At Paris in France, Blessed Teresa of Saint Augustine (Marie Madeleine Claudine Lidoine) and fifteen companions, virgins of the Carmel of Compiègne and martyrs, who, in the time of the French Revolution, having faithfully kept the monastic discipline and being condemned to death, renewed before the scaffold the promises of their baptismal faith and their religious vows.
Their names are: Blessed Marie-Anne Françoise of Saint Louis (Brideau), Marie-Anne of Jesus Crucified (Piedcourt), Charlotte of the Resurrection (Anne Marie Madeleine Thouret), Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Marie Claudine Cyprienne Brard), Henriette of Jesus (Marie Gabrielle de Croissy), Teresa of the Heart of Mary (Marie Anne Hanisset), Teresa of Saint Ignatius (Marie Gabrielle Trézel), Julie Louise of Jesus (Rose Chrétien de Neufville), and Marie Henriette of Providence.
Lifespan: d. 1794
Beatified: 27 May 1906 by Pope Pius X
Canonized: 18 December 2024 by Pope Francis, Rome
Memoria liturgica: 17 July
The Community of Discalced Carmelites of Compiègne was the fifty-third foundation of the Order in France, established following the arrival in that country of Blessed Ana de Jesús, a disciple of Saint Teresa of Ávila. The monastery, of fervent Teresian observance, enjoyed the esteem of the French Court.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, members of the Committee of Public Safety of Compiègne visited the convent to interrogate the nuns and induce them to abandon religious life. They refused to lay aside the monastic habit, and as episodes of violence multiplied between June and September 1792, following the inspiration of the prioress, Sister Teresa of Saint Augustine, all of them offered themselves to the Lord as a sacrifice so that the Church and the State might recover peace. Their act of consecration became a daily offering until the day of their martyrdom.
In September 1792 the sisters were expelled from the monastery, separated from one another, and dressed in secular clothing. They continued their life of prayer and penance, divided into four groups in various parts of Compiègne, yet united by correspondence and under the direction of Sister Teresa of Saint Augustine. Discovered and denounced, on 24 June 1794 they were transferred to Paris and imprisoned in the Conciergerie, where many priests, religious men, and religious women already condemned to death were held. Even in prison the Carmelites gave an exemplary witness of tranquility and serene trust in God.
On 17 July, the day after the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel — which they had celebrated in prison with hymns of jubilation — the sixteen sisters were condemned to death by the revolutionary tribunal for their fidelity to religious life, for “fanaticism” in connection with their fervent devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and for their attachment to constituted authority. As they were led together in two carts to the place of execution, they sang the Psalms; arriving at the foot of the guillotine, they intoned the Veni Creator, renewing their vows one by one before the Prioress, who had prepared them in an edifying manner for martyrdom and for the offering of their lives, so that the evil raging through society might come to an end.
The following are the names of the sixteen martyrs of Compiègne:
- Sister Teresa of Saint Augustine (in the world: Marie-Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine), prioress, born in Paris on 22 September 1752;
- Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (in the world: Marie Claude Cyprienne Brard), born in Bourth (Eure) on 12 May 1736;
- Sister Saint Louis (in the world: Marie-Anne-Françoise Brideau), sub-prioress, born in Belfort on 7 December 1751;
- Sister Anne-Mary of Jesus Crucified (in the world: Marie-Anne Piedcourt), born in Paris on 9 December 1715;
- Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection (in the world: Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret), born in Mouy (Oise) on 16 September 1715;
- Sister Henrietta of Jesus (in the world: Marie-Françoise Gabrielle de Croissy), born in Paris on 18 June 1745;
- Sister Teresa of the Heart of Mary (in the world: Marie-Anne Hanisset), born in Reims (Marne) on 18 January 1742;
- Sister Teresa of Saint Ignatius (in the world: Marie-Gabrielle Trézel), born in Compiègne on 4 April 1743;
- Sister Julie Louise of Jesus (in the world: Rose-Chrétien de Neuville), born in Évreux (Eure) on 30 December 1741;
- Sister Marie-Henrietta of Providence (in the world: Marie-Antoinette Pelras), born in Cajarc (Lot) on 16 June 1760;
- Sister Constance (in the world: Marie-Geneviève Meunier), novice, born in Saint-Denis (Seine) on 28 May 1765;
- Sister Mary of the Holy Spirit (in the world: Angélique Roussel), lay sister, born in Fresne-Mazancourt (Somme) on 3 August 1742;
- Sister Saint Martha (in the world: Marie Dufour), lay sister, born in Bannes (Sarthe) on 2 October 1741;
- Sister Elizabeth Julie of Saint Francis Xavier (in the world: Élisabeth Juliette Vérolot), lay sister, born in Lignières (Aube) on 13 January 1764;
- Sister Catherine Soiron, extern sister (tourière), born in Compiègne on 2 February 1742;
- Sister Teresa Soiron, extern sister (tourière), born in Compiègne on 23 January 1748.
The bodies of the sixteen martyrs of Compiègne were buried in a common grave together with the bodies of other condemned persons, at the site that has since become the present-day Picpus Cemetery, where a plaque commemorates their martyrdom.
The martyrs of Compiègne were beatified in the Basilica of Saint Peter by Saint Pius X on 27 May 1906.
Grounds for Equivalent Canonization
Following the beatification, numerous accounts of alleged miracles and graces received through the intercession of the Blesseds continued to arrive at the monastery of Compiègne. Accordingly, the diocesan Bishop, the Postulation of the Discalced Carmelites, and the Prioress of the monastery of Compiègne submitted a request for an equivalent canonization, which was accepted by the Holy Father on 20 January 2022; he authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to follow the special procedure. The Postulation prepared the relevant Positio super canonizatione, setting forth the grounds for the request: the numerous writings, the continuity of the fame of martyrdom, and the breadth of the cult.
Indeed, the story of these sisters resonated widely in the last century, also through literary works of considerable artistic merit and broad circulation. In 1931, Gertrud von Le Fort told the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne in her novel The Song at the Scaffold, from which a film was made whose dialogues were written by the French author Georges Bernanos, under the title Dialogues des Carmélites. This work, set to music by Francis Poulenc and performed for the first time at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1957, was subsequently staged in many other theatres across Europe.
In 1950 the nuns of Compiègne sent a circular to all monasteries of the Order, inviting them to observe a novena in prayer for the canonization of the Blessed Martyrs. In response, many letters arrived at the monastery of Compiègne attesting to graces received through the intercession of the Blessed Martyrs, along with various requests for prayers; at the same time, new initiatives were undertaken to spread devotion to the martyr sisters. On the occasion of the bicentenary of the martyrdom in 1994, veneration and interest in this story was rekindled throughout France and beyond its borders.
The Positio super canonizatione was submitted to the Ordinary Session of the Cardinal and Bishop Members of the Dicastery, who on 3 December 2024 expressed their unanimous positive opinion in favour of the equivalent canonization of the Martyrs of Compiègne.