Martyrs of Compiègne

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Martyrs of Compiegne
Died	Mid-July 1794, Barrière de Vincennes, Paris, France
Martyred by	Robespierre's Directoire
Venerated in	Carmelite Order
Beatified	May 1906 by Pope Pius X
Feast	17 July
Notable martyrs	Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine
Saints Portal

Commemorated on 17 July of the Carmelite Calendar of Saints are the Martyrs of Compiegne. Terrye Newkirk writes in "The Martyrs of Compiègne as Prophets of Modern Age":

On 17 July, 1794, in the closing days of the Reign of Terror led by Robespierre, sixteen Carmelite nuns of the Catholic Church were guillotined at the Barrière de Vincennes (nowadays Place de la Nation) in [[Paris. They were buried in a common grave at the Picpus Cemetery, where a single cross today marks the remains of the 1,306 victims of the guillotine. A mere handful of the French Revolution's victims. They have commanded the attention of historians, hagiographers, authors, playwrights, composers, and librettists for two hundred years. In our century the Martyrs of Compiègne have been the subject of a massive scholarly history, a German novella, a French play, a film, and Francis Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. In 1902, Pope Leo XIII declared the nuns Venerable, the first step toward canonization. They were later beatified by Pius X in May, 1906: Carmelites celebrate the memory of the prioress, Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine (Lidoine), and her fifteen companions on July 17, and Catholics may adopt them as patrons. As the bicentenary of their death is observed, many are petitioning for their canonization.