St Teresa of St Augustine and Companions – July 17 – Carmelite Saints

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Summary:

As the French Revolution entered its worst days, sixteen Discalced Carmelites from the Monastery of the Incarnation in Compiègne offered their lives as a sacrifice to God, making reparation to him and imploring peace for the Church. On June 24th, 1794, they were arrested and thrown into prison. Their happiness and resignation were so evident that those around them were also encouraged to draw strength from God’s love. They were condemned to death for their fidelity to the Church and their religious life and for their devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Singing hymns and having renewed their vows before their superior, Teresa of St. Augustine, they were put to death in Paris on July 17, 1794. They were beatified by Pope St. Pius X on May 13, 1906. Their equipollent canonization was decreed on December 18, 2024.

History:

Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine was born and baptized in the parish of St. Sulpice in Paris. Her mother was 41 at the time of her birth, and she was an only child. Madeleine’s father worked at the Paris Observatory. Her parents provided her with a quality education, nurturing her artistic and poetic talents. However, after investing in her education, they lacked the funds for a dowry when she sought admission to Carmel.

The royal princess, Madame Louise, who had entered the Carmel of St. Denis and taken the name Sr. Teresa of St. Augustine, heard of Madeleine’s situation and asked to meet her. Recognizing her vocation, Sr. Teresa asked her nephew’s wife, the young Dauphine Marie Antoinette, to provide a dowry, which she did willingly. With this support, Madeleine entered the Carmel of Compiègne and took the name of her patroness, Sr. Teresa of St. Augustine. In 1786, at the age of 34, Sr. Teresa of St. Augustine was elected prioress and was re-elected in 1789.

In May 1789, the French Revolution erupted. The number of Christian martyrs surged in the revolution’s early years. Thousands died by guillotine, exile, drowning, imprisonment, shootings, or mob violence. Amid this, in January 1790, Mother Teresa received the vows of Sr. St. Francis Xavier, the last novice in Compiègne. Mother Teresa warned her of grave risks and urged her to reconsider. Sr. Xavier confidently replied that the Lord would protect her and went ahead with her vows.

A few months later, in July, the new French Republic issued the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which abolished all religious communities except those involved in teaching and nursing. Soon after the Bastille’s fall on August 4, 1790, officials with armed guards interrogated each sister at the Compiègne convent, forcing a choice between renouncing vows or facing punishment. Every sister declared her wish to remain a Carmelite and refused to abandon her life of obedience, chastity, and poverty. Seven, including Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, explicitly stated they wished to live and die as Carmelites. They remained in the convent as state wards. By the end of 1791, the revolutionary government required all clergy to swear a civic oath in support of the Civil Constitution.

Between June and September of 1792, amid increasing violence, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine invited her sisters to offer their lives to God as a sacrifice for peace between the Church and the State. Together, they decided to make this offering, adopting it as their daily prayer until martyrdom.

In August 1792, authorities ordered all women’s monasteries closed. On September 14, 1792, officials seized the convent. They removed the furnishings, and the nuns were forced to return to secular life. As planned, they split into small groups in nearby apartments and kept in frequent contact. They wore secular clothing and depended on friends’ charity. Despite these changes, they continued their spiritual routines. Mother Teresa encouraged a daily renewal of dedication for two years. Their Act of Consecration, offering themselves to God as a complete sacrifice, was made for peace in France. Mother Teresa believed love would ultimately prevail.

As the Reign of Terror worsened in 1793, the government searched the sisters’ apartments for two days and found letters showing their devotion to religious life. On June 24, 1794, they were arrested and taken to Paris, where they were jailed at the Conciergerie and brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Even in prison, the Carmelite sisters stayed calm and faithful, spending the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel together before their trial. On July 17, they were tried without lawyers. They were charged with being loyal to religious life, called "fanaticism," and for their devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The God-given strength of character of Mother Teresa of St. Augustine sustained her community through the difficult days of imprisonment and trial.

