Saint of the day July 17: 16 Carmelite martyrs. Catholic Saints

Every July 17, one day after the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Catholic Church celebrates the sixteen Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne (France). These brave women were murdered out of hatred for Christ during the French Revolution (1789-1799).

These martyrs are also often called “Teresians”, in reference to Teresa of Saint Augustine, prioress of the Carmelite monastery of Compiègne.

Times of confusion

The Carmelites settled in Compiègne in 1641 and, faithful to the spirit of Saint Teresa of Jesus, with their holiness they earned the esteem of the locals. However, once the Revolution began, a persecutory regime was unleashed against the Church and its representatives. The convent in which the nuns lived was closed and its members were forced to live as laymen, according to the revolutionary law of 1790.

The next step was to force the nuns to sign the so-called “revolutionary oath,” by which they committed to defending the values ​​of the revolution: freedom, equality and fraternity. By submitting to this law they avoided being deported, but they had to disband. Thus, the members of the community began to reside in four different houses, in secret.

When the situation seemed to have calmed down a little, Teresa of San Agustín, former prioress of the convent, proposed that her sisters resume the discipline of conventual life, even if they were exclaustrated. In this way, despite living separately, the nuns resumed the relationship of obedience with their superior and began to communicate with each other daily.

“Its builders toil in vain; if the Lord does not protect the city” (Ps 127, 1)

The revolutionary ideals, meanwhile, were exposed to everyone like words blown away by the wind. In the name of these ideas, under the protection of “Reason” and the desire for “justice”, many atrocities were committed, such as what was done with the Carmelite martyrs.

At a certain point, some supporters of the Revolution in Compiègne realized what the sisters were doing – challenging the authoritarianism of the Regime of Terror – and denounced them to the “Public Health Committee.” Immediately, their houses were ordered to be searched and all “proof of conventual life” seized. A picture of the Sacred Heart, some letters and writings were found.

This was more than enough to accuse them of secretly plotting towards the “reestablishment of the monarchy and the disappearance of the Republic.” What awaited them was, at least, jail.

Fortunately, some Carmelites managed to escape, although the majority – about sixteen – were arrested. The revolutionaries then gathered the prisoners into a single room. Standing facing each other, the women entrusted themselves to the Virgin of Carmen and agreed to retract the revolutionary oath, and not accept any more impositions that would compromise their faith.

When asked to sign the oath again, the Carmelites refused. Immediately afterwards, they were accused of “conspirators against the revolution.”

In the “City of Light”

The sixteen were sent towards Paris, with their hands tied, on top of two carts with straw. Upon arriving at their destination they were locked up in the Conciergerie prison, which was reputed to be the prelude to the guillotine. There they were placed, next to common prisoners and, of course, priests, religious and committed lay people accused of being conspirators as well.

In prison, the Carmelites became a model of piety and firmness. They established a kind of conventual prayer regime and carried it out in front of everyone, jailers and prisoners, without any fear. The nuns even managed to celebrate the Virgin of Carmen on July 16.

That was a glorious day in the prison, in which one could breathe some serene joy and solemnity.

Dressed in white, carrying palms in their hands

The next morning, July 17, 1794, the sisters appeared before the Revolutionary Court. This sentenced the death penalty for all; the manner of execution: death by decapitation.

At the foot of the guillotine the Carmelites sang the “Te Deum”, renewed their promises and vows, and went up one by one to give their lives, as an offering to Christ. This would fulfill what a Carmelite from the same community of Compiègne had predicted a hundred years earlier. That nun had a vision in which the nuns of the monastery appeared dressed in white, carrying the palm of martyrdom in their hands.

The sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne were beatified by Pope Saint Pius It occurs when the Pope recognizes, accepts and orders the public and universal worship of a person without going through the ordinary procedure (recognition of a miracle), given the extent or antiquity of the veneration, a condition that is met in the case of martyrs. of Compiègne.

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If you want to know more about these martyrs, we recommend the following article from the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/Las_Diecisafter_Beatas_Mártires_Teresianas_de_Compiègne.

More information about these saints in the following links: