July 17--The Sixteen Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne, Religious and Martyrs

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When does might make right? Is it when we force others to do something because we know it is right? Is it when we punish others for not doing what we know to be right? Is it when we rule as a mob and persecute those who don’t have a right belief? Oh, this isn’t about the current civil unrest. No, this is about the Committee of Public Safety in Revolutionary France. This was the ad hoc government which oversaw the Reign of Terror in France with Maximilien Robespierre as their leader. From 1793 to 1794 16,594 men, women, and children were executed. Of those were sixteen women who were evicted from their convent in 1792. They were arrested in 1794 for refusing to recognize Reason as France’s official religion.

When brought before a prosecutor to answer to the charge of “persistent fanaticism,” one of the nuns asked what that meant. The prosecutor responded, “By fanaticism, I mean your attachment to childish practices and your stupid beliefs.” He then sentenced the sixteen women to death on the guillotine. They were executed that night, starting with a nineteen-year-old novice, who started chanting Psalm 117: “Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! His mercy for us is strong; the faithfulness of the Lord is forever. Hallelujah!” The sisters took up the chant. The last to be executed was a seventy-nine-year-old nun who shouted, “I forgive you as heartily as I wish God to forgive me.” They offered their lives in martyrdom and love on July 17, 1794.

Might does not make right. It didn’t during the Reign of Terror. It doesn’t today. It won’t tomorrow. God’s love makes right because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6). May we follow in their footsteps!

* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carm%C3%A9litesComp02.jpg

July 19--St. Macrina the Younger, Virgin

The eldest in a family oftentimes has the responsibility of assisting the parents in raising the younger siblings and, even though parents are the first teachers of all their children, a first-born can be quite influential. Such is true with today’s saint, Macrina the Younger, born about A.D. 327. Named for her grandmother, also a saint, Macrina was the eldest of St. Basil and St. Emmelia’s ten children. Her brothers were St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste.

St. Macrina was prominent in helping her brothers become the saints they were. She was taught by her mother in the ways of Scripture and helped form her siblings. She helped St. Basil realize the importance of Scripture and persuaded him to be a monk. She also became a nun.  St. Gregory found her to be eloquent regarding death and future life.

In his biography of her, he wrote her words: “O Lord, you have freed us from the fear of death. You have made the end of life here the beginning of a true life for us. For a time, you give rest to our bodies in sleep and you awaken us again with the trumpet. The dust from which you fashioned us with your hands you give back to the earth for safe-keeping. And you will recall it, transforming with immortality and grace our mortal and graceless remains. …

“You who have power on earth to forgive sins, forgive me so that I may be refreshed. May I be found before you once I have put off my body, having no fault in the form of my soul. May my soul be received into your hands, blameless and spotless, as an offering before you.”

Would that we always follow our elder siblings in the faith! St. Macrina, pray for us.

March 15—St. Louise de Marillac, Widow and Religious

Although most people don’t know it, there is a difference between a sister and a nun.  A nun belongs to a cloistered order, where she spends her time in prayer within a religious community.  A sister goes out into the community and spends her time serving the poor, the sick, and the ignorant by being a nurse, teacher, social worker, etc.  St. Louise de Marillac was the first woman to found a religious order of sisters, the Sisters of Charity.  In 17^th century France, the poor were usually aided by rich ladies of society.  St. Louise, along with St. Vincent de Paul, realized that serving the poor would be better if those who served were of the same social class as the poor.  The Sisters of Charity expanded their ministry to orphanages, the elderly, the mentally ill, prisoners, and soldiers in the field.

Jesus said to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, shelter the homeless, and bury the dead, the Corporal Works of Mercy.  The Church has always answered this charge, but it was St. Louise who did it in a new and innovative fashion, which has led to thousands of religious orders of sisters who go out into the world.  St. Louise is the patron saint of social workers, and though the Church is not just about social work, she serves because she sees her savior in each person she serves.  Many of us are indebted to sisters who have taught us and ministered to our needs.  During Lent, let us remember to love and serve by imitating St. Louise de Marillac by our acts of kindness.