A Mysterious Change of Ambience
The Carmelites were driven to the guillotine in tumbrels, the traditional open carts which left prisoners subject to the jeering and insults of the crowds lining the streets, but this evening was different. The Carmelites made an impressive sight clothed in their white choir mantles over their habits. They manifested total serenity; some witnesses even said: radiance. They sang all the way to the guillotine, including psalms, Vespers and Compline, the Office for the Dead and the Te Deum. Instead of the usual shouting and jeering, the crowd was overawed and totally silent seeing these nuns going joyfully to their death while singing the praises of God. There were no drum rolls at these executions, and when they were over the crowd dispersed in silence. There was an atmosphere of astonishment and incomprehension, even respect. Many sensed that something significant was happening; some said that the atmosphere was eerie. A pervasive sense of unease seemed to have settled over the city. It was said that the execution of the Carmelites was the climactic moment of the Reign of Terror.
The Cause for the Beatification of the Compiègne Martyrs
In 1866 the Carmel of Compiègne was re-founded by Troyes Carmel and remained in Compiègne until March 1992 when the community moved to Jonquières, a small village 10 kilometres west of Compiègne.
During the Centenary year of the death of the Compiègne Martyrs, the Carmelite community at the re-founded Carmel of Compiègne petitioned for their cause for beatification to be introduced.
This movement gained momentum quickly in France, and the Opening of the Informative Process took place on February 23, 1896. Investigations were made in the dioceses of Paris and Beauvais. The Informative Process ended early in 1899 and a report was sent to Rome.
On December 16, 1902 Pope Leo XIII introduced their cause. Abbé Roger de Teil was appointed vice-postulator. The Apostolic Process was opened on June 22, 1903, and was completed on January 27, 1904.
The General Congregation affirmed the cause on June 4, 190; and on June 24, 1905 Pope Pius X promulgated The Decree on the Martyrdom of Marie-Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine (Sister Thérèse of St Augustine) and her companion martyrs and declared them Venerable.
Less than four years after the formal introduction of their cause, confirmation of several miracles was given, and the Compiègne Martyrs were beatified by Pope Pius X on May 27, 1906. They were the first martyrs of the French Revolution to be honoured in this way.
Image Credit: Louis David, O.S.B., 1906
The Miracles
Many favours and healings have been obtained through the prayers of the Compiègne Martyrs. Four of these miracles, all of them cures, were approved during the process of Beatification.
The first to take place was the cure of Abbé Roussarie, when he was at the point of death. He was a professor of rhetoric at the seminary of Brive in central France. In February 1897, when he was already seriously ill, the chaplain of the Carmel of Tulle sent him a picture of the Compiègne Martyrs, telling him that the nuns had begun a novena to them for him and that it would end on March 7. That very day at 3 o’clock in the morning, he fell into a restless sleep and the nurse who was with him did not expect him to survive the night. The following is part of the testimony given by Abbé Roussarie: ‘Suddenly, as though touched by a spring, I sat up without difficulty, free from pain and fever.’
The doctor could not believe his eyes. When he was told about the novena, he replied, ‘My dear friend, I can only say “I treated him, God has cured him!”’
The second miracle was the cure of Sister Clare of St Joseph, also in 1897, when she was near death from cancer of the stomach. She was a Carmelite lay sister of New Orleans, United States. The doctor said that it was only a matter of time, he could not cure her. In August the prioress received a letter enclosing a picture of the Compiègne Martyrs, with an account of a great favour obtained through their prayers. She immediately knelt down and promised to spread devotion to them if they would obtain the cure of Sister Clare through their prayers. The sisters began a novena and until the seventh day Sister Clare’s sufferings increased; then on the eighth day there was a definite improvement and on the ninth day every trace of her illness had disappeared; she was able to eat anything and sleep naturally. Sister Clare stated that since her cure she enjoyed as good health as when she first became a nun.