On the day of their sentencing, July 17, 1794, the sixteen Carmelite nuns were taken to the square on two carts for execution, a journey that took two hours. During that time, they sang hymns of praise—the Miserere, the Salve Regina, the Office of the Dead, vespers, and Compline. Onlookers berated them, hurling insults and throwing things at them.

Upon arriving at the Place du Trône, the nuns faced the guillotine. Mother Teresa led the Te Deum, followed by the Veni Creator Spiritus. The executioner, reluctantly carrying out his duty, allowed them to complete their devotions and permitted Mother Teresa to choose the order of execution. Sr. Constance, the novice prevented by anti-religious laws from making her profession, was able to pronounce her vows with the community and was the first to die. After she received a blessing and kissed a small terracotta Madonna and Child statue, she proceeded forth for execution. The other nuns followed suit. Finally, Mother Teresa made her own offering, kissed the statue, and pondered its fate. A woman in the crowd came forward to take it from her, ensuring its preservation, which is found today in the restored Carmel of Compiègne.

Large, hostile crowds often attended such executions. However, the serenity and composure of the nuns, who seemed to be simply renewing their vows instead of facing execution, deeply affected the spectators. As each nun approached the guillotine, the crowd’s taunts increasingly faded into silence. With the execution of Mother Teresa, the Act of Consecration made by the community was consummated.

Just ten days later, Robespierre was executed, and within two months, the Reign of Terror ended. French Catholics of the time believed that the executions of these nuns "helped bring about the end to the horrors of the revolution" and hastened the end of the Reign of Terror.

The nuns were buried in a common grave at Picpus cemetery with 1,306 others executed between June 13 and July 27, 1794. Today, their memory is honored with a plaque at the site.

Beatified by Pope St. Pius X on May 27, 1906, in St. Peter’s Basilica, the sixteen Carmelites became the first martyrs of the French Revolution recognized by the Holy See. On February 22, 2022, the Diocese of Beauvais announced Pope Francis accepted the procedure of equipollent canonization for the Martyrs of Compiègne. This would allow them to be canonized as saints, bypassing the judicial processes, formal attribution of miracles, and scientific examinations typically involved in the canonization of a saint. On December 18, 2024, Pope Francis canonized all sixteen martyrs.

The legacy of these Carmelite martyrs endured long after their deaths. Three sisters, absent at the time of arrest, survived. One, Sr. Marie de l'Incarnation, wrote an influential account of the execution, History of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, published in 1836. In 1931, Gertrud von Le Fort’s novella, The Song at the Scaffold, drew from this account, and Emmet Lavery adapted the novella as a 1949 play with the same name.

Raymond-Leopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini, inspired by Le Fort's novella, developed a film project that evolved into the stage drama Dialogues des Carmélites, which premiered in Zurich in 1951. The film project was later revived as Le Dialogue des Carmélites in 1960, with a new adaptation in 1984 for French television. Later, Francis Poulenc composed the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. Most recently, in 2024, François Lespes released the documentary Blessed: The True Story of the Carmelites of Compiègne.

Prayer:

Lord God,
you called Saint Teresa of St. Augustine and her companions
to go on in the strength of the Holy Spirit
from the heights of Carmel to receive a martyr’s crown.
May our love too be so steadfast
that it will bring us
to the everlasting vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

List Martyrs:

The Martyrs of Compiègne consisted of 11 nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs (or tertiaries).

