July 17 | Optional Memorial
When the full terror of the French Revolution began, a community of sixteen Discalced Carmelite nuns from the monastery of the Incarnation at Compiégne offered themselves as sacrificial victims to beg God for peace for the Church and for their country.
Arrested and imprisoned on the 24th June 1794, they continued to share their joy and their faith with others. Condemned to death for their loyalty to the Church, to their religious vows and for their devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, they were guillotined in Paris on 17th July 1794 whilst singing hymns and after having renewed their vows to their prioress, Teresa of St. Augustine.
Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and companions were beatified in 1906, the first martyrs of the French revolution. The believed what they said: "We are the victims of the age, and we ought to sacrifice ourselves to obtain its return to God."
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