The third miracle took place on December 1, 1897. It was the cure of Sister Martha of St Joseph, a lay Sister at the Carmel of Vans in the south of France. She was suffering from tuberculosis and an extremely bad abscess on her leg. Two novenas were made to the Compiègne martyrs but Sr Martha showed no signs of improvement. In spite of this, they began a third novena. Her healing took place on the second day of the third novena. Her infirmarian gave this testimony: ‘I went to the infirmary to find Sister Martha radiant; she had slept well, and when I uncovered her leg, I found the bandages unstained and the wound healed!’ Sister Martha said herself, ‘I eat like everyone else, I do not cough, I am very well and I do all my work without fatigue. I may add that these are the only prayers I have said for my cure.’
The fourth miracle was the cure of Sister St Michael, a Franciscan nun at Montmorillon, in central-western France who was cured on April 9, 1898. She was very ill and in fact had no will to live, but out of obedience she joined in the novena to the Compiègne Martyrs which her community began on April 3, 1898. On April 8, the sixth day of the novena, she went through an agonising spiritual struggle, for three hours. She wanted to die but eventually regained peace by reaffirming her act of abandonment before her crucifix. Almost immediately she fell into a peaceful sleep. When she awoke on April 9, she sent for the Reverend Mother; to her amazement Sister St Michael sat up, saying, ‘I’m cured’. It was as if she had never been ill. She asked for something to eat, got up and dressed, then went to the chapel and joined in the nuns’ devotions. Four days later she returned to all her community duties; her health was fully restored.
The Carmel of Lisieux, St Thérèse and the Compiègne Martyrs
At the time of the centenary of the martyrs there was much excitement in the French Carmels and a considerable number of the faithful showed enthusiasm for the introduction of their cause for beatification. The Carmel of Compiègne had asked other French Carmels to help them decorate their chapel. The Carmelites at Lisieux had a long-standing link with Compiègne Carmel and Sister Thérèse of St Augustine was assigned to work on this project; she was helped by Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, the future St Thérèse. The banners made at the Carmel of Lisieux were hung in the nave at Compiègne for the celebrations.
On February 14 and 15, 1911 Sister Thérèse of St Augustine was called to witness at the diocesan process for St Thérèse’s cause of beatification. She testified that: ‘Sr. Thérèse became even more fervent than usual when those who had shed their blood for Our Lord were being honoured. On July 17, 1894, the occasion of the centenary of the blessed Carmelites of Compiègne, the Carmel of Compiègne wanted to celebrate a feast in their honour and they asked the Carmel of Lisieux to contribute. The two of us were given the task of making banners to decorate their chapel. I witnessed the zeal and devotion she showed on that occasion. She was overcome with joy. She said to me, “What happiness if we could share the same fate! What a grace!”’
Abbé de Teil, vice postulator for the Carmelites of Compiègne, gave a conference to the community at Lisieux and fired them with enthusiasm for the cause.
On April 23, 1896, Mother Marie de Gonzague, then prioress at Lisieux, wrote to the Prioress of Compiègne to report two healings granted through the intercession of the martyrs.1
Thérèse had three holy cards showing images of the Martyrs of Compiègne.2 She took all three cards with her to the infirmary when she was dying, showing the depth of her devotion to the martyrs. She kept one of them in her breviary; it was made from a photograph of a tableau painted in 1894 by one of the nuns at Compiègne. She had two copies of the other holy card, which listed the name and place of birth of each nun, together with a short account of their martyrdom and a prayer for their beatification. She placed one in her little book of graces on the table beside her and the other in the volume of John of the Cross’s works containing the Spiritual Canticle and the Living Flame of Love.