  • St. Teresa of St. Augustine (Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine, September 22, 1752-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Marie-Anne St. Louis (Marie-Anne Brideau, December 7, 1752-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Henriette of Jesus (Marie-Francoise Gabrielle de Croissy, June 18, 1745-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Mary of Jesus Crucified (Marie-Anne Piedcourt,1715-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Charolette of the Resurrection (Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret, September 16, 1715-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Marie-Claude Cyprienne, 1736-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Teresa of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Marie-Antoniette Hanisset, 1740/1742-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Julie Louise of Jesus (Rose-Chretien de la Neuville, 1741-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Teresa of St. Ignatius (Marie-Gabrielle Trezel, April 4, 1743-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Mary-Henrietta of Providence (Anne Petras, June 17, 1760-July 17, 1794) (professed religious, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Constance of St. Denis (Marie-Genevieve Meunier, May 28, 1765/1766-July 17, 1794) (novice, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Marie St. Martha (Marie Dufour, October 1/2 1742-July 17, 1794) (lay sister, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Mary of the Holy Spirit (Angelique Roussel, August 4, 1742-July 17, 1794) (lay sister, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Juliette St. Francis Xavier (Juliette Verolot,  January 11, 1764-July 17, 1794) (lay sister, Carmelites at Compiegne)
  • St. Catherine Soiron (February 2, 1742--July 17, 1794) (not a Carmelite sister but served in the convent at Compiegne)
  • St. Therese Soiron (February 23, 1748--July 17, 1794) (not a Carmelite sister but served in the convent at Compiegne)

