Martyrs of Compiègne

, the prison the sisters were held while awaiting trial The number of Christian martyrs increased greatly in the early years of the French Revolution. Thousands of Christians died by the guillotine or as the result of forced exile, drownings, imprisonment, shootings, mob violence, and "sheer butchery". In 1790, the French Revolutionary government passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which outlawed religious life. The community of Carmelite sisters at Compiègne, a commune 72 km north of Paris, was founded in 1641, a daughter house of the monastery in Amiens. The community grew rapidly and "was renowned for its fervor and fidelity". It was supported by the French court. They were allowed to remain at the convent and were deemed wards of the state, which entitled them to receive government pensions. The revolutionary government, at the end of 1791, required all clergy to swear a civic oath supporting the Civil Constitution or risk losing their pensions. At Easter 1792, the government plundered churches and interrupted services. Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, the convent's prioress, suggested to the community that they commit themselves to execution and offer themselves as a sacrifice for France and for the French Church. In August 1792, the government ordered all women's monasteries closed; the seizure and removal of the Compiègne convent's furnishings occurred on 12 September, and the sisters were forced to leave the convent and re-enter the world on 14 September, the end of their cloistered community. Mother Teresa made arrangements for the 20 sisters living in the convent at the time to hide in the city in four separate apartments and find civilian clothes for them to wear, since the wearing of habits and religious apparel had been outlawed. They also found two letters written by "the unfortunate" Mulot de la Ménardière to his cousin, Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception, containing unfavorable criticisms of the Revolution. Mulot was accused of helping them and of being a non-juring priest, even though he was married, and was arrested and imprisoned with the sisters. On 22 June, the sisters and Mulot were arrested and locked up in the former convent of the Visitation, an improvised jail for political prisoners in Compiègne. On 10 July 1794, they were transferred to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris to await trial. During their trial on 17 July 1794, in which they received no legal counsel, Mother Teresa claimed full responsibility for the charges of being counter-revolutionaries and religious fanatics, and defended and insisted on the others' innocence. All 16 sisters, along with Mulot, were sentenced to death. There were 26 nights between their arrest and execution. == Execution ==

. This discreet square is the exact location where the guillotine that killed the sisters was set up. On the night of 17 July 1794, the sisters were transported through the streets of Paris in an open cart, a journey that took two hours. During that time, they sang "hymns of praise," Onlookers berated them, yelling insults and throwing things at them. While waiting to be executed, a sympathetic woman from the crowd offered the sisters water, but Sister Mary-Henrietta stopped one sister from accepting, insisting that it would break their unity and promising that they would drink when they were in heaven. to watch, but the sisters showed no fear and forgave their guards. The final song the sisters sang was Psalm 116, Laudate Dominum. Sister Constance, a novice, the youngest of the group, was the first to die; began the chant, but it was cut short by the guillotine blade. Each sister joined her and was silenced in the same way. Before their execution they knelt and chanted the "Veni Creator" as a profession and then renewed their baptismal and religious vows out loud. Sister Mary-Henrietta stood by her prioress until it was her turn to die, helping the 14 other sisters climb the scaffold steps before climbing them herself, and was the second-to-last to die. On the day the sisters were killed there were 24 other victims. ==Veneration==

The Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified on 27 May 1906 by Pope Pius X. They were the first martyrs of the French Revolution to be recognized by the Holy See. Their feast day is 17 July. There were four miracles proven during the process of beatification: the cure from cancer in June 1897 of a Carmelite lay sister from New Orleans, at point of death; the cure of an abbé at the seminary in Brive, also at the point of death, in March 1897; the cure of a Carmelite lay sister in Vansy, of tuberculosis and an abscess in her right leg, in December 1897; and the cure of a Franciscan sister from Montmorillon in April 1898. All sixteen sisters were recognised as saints of the Church on 18 December 2024 by Pope Francis via equipollent canonization as expected. == Legacy ==

