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OTHER CARMELITE SAINTS AND
THEMES
To Quell the Terror: The Mystery of the
Vocation of the Sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne, Guillotined
July 17, 1794
[LIMITED EDITION]
By William Bush
(Professor Emeritus of French Literature at the University of
Western Ontario). Recounts the dramatic true story of the
Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, martyred during the
French Revolution's "Great Terror," and known to the world
through their fictional representation in Gertrud von Le
Fort's Song at the Scaffold and Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of
the Carmelites. Includes index and 15 photos.
ISBN
0-935216-67-7
ICS Code: Q
272 pages, paper, $14.95. |
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More
Information
At the
height of the French Revolution's "Great Terror," a community
of sixteen Carmelite nuns from Compiègne offered their lives
to restore peace to the church and to France. Ten days after
their deaths by the guillotine, Robespierre fell, and with his
exectuion on the same scaffold the Reign of Terror effectively
ended. Had God thus accepted and used the Carmelites' generous
self-gift?
Through Gertrud
von Le Fort's modern novella, Song at the Scaffold, and
Francis Poulenc's famed opera, Dialogues of the
Carmelites, (with its libretto by Georges Bernanos),
modern audiences around the world have become captivated by
the mysterious destiny of these Compiègne martyrs, Blessed
Teresa of St. Augustine and her companions. Now, for the first
time in English, William Bush explores at length the facts
behind the fictional representations, and reflects on their
spiritual significance. Based on years of research, this book
recounts in lively detail virtually all that is known of the
life and background of each of the martyrs, as well as the
troubled times in which they lived. The Compiègne Carmelites,
sustained by their remarkable prioress, emerge as distinct
individuals, struggling as Christians to understand and
respond to an awesome calling, relying not on their own
strength but on the mercy of God and the guiding hand of
Providence. The book includes an index and 15
photos.
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