“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was the motto of the French Revolution. It sounds fine, till one remembers that it only applied to those who agreed with the revolutionaries. For those who disagreed, especially men and women in the service of the Catholic Church, there was no freedom, no fairness, and no brotherhood. In 1790, the revolutionary government required clerics to take an oath that denied the pope authority over the French Catholic Church. Many did, but those who refused were punished quite violently. That was the case with the Martyrs of September.
In 1792 those clerics, as well as men and women religious, who refused to take the oath were rounded up and imprisoned in closed-down convents and monasteries in Paris. In September “Vigilance Committees” were set up and mobs were sent to the prisons. Once there, they pulled out the inmates and brutally murdered them. September 2 and 3 saw the martyrdoms of 191 bishops, priests, religious men, women, and laity. By the end of 1792 the number of clergy martyred was 1500. They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Facing death with love is heroic, but that does not mean martyrs want to die. We all have a natural love for life, even for those who are willing to die for their faith. But when we are called to stand up for what is right, good, true, loving, and beautiful, then death, and even torture, may be a necessary witness before others. Are we able to stand up for what is right, what is good, what is true, what is loving, and what is beautiful in witness to the name of Christ and his bride, the Church? There is no scandal when we show our love for Jesus and his Church.
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