Martyrs of Compiègne

Martyrs of Compiegne
Died	Mid-July 1794,Barrière de Vincennes (modern day Place de la Nation), Paris, France
Martyred by	Committee of Public Safety, Reign of Terror
Venerated in	Carmelite Order
Beatified	May 1906 by Pope Pius X
Feast	17 July
Notable martyrs	Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine

The Martyrs of Compiègne are sixteen Carmelite nuns who were guillotined On 17 July 1794 during the Reign of Terror. They are commemorated on 17 July of the Carmelite Calendar of Saints.

Terrye Newkirk writes in "The Martyrs of Compiègne as Prophets of the Modern Age":

On 17 July 1794, in the closing days of the Reign of Terror led by Robespierre, sixteen Carmelite nuns of the Catholic Church were guillotined at the Barrière de Vincennes (nowadays Place de la Nation) in Paris. They were buried in a common grave at the Picpus Cemetery, where a single cross today marks the remains of the 1,306 victims of the guillotine. A mere handful of the French Revolution's victims, they have commanded the attention of historians, hagiographers, authors, playwrights, composers, and librettists for two hundred years. In the course of the 20th century, the Martyrs of Compiègne have been the subject of a massive scholarly history, a German novella, a French play, a film, and Francis Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. In 1902, Pope Leo XIII declared the nuns Venerable, the first step toward canonization. They were later beatified by Pius X in May 1906: Carmelites celebrate the memory of the prioress, Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine (Lidoine), and her fifteen companions on 17 July, and Catholics may adopt them as patrons. The bicentenary of their death was observed in 1994; many are petitioning for their canonization.

Francis Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites is based on the story of the Martyrs, as adapted by Gertrud von Le Fort and, later, Georges Bernanos.

List of the martyrs

The martyrs consisted of fourteen nuns and lay sisters, and two servants:

Choir Nuns

• Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, prioress (Madeleine-Claudine Ledoine) b. 1752
• Mother St. Louis, sub-prioress (Marie-Anne [or Antoinett] Brideau) b. 1752
• Mother Henriette of Jesus, ex-prioress (Marie-Françoise Gabrielle de Croissy) b. 1745
• Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified (Marie-Anne Piedcourt) b. 1715
• Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection, ex-sub-prioress and sacristan (Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret) b. 1715
• Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Marie-Claude Cyprienne) b. 1736
• Sister Teresa of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Marie-Antoniette Hanisset) b. 1740
• Sister Julie Louise of Jesus, widow (Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville) b. 1741
• Sister Teresa of St. Ignatius (Marie-Gabrielle Trézel) b. 1743
• Sister Mary-Henrietta of Providence (Anne Petras) b. 1760
• Sister Constance, novice (Marie-Geneviève Meunier) b. 1765

Lay Sisters

• Sister St. Martha (Marie Dufour) b. 1742
• Sister Mary of the Holy Spirit (Angélique Roussel) b. 1742
• Sister St. Francis Xavier (Julie Vérolot) b. 1764

Servants

• Catherine Soiron b. 1742
• Thérèse Soiron b. 1748

See also

• Discalced Carmelites
• Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
• Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
• Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
• Book of the First Monks
• Christian martyrs

External links

• On the history and spirit of Carmel. ICS Publications.
• Terrye Newkirk, The Mantle of Elijah: The Martyrs of Compiègne as Prophets of Modern Age. ICS Publications, 2000.
•  "The Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

Persondata
Name	Martyrs Of Compiegne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1794
Place of death	Barrière de Vincennes, Paris, France