[4] The project received the full support of Pope Pius XI, who had placed his pontificate under the sign of Saint Thérèse.

It was funded entirely by donations and special contributions from several countries worldwide, based on strong devotions to Saint Thérèse.

The basilica was blessed on 11 July 1937 by the papal legate Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII).

The basic structure, completed before the war, suffered minor damage during the bombing, which destroyed two-thirds of Lisieux.

On 11 July 1951, the basilica was consecrated by Most Reverend, the Archbishop of Rouen Joseph-Marie Martin, with the Papal Legate, Cardinal Maurice Feltin.

The Carmelites of Lisieux, including Saint Thérèse's two surviving sisters, lived in the basilica's crypt that summer.

Pope John Paul II declared them venerable in 1994, and Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Papal Legate, announced their beatification in the Basilica of Saint Thérèse on Mission Sunday, 19 October 2008.