fruition the friars’ dream of building a national shrine to be dedicated to the newly canonized St. Thérèse. It's recorded in Basilica archives that he went to France in 1927 to visit the sisters of St. Thérèse's Discalced Carmelite Convent in Lisieux to ask for their blessing on the project. The nuns, including St. Thérèse's sister Pauline, who was then prioress of Lisieux, were delighted with the idea and pledged their support. Along with their blessings, the nuns sent gifts, including autographed books and photos, medals, printed collection cards, relics of all degrees, and this beautiful portrait to grace the Shrine upon its opening. The original painting was restored with the support of the Strake Foundation of Houston and reinstalled in a place of honor in the basilica in 2007. It is wide by tall, and is located in the undercroft of the church. Significance Now that the National Shrine of the Little Flower has joined the ranks of a minor basilica, the church's ecclesiastical throne has become, symbolically, a papal throne. The throne is original to the basilica and has been used by various visiting prelates for over 70 years. Most recently it has been used by the archbishop and auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of San Antonio during special liturgies, such as feast day Masses and ordinations at the basilica. Relics The basilica of the Little Flower safeguards the relics of both St. Thérèse and her parents, Sts. Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin. St. Thérèse The basilica is home to three first class relics of the Little Flower. Two are contained within the tomb chapel of St. Thérèse. The relics of Thérèse are regularly exposed on a weekly basis for public veneration. The parents of St. Thérèse First class relics of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, were exposed October 18, 2015 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower for public veneration for the first time on the day of the couple's canonization in Rome by the Catholic Church. The relics were a gift to the Discalced Carmelite Friars of San Antonio from the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Lafayette, LA. The back of the reliquary depicts the biblical couple Sara and Tobias, recalling the essential role of marriage as a vocation in human history and in the history of salvation. The theme of Sara and Tobias is taken