Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne

Ten years ago this November, I visited the graves of the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne--the mass graves behind a gate and wall in Picpus Cemetery (more than one thousand victims of the Reign of Terror were dumped into those graves between June 14 and July 18, 1794 after being beheaded at Place du Trone-Renverse, today Place de la Nation, which I also visited that day):

Just outside that wall was the grave marker for Lafayette and his wife:

And also nearby was the gate through which their decapitated bodies were brought in a wagon to be dumped without prayers or ceremony:

I also visited the Chapel of Our Lady of Peace, Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, before entering the cemetery park grounds:

And there, I tried to take a picture of the massive memorial to all those executed that summer:

Among the names:

Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, prioress
Mother St. Louis, sub-prioress
Mother Henriette of Jesus, ex-prioress
Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified
Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection, ex-sub-prioress and sacristan
Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception
Sister Teresa of the Sacred Heart of Mary
Sister Julie Louise of Jesus, widow
Sister Teresa of St. Ignatius
Sister Mary-Henrietta of Providence
Sister Constance, novice

Sister St. Martha
Sister Mary of the Holy Spirit
Sister St. Francis Xavier
Catherine Soiron
Thérèse Soiron

The date of their feast is so historically and liturgically appropriate: yesterday was the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, so they were able to celebrate the Carmelite Order's devotion to Our Lady; three days before was the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, which is now celebrated as the Fête nationale of France. and ten days later the Reign of Terror ended.

Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne, pray for us!