The Basics: Birth dates varied; died July 9-26, 1794, in France; beatified on May 10, 1925, by Pius XI; feast day, July 9. Women religious; martyrs.
The Story: When the sixteen Ursuline nuns arrived in May 1794 at the Orange jail in southern France, they were greeted by thirteen other religious sisters, some of whom had already been imprisoned for more than a year. All were jailed for refusing to take a revolutionary oat
h they believed would have amounted to a renunciation of their faith.
The number of imprisoned sisters would grow and grow, with women ranging in age from twenty-three to seventy-five. But while their ages, rules, and charisms may have been different, the women formed a new community, establishing a schedule for prayer and other activities and electing a prioress.
The killings started on July 9. Some days, a single sister would be taken to the guillotine; other days, two would be summoned. By July 26, thirty-two–Ursulines, Cistercians, Sacramentines, and a Benedictine–would all be dead, as would another three hundred souls. The government of Robespierre fell two days later while ten more sisters were still awaiting the guillotine; they would be freed the following year.
What We Can Learn from the Martyrs of Orange: The Lord provides us with community regardless of our situation. Focus on what unites you with rather than distances you from a person you find difficult to love.
Wisdom from the Martyrs of Orange: “Do your job, sir! I have an appointment to dine with angels tonight!” (Sacramentine Sister Marie Cluse to a prison guard who offered to help her escape if she would marry him.)
To Learn More About the Martyrs of Orange: Read the “Virgin Martyrs” chapter in Refractory Men, Fanatical Women: Fidelity to Conscience During the French Revolution by Edwin Bannon (Gracewing, 1992).
To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my book, Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.
