On September 30, the eve of the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Tennessee failed to execute Christa Gail Pike.
After two doses of lethal injection, she remained alive. Officials took her to a hospital. The Governor then halted all remaining executions for the year. Experts are calling it unprecedented.
Why does the date matter?
Before she became a Carmelite, 14 year old Thérèse Martin heard about Henri Pranzini, a man condemned for a brutal triple murder in Paris in 1887. He refused the chaplain and was called impenitent.
Thérèse made him her "first child." She offered Masses and prayed:
"My God, I am quite sure that Thou wilt pardon this unhappy Pranzini... but this is my first sinner, and therefore I beg for just one sign of repentance to reassure me."
On August 31, 1887, at the foot of the scaffold, Pranzini turned, seized the crucifix and kissed the wounds of Christ three times.
Thérèse wrote: "I had obtained the sign I asked for."
139 years later, on the vigil of her feast, another condemned prisoner is given more time.
The Church has not declared this a miracle. But for those who love St. Thérèse, the pattern is familiar. She did not pray that Pranzini escape justice. She prayed that he not be lost. That he be given a sign.
On September 30, justice was suspended, not to deny accountability, but perhaps to extend mercy.