Ten days after the sixteen were executed, Maximilien Robespierre was executed, ending the Reign of Terror. French Catholics of the time believed that the public executions of the nuns "helped bring about the end to the horrors of the revolution" Three of the sisters were away from the community at the time of the arrests and so escaped execution. One of them, Marie de l'Incarnation (Françoise Geneviève Philippe), wrote an account of the execution, History of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, which was published in 1836. The story of the Martyrs of Compiègne has inspired a novella, an unproduced film, a play, and an opera. Her work appeared in an English translation as The Song of the Scaffold in 1933. Emmet Lavery used Le Fort's novella as the basis for his 1949 play, titled The Song at the Scaffold. Raymond-Leopold Bruckberger, a French Dominican, and cinematographer Philippe Agostini developed a film project based on Le Fort's novella. Though their project never made it into production, they made an important contribution to the legacy of the Carmelites of Compiegne in 1947 when they persuaded Georges Bernanos to write its dialogue. With the film abandoned, Bernanos' dialogue became a stage drama. It premiered in 1951 in Zurich as Dialogues des carmélites and ran for 300 performances the following year. James Travers and Willems Henri wrote that "despite its starry cast and needlessly showy production values" the film has "stood the test of time and deserves to be more widely known". They also said that the film "more than does justice to Georges Bernanos' play and provides a thoughtful and emotionally involving reflection on the power and limits of faith". The cast included well-known French actors: Pierre Brasseur, Jeanne Moreau, Madeline Renaud, Alida Valli, Georges Wilson, and Jean-Louis Barrault. In 1984, another version adapted from Bernanos was directed by Pierre Cardinal for a French television. This included more of Bernanos' dialogue than the 1960 film and featured Bernanos' granddaughter Anne Caudry in the cast. == List of the martyrs ==

The Martyrs of Compiègne consisted of 11 nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs (or tertiaries). She almost escaped execution when she returned to her family's home in Paris to care for her widowed mother who was ill, but she returned to Compiègne on 13 July 1794. • Mother St. Louis, sub-prioress (Marie-Anne, or Antoinette, Brideau). Born in Belfort, 7 December 1752. Professed Sept, 1771. According to Mother Teresa, Henriette "won all hearts by her natural gentleness and affection, as might a real mother". Like Mother Teresa, Henriette wrote verses and was a talented artist; some of her works have also been preserved at the Carmels of Compiègne and Sens. She entered the religious life after witnessing a tragedy at one of the balls she attended as a young girl. She nursed other sickly nuns, despite the toll it took on her own body. She was miraculously healed after toxic exposure to paint lead left her seriously cognitively impaired for two years. • Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Marie-Claude Cyprienne). Born in 1736 in Bourth. Professed in 1757; entered Compiègne in 1756, at the age of 20. She was witty, humorous, and "possessed an undeniable exterior charm". Sister Euphrasia wrote priests and others in the religious life for spiritual direction and "left a voluminous correspondence" during her 30 years in the community. Her letters reveal "a strong personality plagued by a certain restlessness, something always potentially problematic in a cloistered community". • Sister Julie Louise of Jesus, widow (Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville). Born in Loreau (or Évreux), in 1741. Probably professed in 1777. • Sister Teresa of St. Ignatius (Marie-Gabrielle Trézel) Born in Compiègne, 4 April 1743. Professed on 12 December 1771. so she sought a more cloistered life. She came from a large, pious family; five of her sisters were also nuns in the Nevers order, and two of her brothers were priests. ;Lay Sisters • Sister St. Martha, lay sister (Marie Dufour). Born in Beaune, 1 October or 2, 1742. Entered the community in 1772. • Sister Mary of the Holy Spirit, lay sister (Angélique Roussel). Born in Fresnes, 4 August 1742. Professed 14 May1769. In the convent, her main task was to care for the older nuns. ;Externs Tertiaries in service of the community since 1772. • Catherine Soiron, born 2 February 1742. • Thérèse Soiron, born on 23 February 1748. ==See also==