that Louis had saved some of Zelie's lace for Therese's wedding gown when she was received as a Carmelite nun. That gives me a special insight into his very romantic heart....

 

In case anyone is interested, below is an excellent video on the making of Point d'Alençon Lace. The video is in French, but I think you'll be able to enjoy it even if you don't speak the language.

 

NOTE:   (This is a longer version of the one that Truthfinder posted, but it goes over each of the steps of lace making........)

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBws14YwHgw&feature=player_embedded[/media]

 

 

 

Below is a picture of a piece of lace that was created by Bl. Zelie and presented to Pope Leo XIII for his Jubilee as a present from the Diocese of Bayeux.   I had heard before that her work was exceptional... but this is truly magnificent.

 

I cannot imagine the hours of work it represents....  the video (above) shows how each little detail is picked out from plain thread.

 

 

Below is a picture of a piece of lace that was created by Bl. Zelie and presented to Pope Leo XIII for his Jubilee as a present from the Diocese of Bayeux.   I had heard before that her work was exceptional... but this is truly magnificent.

 

I cannot imagine the hours of work it represents....  the video (above) shows how each little detail is picked out from plain thread.

 

 

 

If you want to read more, here is the link that appeared in the last post.... 

 

 

If you click on the link in the article, you can enlarge the piece of lace.

 

http://nobility.org/...2/zelie-martin/

 

 

=========================

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

And this is a related video... not SPECIFICALLY about the Martins or the Alencon lace industry, but will give you some idea of what goes into it.  It is from one of my favorite video series, the Edwardian Farm.   That series recounts 2 archeologists (Peter & Alex) and a social historian (Ruth) who live as they would have lived in the time period they are studying.  There is one that would be specifically about the time period of the Martins ("Victorian Farm") but the Edwardian Farm one incudes a section on the Lace trade... so while it depicting a time period about 25 years after the death of Zelie (closer to that of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity) and about 10 years after the death of St. Therese herself, it is still going to give you an idea of why the work is so expensive and so time consuming.  (And the video is specific to a slightly different version of the lace, that of the Devon area of England). 

 

(Probably a reminder that 'Normandy' reminds us that that part of England and France were at one point the same country!)

 

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i17Gl5KxpjY[/media]

 

I don't know how to post short sections of the long video, but the relevant sections are:  

 

About making the lace:   40:15-43:50 and 46:04-46:20

 

About cleaning the lace:  47:21-49:00

 

One cuff of the handmade Devon lace cost 2,000 pounds... it was the jewelry of their time period. 

And Alencon lace was more expensive....

 

I don't want to know how much money that was then or now!!!!

 

It sounds like enough lace to make a mantilla would be the entire work of one lace maker for an entire year!!!!!!!!!

 

Therese's mom did the most exacting part of the lace making -- combining all the little bits that the home-based lacemaking workers had done, and she struggled to figure out how to pay a living wage to here workers... I can look up the reference and find a quote if there is interest... I have the book somewhere around here....

 

 

I think it is beautiful that Bl. Louis saved some of Zelie's lace for Therese's wedding gown (and I bet he did the same for each of the daughters.  What a lovely gesture, and perhaps one that he and Zelie came up with together......  Just lovely....)

[AnneLine]

I should also note that bobbin lace (like the Devon lace) is different from the pin lace that Zelie and the Alencon workers did... but the video still gives you an idea why Zelie would have been taking classes each week to learn the skill!