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Bl Alphonsus Maria of the Holy Spirit – June 12 – Carmelite Saints
Summary: He was born in 1891 at Baranowka, near Lubartow, Poland. He entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites in 1908, taking the religious name Alphonsus Maria of the Holy Spirit. He was ordained a priest and appointed as a professor while dedicating himself to the education of youth. Afterward, he served in his Order as prior and bursar. In 1944, after having been arrested by the troops that had invaded his country, he was shot on August 28 at Nawojowa Gora, near Krzeszowice. He was beatified by John Paul II on June 13, 1999, together with many other Polish martyrs. History: Józef Mazurek was born on March 1, 1891, in Baranówka near Lubartów, eastern Poland, to Wojciech and Marianna (née Goździów) Mazurek. Guided by his uncle, a Carmelite friar, he devoted himself early to the Discalced Carmelite Order. At the age of 12, he entered the Minor Seminary and excelled academically through persistence and diligence. There, he also encountered St. Raphael Kalinowski, another Carmelite saint. After graduating from the Minor Seminary, he entered the Discalced Carmelite novitiate in Czerna, near Kraków, in 1908 and took the name Alphonsus Maria of the Holy Spirit. After professing his religious vows, he pursued theology and philosophy in Kraków, Linz, and Vienna, where he was ordained a priest on July 16, 1916, in the cathedral of St. Stephen. After ordination, he continued his theological studies in Vienna until 1917, then returned to Czerna. His exceptional organizational ability led to his appointment as prefect and teacher at the minor seminary of the Discalced Carmelites in Wadowice, which he had attended as a youth, from 1920 to 1930. He advanced the seminary by securing entitlement to private and later state schools and by earning a civilly recognized high school diploma. He is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished educators in the seminary's history. He remained at the seminary until 1930, when he was elected prior of the Carmelite monastery at Czerna. Here, he energetically embraced his new responsibilities. Bl. Alphonsus implemented substantial practical improvements to the Carmelite monastery during his tenure as superior. He established terraced vegetable gardens on the slopes near the monastery to maximize land use for food production and expanded the infrastructure with new buildings and chapels. Notably, he built the chapel dedicated to St. Anne and another commemorating the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. He managed the choir program, which thrived under his direction, and composed hymns such as Tam in the Silence of the Blue Forests. He revitalized pastoral activity in the convent church, despite its remote forest location, and served as a valued assistant to the Secular Order in Czerna and Silesia. He prepared for publication a breviary for Carmelite tertiaries and retreat texts written by Fr. Marcin Rubczyński. Alphonsus also contributed articles to Głos Karmelu ("The Voice of Carmel") and continually ministered to the faithful in the confessional and from the pulpit, urging all to trust in Mary's intercession. The prior impressed everyone with his zeal and unwavering commitment to his priestly and religious vocation. His spiritual life was rooted in profound faith, demonstrated through devoted observance of religious duties and priestly service, primarily in the mindful and reverent celebration of the Eucharist, his dedication to the beauty of divine worship, and his fidelity to contemplative prayer. He regularly meditated before the Blessed Sacrament, seeking guidance and strength. This enduring faith rendered him resolute in carrying out his pastoral mission during the Nazi occupation, never deterred by threats of reprisals. One of these courageous actions was to continue welcoming young aspirants to the Order. Throughout the war, despite risking his safety, he assisted those expelled from Silesia. He consistently faced these trials with peace and serenity, fixing his gaze on Jesus, poor and despised. "Nothing," he affirmed, "should disturb the peace and tranquility of the heart, because this heart should be attached only to God, and not to his consolations, his graces, or his gifts." As World War II neared its end, Nazi hostility toward the Discalced Carmelites of Czerna intensified. In August 1944, one of the Carmelite novices, Br. Francis Powiertowski, was shot during a community walk. Soon after, Nazi forces entered the convent, killing resisters and forcing the rest to march to Rudawa, over six miles away, to dig trenches fortifying the town. Fr. Alphonsus was forcibly separated from his community and thrown into a military vehicle, where he was tortured. When the car stopped, he was pushed out and ordered to walk. After walking a long distance, the Nazis shouted at him. As he turned, they fired, mortally wounding him. Realizing he survived, they filled his mouth with dirt, placed his body in a horse-drawn carriage, and took him to a nearby cemetery. Providentially, the carriage passed the other friars on their way to dig trenches. One brother priest followed them and gave Fr. Alphonsus absolution before his death. Throughout his ordeal, Fr. Alphonsus had a rosary clutched in his hands. All this transpired on August 28, 1944, the eve of the memorial of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, to whom he was so devoted. Fr. Alphonsus' heroic end was the ultimate testimony to his fidelity to his vocation and filial trust in Our Lady, virtues he instilled in his