O Lord our God,
You have given your Church
the 32 Blessed Martyrs of Orange.
They lived the Christian vocation to which they had been called
by their Baptism and their religious consecration,
constantly seeking to do Your Will,
ultimately offering their own lives through faithfulness to Jesus.

Instil in us a burning desire
to live here on earth with our gaze turned towards Heaven,
so that one day we may,
along with them,
praise Your Mercy forever.

Through their intercession,
we ask You to grant us the grace to (express your prayer intention)
in the hope that soon we may see them declared holy.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Imprimatur by Bishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz, Archbishop of Avignon
December 8, 2018
Image : oeuvre de Barthalot – Cathedral of Orange

Presentation of the 32 blessed nuns of Orange, martyrs in France in 1794

From the start of the French Revolution, in 1789, human laws were passed to make the Church a state administration, transforming priests into sworn civil servants and suppressing religious life. This was to forget that the Church of Christ is the sacrament of salvation (LG 48) : its members render to Caesar what is Caesar’s but first render to God what is God’s. In 1792, religious vows were abolished. In the south of France, in Bollène and the surrounding area, 42 nuns were expelled from their convents. For eighteen months, in family homes, they shared a life of prayer and total poverty. In May 1794, they were arrested and imprisoned in Orange for refusing to take the Liberty-Equality oath required by the municipality. In conscience, before God, they couldn’t take it.

In prison, the nuns from different communities organized themselves and gave themselves a common rule : they spent their time in prayer. For 20 days, taken in small groups before the People’s Commission, 32 were sentenced to death for fanaticism and guillotined.

• July 6 1794, Sister Marie-Rose, Benedictine
• July 7, Sister Iphigénie de Saint Matthieu, sister of the Blessed Sacrament
• July 9, Sister Sainte-Mélanie and Sister Marie-des-Anges, Ursulines
• July 10, Sister Sainte-Sophie and Sister Agnés de Jésus, Ursulines
• July 11,
  Sister Sainte-Pélagie, Sister Théotiste, Sister Saint-Martin, sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
• and Sister Sainte-Sophie, Ursuline
• July 12
  Sister Rose of Saint-Xavier and Sister Marthe du Bon-Ange, sisters of the Blessed Sacrament,
• Sister Marie de Saint-Henri, Cistercian
• and Sister Saint-Bernard, Ursuline
• July 13,
  Sister Madeleine, Sister Marie-de-l’Annonciation, Sister Saint-Alexis, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
• Sister Saint-François and Sister Sainte-Françoise, Ursulines
• July 15, Sister Saint-Gervais, Ursuline
• July 16,
  Sister Aimée de Jésus, Sister Marie-de-Jésus, Sister Saint-Joachim, sisters of the Holy Sacrament,
• Sister Saint-Michel, Sister Saint-André, Sister of the Heart of Mary, Ursulines
• and Sister Madeleine, Cistercian
• July 26,
  Sister Saint-Augustin, Sister of the Blessed Sacrament,Sister Catherine, Sister Saint-Basile, Sister Claire, Ursuline and
  Sister of the Heart of Jesus, Ursulines.

They all joyfully climbed the scaffold, singing and praying for their persecutors who admired their courage. The ten other imprisoned nuns were saved by the fall of Robespierre on July 28 and released in 1795.

The bodies of the martyrs were thrown into mass graves in the Laplane field in Gabet, located 4 kilometers from the town of Orange. A chapel was built there in 1832. The 32 nuns were beatified by Pope Pius XI on May 10. 1925. They are celebrated on July 9 in the dioceses of Avignon, Valence, Nîmes and Digne.

You are invited to pray to God through their intercession. Please report the graces received.