215 Years Ago Today...

The 16 Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne were guillotined during the French Revolution.

You can read more about them in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Also recommended are:

The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud Von Le Fort (Neumann Press) - approriate for high school or adult

To Quell the Terror: The Mystery of the Vocation of the Sixteen Carmelites of Compiegne Guillotined July 17, 1794 by William Bush (not yet reviewed for age-appropriateness)

Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858)

Grades 5-8:

Bernadette and the Lady by Hertha Pauli

Teen/Adult:

The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel

Movies:

Bernadette: Princess of Lourdes (CCC Animated Video)

The Song of Bernadette (1943 - Vincent Price - won four Academy Awards in 1944)

Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)

The Cure of Ars: The Priest Who Out-talked the Devil by Milton Lomask

The Cure of Ars: The Story of St John Vianney by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

The Man Who Fought the Devil: The Cure of Ars by Eva K. Betz

The Cure D'Ars: St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney by Francis Trochu

St. Catherine Laboure (France, 1806-1876)

Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine in 1830 and gave her the Miraculous Medal

St. Catherine Laboure and the Miraculous Medal by Alma Power-Waters

The Miraculous Medal: The Story of Our Lady's Apparitions to St. Catherine Laboure by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (1830)

The Miracle of Bordeaux (France, 1822)

"The Miracle of Bordeaux, France", Eucharistic Miracles, pgs. 171-178 (1822)

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Napoleonic Wars: (approximately 1799-1815)

The Midshipman Quinn Collection by Showell Styles (1803-1805)
The Flying Ensign by Showell Styles (1809)


Imprisonment of Popes Pius VI and Pius VII:

Pope Pius VI from the Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Pius VII from Patron Saints Index
Napoleon Bonaparte from Catholic Encyclopedia (see especially the sections: "The Campaign in Italy" and "The Great Victories; Occupation of Rome; Imprisonment of Pius VII (1805-09)")

Cathedral at Rheims (consecrated in 1241)

The Cathedral at Rheims (north east of Paris, in the province of Champagne) was built between 1210 and 1241 AD. The kings of France were once crowned there and you'll hear something of it in the story of St. Joan of Arc.

The Web Gallery of Art has some information on the Cathedral as well as some great photos of statuary.

Rheims Cathedral was seriously damaged by the Germans in 1914. Here is a 1937 TIME magazine article about its restoration.

Also see "The Bombardment of Rheims"