brothers by example. His writings show his Marian devotion: "In afflictions, tribulations, anguish, and temptations, I will always take refuge in my most beloved Mother, Mary. To her, I offer myself and all that I have. Faithfully, together with my Most Holy Mother Mary, I wish to remain near the cross of Jesus." Despite the curfew, many attended Fr. Alphonsus's funeral. The Superior General, in a letter to Carmelites worldwide, called Fr. Alphonsus’s martyrdom the "crowning of a life of fidelity." In his writings, Fr. Alphonsus states: "All our sanctity and perfection consists in conforming ourselves to the will of God, which is the sole and supreme rule of perfection and of holiness." For his fellow Carmelites and the local community, Fr. Alphonsus was immediately honored as a martyr. In September 1945, the Carmelites at Czerna erected a monument at the site of his shooting. The decree on martyrdom was promulgated on March 26, 1999. Pope St. John Paul II beatified him on June 13, 1999, alongside 107 Polish martyrs from the Nazi occupation of Poland, honoring his steadfast faith and sacrifice. On June 16, 1999, St. John Paul II stated in Wadowice: “I am happy that I was able to beatify, among the one hundred and eight martyrs, Bl. Fr. Alphonsus Maria Mazurek, a pupil and, much later, a well-deserving educator in the minor seminary connected to the Discalced Carmelite monastery. I had an occasion of meeting personally with this witness to Christ, who, in 1944, as Prior of the Czerna monastery, sealed his faithfulness to God with death through martyrdom. I kneel in veneration before his relics which rest in the church of Saint Joseph and I thank God for the gift of the life, the martyrdom, and sanctity of this great religious.” Bl. Alphonsus Maria Mazurek is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on August 28. The Discalced Carmelites remember him on June 12. His relics reside at the Discalced Carmelite church in Wadowice. Prayer: May the prayers of your martyrs Blessed Alphonsus Mary and companions, prevail with you, Lord, on our behalf: Let them strengthen us in our witness to your truth. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
7
Bl Leonard Duverneuil and Companions – August 18 – Carmelite Saints
Summary: Fr. Jean-Baptiste Duverneuil (b. 1737 at Limoges), in religion Fr. Leonard, Fr. Michel-Louis Brulard (b. 1758 at Chartres), and Fr. Jacques Gagnot (b. 1753 at Frolois), in religion Fr. Hubert of Saint Claude, were among a group of 64 Martyrs beatified October 1, 1995, victims of the French Revolution who came from 14 French dioceses and from various religious Orders. In their loyalty to God, the Church and the Pope, they refused to take the oath of the Civil Constitution for the Clergy imposed by the Constituent Assembly of the Revolution. As a result, they were imprisoned, massed like animals, on a slave-trader in Rochefort Bay, waiting in vain to be deported into slavery. During 1794, the first two Carmelites died on board ship: Fr. John-Baptist on July 1, and Fr. Michael-Aloysius on July 25, both being buried on the island of Aix. After the plague broke out on the ship, those remaining disembarked on the island of Madame, where Fr. James died and was buried on September 10. Noted for their loving ministry to their fellow prisoners and their patience in accepting every type of outrage, privation, and cruelty, not to mention the vicissitudes of weather, hunger and sickness, our three Discalced Carmelite priest martyrs and their companions in martyrdom gave unsurpassed Christian witness to their faith and love. History: Jean-Baptiste Jean-Baptiste Duverneuil was born either in Limoges in 1737 or at Saint-Trielx on January 7, 1759. He entered the diocesan seminary in 1780 and was ordained in 1783. He then entered the Carmelite Order in Angoulême, receiving the name Fr. Leonard. After the French Revolution suppressed religious orders, he returned to Limoges, where he rejected the separation from the Church of Rome demanded by the new Constitution and helped others persevere in their Catholic faith. For this, he was arrested and, on February 25, 1794, sentenced to deportation to French Guiana. He was imprisoned on the slave ship Deux-Associés, which remained docked at the Rochefort hulks on Île Madame because the British blockade prevented departure for French Guiana. Michel-Louis Michel-Louis Brulard was born at Chartres on June 11, 1758. After finishing his theological studies at the University of Paris, he entered the Carmelite Order in Charenton. After the destruction of the monasteries, he returned to his native city and rejected the schismatic innovations of 1791. He was arrested in 1793 and sentenced to deportation to French Guiana. He was imprisoned on the slave ship Deux-Associés, which remained in port as a prison hulk because the British blockade prevented the voyage. Jacques Gagnot Jacques Gagnot, known in religious life as Fr. Hubert of St Claude, was born at Frolois on February 9, 1753. He entered the Order and made his profession of vows in Nancy on March 9, 1774, as Hubert of Saint Claude. Almost immediately, he was sent to our monastery in Luneville. In 1787, he was once more in Nancy as a preacher and confessor. He was forced to leave the monastery in 1791 and went to live with a family in Nancy. In 1793, he was imprisoned after the Revolutionary Committee proclaimed him a "perilous fanatic." Two days after being condemned to deportation, on March 26, 1794, he wrote this to his mother: Rochefort Martyrs In 1790, the French Revolutionary authorities passed a law requiring priests to swear allegiance to the civil constitution, effectively