The Relics
When the Compiègne Carmelites were expelled from their monastery, they were ordered to wear secular clothes, but it happened that they were granted permission to wash these clothes just before they were sent to Paris for trial, so providentially they were wearing their habits, and their secular clothes were left soaking in the prison at Compiègne. A community of English Benedictine nuns, who had been arrested at their monastery in Cambrai, were told to dress in these clothes as they did not have funds to buy secular clothes for themselves. Fortunately, these nuns realised the significance of the clothes they were wearing when they returned to England. A history of these relics was written up and preserved at Stanbrook Abbey, Worcester, where the Cambrai nuns finally settled.3
The Stanbrook Annals state: ‘As soon as our community could procure fitting clothing to replace the poor worn-out garments in which they had been clad during the last nine or ten months of their imprisonment, they did not forget that this cast-off apparel constituted valuable relics of their martyred co-prisoners, the Carmelites at Compiègne, and they treated these articles as such… many friends were made partakers of this priceless deposit by an ample distribution of these garments or portions thereof.’
These garments were fashioned in the style of the poorest French peasants’ costumes utterly unlike any religious garb.
Stanbrook Abbey and Compiègne Carmel
The French Annales Catholiques published an article about the joyful celebrations held to mark the centenary of the Martyrdom. Abbess Gertrude of Stanbrook read it and wrote to the prioress at Compiègne to congratulate the community and share with them the fact that their community had been imprisoned with the martyrs and they still had some of their clothes which they considered precious relics. In a friendly correspondence, the prioress of Compiègne respectfully asked if it would be possible for them to have a share of these relics. By this time, all that remained in Stanbrook was a cap of white linen with a frill of finer material, one alpargate (roped soled sandal), one jerkin, which was white with lilac flowers, but had been mended and lined with various colours, and an assortment of variously coloured cotton material.
After consultation with her community, the Abbess of Stanbrook wrote to the Prioress of Compiègne to tell her that the community had agreed unanimously to share the relics with them.
Tribunal at Stanbrook
The vice postulator had hoped one of the Stanbrook nuns would attend the tribunal in France but the rules of enclosure made this impossible; so, knowing they could give valuable evidence, he accepted the invitation of the Abbess to hold a session of the tribunal at Stanbrook and arrived on August 28, 1897. In August 1903 the tribunal returned to Stanbrook to take evidence for the Apostolic Process.
As it was not possible to obtain first-class relics for the Beatification Ceremony, Abbess Cecilia Heywood provided a large piece of the white and lilac jerkin and a small piece of the rope-soled sandal.
Authentication and Sealing of the Relics
After the Beatification an Apostolic Delegation was sent to Stanbrook to solemnly identify and seal the relics. A Benedictine priest, Abbot Aiden Gasquet, President of the English Congregation of Benedictines, was delegated by the Pope to perform the ceremony which took place on July 14, 1906.
All the relics that could be located were gathered at Stanbrook, including those in the possession of some English Carmels and those in private ownership. The relics were authenticated, and Abbot Gasquet affixed the seals. Those remaining at Stanbrook were placed in a reliquary, the others were returned to their owners.
The Second Centenary
Many people had hoped that the Compiègne Martyrs would be canonised in 1994 to mark the second centenary of their martyrdom. Although that did not happen, the celebrations marking the second centenary of their death revived interest in the process of their cause for canonisation.
To mark the second centenary of the Martyrdom, the nuns of the re-founded Carmel of Compiègne now relocated to Jonquières and created a memorial room in the crypt of their church. It houses a small image of the Virgin and Child that the Carmelites kissed at the scaffold, together with other religious objects and manuscripts relating to them. The display ensures that the Martyrs’ witness and the offering of their lives will not be forgotten. The present Carmel continues to work for their canonisation. They are listed as: ‘Petitioner: Carmel de Compiègne, 60680 Jonquières, France’.
On January 20, 2022, Pope Francis granted the opening of their Process of Canonisation ‘by equipollence’ – that is, without the necessity of proving a miracle. On February 1, 2022 the Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced this decision, which was made in response to a request by the French Episcopal Conference and supported by the Discalced Carmelite Order. By the beginning of 2024 the Positio was complete and is at present awaiting examination by the assembly of Cardinals and Bishops. If their vote is favourable, it will be presented to the Holy Father, who will make the final decision regarding their canonisation.
