From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

July 17th - The French Nuns, Carmelites of Compiegne
(1794 A.D.)

Perhaps the most widely acclaimed of contemporary operas is Francis
Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Opera buffs, in their love o=
f
music, have accepted many a libretto full of marital infidelity and
melodrama. Why should they now applaud this story of 16 nuns who died
during the French Revolution in defense of religious chastity and
obedience? I think it is because like all martyrs, the 16 were willing
to die for truth =E2=80=93 an act of courage that even the most worldly of =
us
can still find thrilling.

The subjects of this opera were members of the strict Carmelite
monastery at Compiegne, some 70 miles north of Paris: ten professed
choir-nuns; one novice; three lay sisters and two =E2=80=9Cextern sisters= =E2=80=9D.
During the =E2=80=9CReign of Terror=E2=80=9D they rejected the political oa=
th required
by the French Revolutionary government, because they sensed its
anti-Catholic implications. But it really didn't matter whether the=
y
rejected the oath or not. The government, under Maximilien de
Robespierre, aimed at deChristianizing France, and nuns were too vivid reminders of Christianity to be tolerated anyhow.

Arrested and carted off to Paris, they were arraigned before a panel
of three judges without being allowed an attorney to speak on their
behalf.

The key charge brought by Judge Fouquier Tinville was that they were
religious =E2=80=9Cfanatics=E2=80=9D. Sister Marie Henriette Pelras asked h=
im what he
meant by =E2=80=9Cfanatic=E2=80=9D. =E2=80=9CI mean by it,=E2=80=9D he repl= ied, =E2=80=9Cyour attachment to
childish beliefs and your silly religious practices.=E2=80=9D The Sister
turned to her companions: =E2=80=9CYou see, we are condemned for clinging t=
o
our holy religion. We have the happiness to die for God.=E2=80=9D

The narrative that composer Poulenc used is a partly fictionalized
account, but the essence of the drama is historical.

On July 17, 1794, they were beheaded one by one by the guillotine on
the Place de la Nation in Paris. Old and young, they marched to death
singing the Miserere, the Salve Regina and the Veni Creator Spiritus.
As they died, the singing diminished and finally ceased.

That day the usually bloodthirsty crowd stood silent in the face of
incredible bravery. The 16 were beatified in 1906.

Another group of 32 nuns were executed during the same month at Orange
in southern France. Sixteen Ursulines, 13 Sacramentines, two
Bernardines and one Benedictine had been jailed together.

In jail they kept up a religious schedule as well as possible. Those
who remained, prayed each day for the dying and sang the Te Deum as
each was called out for execution. Throughout, they continued
lighthearted. When Sr. Pelagia Bes was summoned, she shared a box of
sweets with the others. =E2=80=9CFor my wedding=E2=80=9D, she explained. Sr=
..
Theoctiste wrote a song welcoming the guillotine. Sr. Martha Cluse, a
pretty young woman, was offered release by one of the executioners if
she would marry him. She gracefully declined. The sisters amazed even
the coarse guards: =E2=80=9CThese dames die laughing!=E2=80=9D

Spectators at their deaths found themselves in agreement that
=E2=80=9Creligion alone could inspire so much courage and assurance.=E2=80=
=9D

One of the Carmelites had prayed that her death might be an offering
for an end of this bloody Reign of Terror that had sent hundreds to
death. Actually, the tide turned that same July, and Robespierre and
22 accomplices were repudiated and beheaded by the very instrument of
death to which they had condemned so many victims. The tribunal at
Orange was discredited. Fortunately, the public prosecutor and two of
the judges there were reconciled to the Church before their own
executions.

The prayers and self-sacrifices of the nuns doubtless had a part in
ending this mad, cruel episode and in saving the soul of at least some
of its perpetrators. For the sisters had died, as Christ their model
died, forgiving their enemies.


Saint Quote:
=E2=80=9CLet us rejoice, my dear Mother and Sisters, in the joy of the Lor=
d,
that we shall die for our holy religion, our faith, our confidence in
the Holy Roman Catholic Church.=E2=80=9D
--Sister Henrietta O.C.D. (one of the 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne)

Bible Quote:
Light dawns[a] for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name! (Psalms 97:11-12) RSVCE

<><><><>
Prayer for Selflessness

O Dearly beloved Word of God, teach me to be generous, to serve Thee
as Thou dost deserve, to give without counting the cost, to fight
without fretting at my wounds, to labor without seeking rest, to spend
myself without looking for any reward other than that of knowing that
I do Thy holy will. Amen.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)