The French Revolution began in 1789. The war brought many sorrows and sufferings, and a significant amount of anti-Catholic sentiment and violence. In 1794, under the "Reign of Terror" led by Maximilien Robespierre, this sentiment would prove fatal for a group of faithful Carmelite nuns.
For many years, French Catholicism enjoyed a prominent place in society, with the clergy holding the highest class status, above the aristocracy. However, the revolt against the social and political order of France changed that. Religious orders were soon under fire from the French revolutionary government, the National Assembly. On October 28, 1789, the Assembly prohibited the taking of vows in France’s monasteries. Then, on February 13, 1790, religious orders with solemn vows were suppressed (Bunson). The French leaders had decided that religious orders, espeically contemplative ones, were of no use to the country and thus felt justified in taking over the monasteries and convents and forcing the religious out to the streets and back into the role of lay person. Little did they understand of the fortitude of these men and women.
As things got worse, many priests and bishops were murdered. The list of "enemies of the state" grew, despite frequent executions. Monasteries and convents ceased to be the homes of monks and nuns, and were instead used for whatever purposes the state deemed necessary. Amidst these beyond-unfortunate circumstances though, the faithful stood firm.
On September 14, 1792, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a group of Carmelite sisters were forced out of their convent in Compiègne and sent away after being denied the freedom to wear their habits. Fortunately, their Mother Superior had prepared for the worst, and arranged for them to split up into four rented rooms in the town. They cautiously gathered together for Mass with an undercover priest as often as possible, and individually remained faithful to the rules of the Carmel to the best of their abilities. The sisters were not able to keep out of danger for long, and in July 1793 they were arrested by the local Committee of Public Safety and put in a Paris jail.
The nuns were given a trial, though it was unfair as they had already been determined guilty. They were charged with "conspiracy and treason against the nation by supposedly corresponding with counter-revolutionary conservative elements, being royalists, and keeping in their possession the writings of the liberticides of the ancien régime" (Bunson). One of the sisters, Mother Henriette de Jesus, spoke up and questioned the judges, resulting in an added charge: "attachment to your Religion and the King". She then turned to her sisters and declared proudly, "We must rejoice and give thanks to God for we die for our religion, our faith, and for being members of the Holy Roman Catholic Church" (Bunson).
On July 17, 1794, sixteen Carmelite sisters were led to the guillotine for their execution. As usual, a huge crowd had gathered to watch the so-called "enemies of the state" being murdered. Today, though, something was different. Today, the entire crowd fell silent as the nuns arrived, and remained silent even after it was over.
Having approached the guillotine, the sisters took turns kneeling before Mother Teresa of St Augustine, their Superior, and renewing their religious vows as well as their baptismal promises. At that moment, rather than being consumed by fear, each of the sisters were calmly and joyfully professing to the world their unwavering trust in God and rejecting the works of the devil. The soldiers had only allowed them a few moments of prayer, so the Carmelites lined up, novice at the front and superior at the back, ready to face death. The only sound was that of their singing, with the words of the Veni Creator Spiritus getting quieter and quieter as one by one the sisters were martyred, until only the Mother Superior stood before the guillotine. Then she, too, was killed. The crowd dispersed in uneasy silence.
Ten days later, Maximilien Robespierre fell from power and was himself murdered by guillotine (Bunson).
On that day, anti-Catholic sentiment was manifested in the killing of 16 innocent Carmelite nuns, and sixteen martyrs were added to the Church's cloud of witnesses.
The Sisters' names were as follows:
Mother Teresa of St Augustine (age 42)
Mother St Louis (age 42)
Sister of Jesus Crucified (age 79)
Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection (age 79)
Sister Teresa of the Holy Heart of Mary (age 54)
Mother Henriette of Jesus (age 49)
Sister Teresa of St Ignatius (age 51)
Sister Julia Louisa of Jesus (age 53)
Sister Mary Henrietta of Providence (age 34)
Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (age 58)
Sister Constance (age 28)
Sister Mary of the Holy Ghost (age 52)
Sister St Martha (age 52)
Sister St Francis Xavier (age 30)
and two servants of who had been at the convent since 1772, Catherine and Teresa Soiron (age 52 and 46, respectively).
These incredible women were named venerable in 1902 by Pope Leo XIII, and beatified by Pope Pius X in 1906. Blessed Martyrs of Compiègne, pray for us!
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As they mounted the scaffold, these women maintained confidence in God. They used their last few breaths to renew their vows and baptismal promises - how many of us would have chosen to spend our final moments on some earthly matter? On this Good Friday, as we remember the terrible death Christ suffered for us, let us renew our faith and strive to reach a place in our faith where we could die with our first thoughts confidently on the joys of Heaven.
Click here for the words to use to renew your baptismal promises.
*Topic inspired by a talk given by one of my teachers.
*Information gathered from the following sources: