Pope Francis has officially declared the 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, as saints through the rare procedure of “equipollent canonization.” Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and her 15 companions, who were guillotined in Paris on July 17, 1794, for their steadfast faith, can now be venerated worldwide as saints in the Catholic Church.
This rare form of canonization, known as "equipollent" or "equivalent" canonization, recognizes the long-standing veneration of the Carmelite martyrs, who faced their deaths singing hymns of praise. Their canonization avoids the formal process and ceremony, occurring by papal bull after the historical section of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints conducts a study. While no modern miracle is required, the fame of miracles before or after their deaths is considered.
Equipollent canonization is rare, with Pope Francis having declared saints in this manner previously, including St. Peter Faber and St. Margaret of Costello. Pope Benedict XVI also used this method for St. Hildegard of Bingen, and Pope Pius XI granted it for St. Albert the Great.
The Martyrs of Compiègne, 11 nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs, were arrested during the intense anti-Catholic persecution of the French Revolution. Despite the outlawing of religious life, they maintained a communal life of prayer and penance in hiding. At the suggestion of their prioress, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, they made a vow to offer their lives for the end of the Revolution and the Catholic Church in France.
On the day of their execution, they were paraded through the streets of Paris, enduring insults from the crowd but singing hymns such as the “Miserere,” “Salve Regina,” and “Veni Creator Spiritus.” Before their deaths, each sister knelt before their prioress, who gave them permission to die, continuing to sing until the blade fell. Within days of their martyrdom, Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the Reign of Terror, was executed, bringing an end to the bloody period.
The Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified in 1906 by Pope Pius X, and their story has inspired numerous works, including Georges Bernanos’s book Dialogue of the Carmelites, later adapted into a famous opera by Francis Poulenc.
In addition to the canonization of the martyrs, Pope Francis approved the beatification of two 20th-century martyrs: Archbishop Eduard Profittlich, a German Jesuit who died in a Soviet prison in 1942, and Father Elia Comini, an Italian Salesian priest executed by the Nazis in 1944.
Pope Francis also recognized the heroic virtues of three servants of God: Hungarian Archbishop Áron Márton, Italian priest Father Giuseppe Maria Leone, and French layman Pietro Goursat. Márton stood against Nazi and communist oppression, Leone dedicated his life to spiritual guidance and aid during epidemics, and Goursat founded the Emmanuel Community, focused on prayer and evangelization. These individuals now hold the title of "venerable" in the Catholic Church.
The feast day of the Martyrs of Compiègne will remain July 17, the date of their martyrdom, and their canonization highlights the enduring strength of faith in the face of persecution.