Quote of the day, 10 September: St. John Paul II

This morning, dear Brothers and Sisters, our thoughts turn to the sixty-four French priests who died with hundreds of others on the “prison ships of Rochefort.” As Saint Paul exhorted Timothy, they “fought the good fight of faith.” They even endured a long calvary for remaining faithful to their faith and to the Church. If they died, it was for having maintained to the end their close communion with Pope Pius VI.

In profound moral solitude, they took care to maintain a spirit of prayer. “Prey to the torture” of hunger and thirst, they did not have a single word of hatred toward their executioners. Slowly, they allowed themselves to be identified with the sacrifice of Christ which they celebrated by virtue of their ordination. Henceforward, they are offered to our gaze as a living sign of the power of Christ who acts in human weakness.

In the depths of their distress, they maintained the sense of forgiveness. In their eyes, the unity of faith and the unity of their homeland were more important than anything else. We can therefore joyfully take up the words of Sacred Scripture: the souls of these righteous ones are in the hand of God. “They seemed to perish. Their departure was considered a misfortune, but they are at peace” [cf. Wis 3:1–3].

Saint John Paul II

Homily for the Beatification of 64 Victims of the French Revolution (excerpt)
1 October 1995

Note: Blessed Hubert of Saint Claude (Jacques Gagnot) was among three Discalced Carmelite martyrs imprisoned on the ship Les Deux Associés in Rochefort bay during 1794. While his two companions died aboard ship in July, Blessed Hubert endured through the summer months. When plague broke out, the survivors were transferred to Île Madame, where Blessed Hubert died and was buried on 10 September 1794. Witnesses observed that “compared to the hell of the ships, the island seemed a veritable paradise.”

This simple marker is the only engraved monument on the island to the 254 priests buried on Île Madame in 1794. View more photos of the island of Île Madame. Image credit: thierry llansades / Flickr (Some rights reserved) Every August, the Diocese of La Rochelle et Saintes in the Department of Charente-Maritime, France organizes a pilgrimage to the tiny island of Île Madame at low tide. View photos of the 2015 pilgrimage. Image credit: Emmanuel Bethoux / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Île Madame, Port des Barques, sunrise over the ox path, low tide. Image credit: © Thierry Llansades / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

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