removing them from the authority of and allegiance to Rome, which many refused to do. Decree No. 906, issued on October 21, 1793, concerned the deportation of clergy to West Africa. All priests who had refused or revoked the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, or who had been denounced for not supporting the revolution, were to be deported. Priests who had not yet emigrated or were unable or unwilling to hide were arrested and transported in groups to Nantes, Bordeaux, or Rochefort on horse-drawn carts between March and July 1794 under military or police guard, along with other exiles. Of the total of 2412 deported clergy, 827 arrived at Rochefort and were interned on prison ships, mainly the Deux-Associés and the Washington. Departure for Africa was never seriously considered, especially since the ships could not have survived the journey. In any case, leaving French ports was impossible because of the British naval blockade. The priests were kept on overcrowded ships in agonizing confinement under the strictest guard. Prayer and Latin were forbidden. They were basically ignored to death, as there was little food or water, little sanitation, and no medical help. 542 of the prisoners died there. Together with the other martyrs, these Carmelite Blesseds knew how to pardon their persecutors and pray for their executioners: "after the example of our divine master who pleaded for his executioners," wrote one of those deported, "we pardoned our persecutors their outrages, their injustices, their violence, and we prayed to the Lord that the bad treatment we received would serve as an expiation for those who inflicted it upon us." Fr. Jean-Baptiste Duverneuil died on July 1, 1794, on board, consumed by hunger and sickness. Survivors described him as very assiduous in prayer and urging his comrades to "have the courage to defend the faith against the impious." Fr. Michel-Louis Brulard died of pneumonia shortly after, on July 25, 1794, at the age of 36. One fellow prisoner said he "could never believe, without having been a witness, that a living body could reach such an inconceivable state of emaciation to which I saw him reduced." A survivor of the deportation describes Fr. Michel-Louis as "a worthy son of Saint Teresa, who did not live without sacrifices and spoke no other language except that of the purest spirituality." Both were buried on the Île d'Aix. Towards the end of August, a plague epidemic broke out on the Pontoon Two Associates. The surviving prisoners were disembarked on Île Madame and housed in tents, still in terrifying conditions. Fr. Jacques died there on September 10, 1794, and was buried there. In prison, he had cared for the sick. When he became ill, he took his place among them and handed over his life to God. The 285 survivors were freed on February 12, 1795, and allowed to return home. Many of them wrote about their time on the hulks and about the faith and ministry of those who had died. According to one testimony, the survivors promised to bear their suffering in surrender to the will of God with serenity of mind, to maintain discretion about what they had experienced and not answer any questions, to keep silent about any weaknesses and faults of fellow prisoners, and, after their release, to harbor no regrets about material losses, no resentment, and to renounce future political activity. In the interest of national reconciliation, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte suppressed public discussion of the matter, so that the fate of the priests was forgotten over the decades. In 1863, the new parish priest of Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente near Rochefort, Isidore Manseau, learned of the events and drew attention to them in 1886 with a two-volume publication. In 1910, the tradition of an annual August pilgrimage to Port-des-Barques began; it continues to this day. At the same time, Bishop Jean-Auguste-François-Eutrope Eyssautier of La Rochelle launched the preliminary information for a beatification process, for which Pierre Lemonnier (1848-1924) compiled the material published in 1916 and 1917, including 590 short biographies. In view of the high demands for beatification in Rome, the process was reopened after Lemonnier's death by his successor, Léandre Poivert. He benefited from the fact that the historian Jacques Hérissay (1882-1969) had meanwhile published Les pontons de Rochefort (1792-1795). The book was awarded the Prix de l'Académie française in 1925. The beatification process, which took place from 1932 to 1936, could concentrate on 102 historically well-documented names. Nonetheless, proof of martyrdom according to valid canonical requirements was difficult to establish. It was not until 1989 that the theologian and historian Yves Blomme revisited the case and, in 1992, presented a new Positio super Martyrio, which limited the trial to those 64 priests whose identity and venerability could be sufficiently determined and verified. These 64 priests, including Fr. Jean-Baptiste Duverneuil, Fr. Michel-Louis Brulard, and Fr. Jacques Gagnot, were beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in Rome on October 1, 1995. In the Carmelite order, their feast is celebrated on August 18 as an optional memorial. Prayer: Lord God, to the martyrs Blessed John-Baptist, Michael Aloysius, James, and their companions, you gave the grace to remain faithful and to pardon while suffering dismaying hardship. Through their intercession grant also to us, to be always willing to remain faithful to your Church and to be reconciled with one another. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.