The documentation, as Zephyrinus knows, describing the martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns at Compeigne (11 professed nuns, 3 lay sisters, and 2 Third Order externs) notes what in effect was the unrealized and certainly fatal “public relations” error of the Committee of Public Safety:
The Mayor of Compeigne accompanied by Revolutionary soldiers, burst into their residence on July 12th to seize the women intending to ingratiate himself to the Committee by immediately bringing them to a show trial in Paris. However, they were dressed in their Carmelite habits because their lay clothes that they had been forced to wear were being washed. Since he was in a hurry to show off his prizes, he packed them off in their religious attire.
So it was in their formal scapular and robes that they all went to trial, and then to execution, to the site at that time named the Place du Trône Renversé, now the very modest and usually quiet Place de la Nation.
(Part 2, cont.) So, on the 17th, the day of execution, the 17 Carmelites processed, youngest to oldest, to the guillotine in their religious habits. Arriving at the guillotine, the executioner refused to rush them however, and allowed them to finish singing the Divine Office (which they actually sang in the oxcart while being brought to execution), the Te Deum, the Veni Creator Spiritus, the renewal of their religious vows, and finally the Laudate Dominum (Ps. 116).
They were executed in the same age order, except for the prioress, Mother Therese of S. Augustine, who died last.
The hitherto clamorous crowd, witnesses say, was reduced to a stunned silence, that according to historian John Wainwright (“The 16 Blessed Martyrs of Compeigne,” 1907, Catholic Encyclopedia).
After this, their bodies and severed heads were gathered, along with the 24 others executed that day, and tossed in a mass burial sand pit which is now part of the Picpus Cemetery. There is a monumental plaque at the back of the cemetery, listing the 17 names. It is a place of continual veneration and prayer should you ever visit there. -Note by Dante P
Scholars estimate that upwards of 20,000 priests and religious fled or were forcibly exiled during the Revolutionary period, and hundreds more priests as well as religious both men and women, were executed. In Paris, the Committee hung priests and left them hanging from the street lights. The Demon was in full reign. -Note by Dante P.
Indeed, the Glories of the French Revolution.
ReplyDeleteThe documentation, as Zephyrinus knows, describing the martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns at Compeigne (11 professed nuns, 3 lay sisters, and 2 Third Order externs) notes what in effect was the unrealized and certainly fatal “public relations” error of the Committee of Public Safety:
The Mayor of Compeigne accompanied by Revolutionary soldiers, burst into their residence on July 12th to seize the women intending to ingratiate himself to the Committee by immediately bringing them to a show trial in Paris. However, they were dressed in their Carmelite habits because their lay clothes that they had been forced to wear were being washed. Since he was in a hurry to show off his prizes, he packed them off in their religious attire.
So it was in their formal scapular and robes that they all went to trial, and then to execution, to the site at that time named the Place du Trône Renversé, now the very modest and usually quiet Place de la Nation.
(Cont., Part 2) -Note by Dante P
(Part 2, cont.) So, on the 17th, the day of execution, the 17 Carmelites processed, youngest to oldest, to the guillotine in their religious habits. Arriving at the guillotine, the executioner refused to rush them however, and allowed them to finish singing the Divine Office (which they actually sang in the oxcart while being brought to execution), the Te Deum, the Veni Creator Spiritus, the renewal of their religious vows, and finally the Laudate Dominum (Ps. 116).
ReplyDeleteThey were executed in the same age order, except for the prioress, Mother Therese of S. Augustine, who died last.
The hitherto clamorous crowd, witnesses say, was reduced to a stunned silence, that according to historian John Wainwright (“The 16 Blessed Martyrs of Compeigne,” 1907, Catholic Encyclopedia).
After this, their bodies and severed heads were gathered, along with the 24 others executed that day, and tossed in a mass burial sand pit which is now part of the Picpus Cemetery. There is a monumental plaque at the back of the cemetery, listing the 17 names. It is a place of continual veneration and prayer should you ever visit there. -Note by Dante P
Scholars estimate that upwards of 20,000 priests and religious fled or were forcibly exiled during the Revolutionary period, and hundreds more priests as well as religious both men and women, were executed. In Paris, the Committee hung priests and left them hanging from the street lights. The Demon was in full reign. -Note by Dante P.
ReplyDeleteAnother magnificent contribution from our Mediæval Catholic Historical Correspondent, Dante P, whom we are beholden to.
DeleteDante P encapsulates everything about the diabolical execution of these Nuns during the so-called “Glorious French Revolution”.
May the Wonderfully-Faithful Nuns of Compiègne Pray for us all.