Remember Catholic martyrs of the French Revolution: the Carmelite Saints of Compiègne

You may not realize it, but the Catholic faith was one of the
great targets of the French Revolution, birthing martyrs and
saints from persecution and bloodshed. Sixteen Carmelite nuns
were beheaded in 1794 for remaining true to their vows, and
nothing more. During the so-called Reign of Terror which saw
revolutionaries sniffing out real and imagined conspiracies,
these nuns were expelled from their monastic life and offered a
choice: renounce their faith, and submit to extreme secularism,
or be deemed enemies of the state.


The prioress Mother Teresa of St. Augustine proposed the sisters
offer their lives for the salvation of France, fulfilling a
prophetic dream from another sister a hundred years before. The
act of sacrifice was offered while the nuns sang hymns and
prayed, guillotined in front of a crowd faced with the
consequence of madness.


Faith Full is a Catholic podcast hosted by Tony Ganzer. This
episode features Jonathan O'Brien, author of "Called to
Compiègne":
https://www.amazon.com/Called-Compi%C3%A8gne-Jonathan-Michael-OBrien/dp/B0D72K2F5F


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On a rainy night in Paris, the Catholic Bishop strikes the door
of Notre Dame with his crozier, or staff, as French President
Emmanuel Macron and mayor Anne Hidalgo look on. This ceremony on
December 7, 2024, reconsecrated the Cathedral after the
devastating fire in 2019.


To a Catholic, Notre Dame is God’s house. But to the French, it
is part of the patrimoine, the collective French heritage and
cultural identity of France. Yes, it’s still God’s house, but
following the French Revolution France developed into a society
governed by laicite—hyper secularism. During the Revolution, this
Cathedral of Notre Dame was declared a temple of reason. Effigies
were constructed on her floors. The traditional symbols and
characteristics of true Catholicism, which is interwoven with
France’s history, were eyed with suspicion. Priests and nuns were
forced to take oaths to the republic, and those who didn’t were
arrested. 


I took a pilgrimage to France recently, and visited minor and
major holy sites all over the country. I celebrated Mass at the
cathedrals of Tours and Orleans, I prayed at the Marian
apparition site of Pontmain, at the Abbaye of Mont Saint Michel,
at Joan of Arc’s birthplace of Domremy La Pucelle, and where she
saw the Dauphin crowned king in the cathedral of Reims. These and
many other sites were powerful reminders of just how Catholic
France was, and is, if you know where to look.


Americans often find a kinship in the idea of the French
Revolution because a democracy emerged from the ruins of
monarchy. But the story of the martyrs, now saints, of Compiegne,
reminds us of the brutality. To learn more about these brave
women religious I spoke with Jonathan O’Brien, a Catholic convert
who was touched by the story of the nuns in Compiegne and wrote
his book: Called to Compiegne. We spoke before Pope Francis
formally declared the nuns as saints through what’s called
equipollent canonization: the Church believes these women are in
Heaven, without reported modern miracles, as is usually required.


I asked Jonathan what inspired him to dig deep into their
history: