Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret

Anne-Marie-Madeleine-Françoise Thouret, known as Charlotte of the Resurrection, is the oldest of the martyrs of Compiègne, who were executed by guillotine in Paris during the reign of terror.

She was beatified on 27 May 1906, by Pope Pius X, and canonized on 18 December 2024 by Pope Francis and her feast day is celebrated on 17 July.

Biography

Childhood and entry into the Carmelite Order Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret was born on the 16 September 1715 in Mouy, in the diocese of Beauvais. Her father died when she was a child and her mother remarried. Her relationship with both her mother and step-father was strained.

As a youth, she developed a love of dancing, and took every opportunity to escape from her family and go dancing. She was highly sought after for her cheerful personality, which allowed her to develop connections who were able to help her hide her disobedience. At some point, a "tragic event", according to her, occurred during a ball, and she swore that she would never set foot in a ballroom again.

She joined Carmel de Compiègne at the age of 21 in 1736, and professed her final vows 5 years later. At this point, she took on the name Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection.

She first served as a nurse in the convent's infirmary, and then as a painter. It was reported that she was so dedicated to her duties that her health suffered.

French Revolution When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, Charlotte, age 74, was the prioress of Carmel de Compiègne, presiding over 21 nuns, and needed a crutch to walk.

As a result of 13 February 1790 decree suppressing French religious orders, to which Charlotte had a strong negative reaction, all of the sisters were invited to declare whether their intention was to leave the nunnery. All of them affirmed a wish to "live and die in this holy house". They were expelled two years later.

Vision and Consecration A century before the revolution, one of the Carmelite sisters named Élisabeth-Baptiste, had a vision of all of the nuns of the convent in the glory of the heavens, dressed in white robes and holding hands. As a result, the possibility of the martyrdom of all the occupants of the convent had been anticipated for a century, until the arrival of the Revolution and the violence that accompanied it.

In September 1792, the mother superior felt a growing desire for martyrdom among the nuns, so she proposed to the nuns that they consecrate themselves as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God, so that "the divine peace which his beloved Son brought to the world would be rendered to the Church and the State."

Charlotte and the other nuns were summarily tried, convicted, and executed at the Place de la Nation on 17 July 1794. Her body, along with those of the other nuns, were buried in a mass grave at the neighboring Picpus cemetery. She was commemorated along with the 16 other Carmelites with a feast on 17 July.

Canonization Charlotte was canonized along with the other Carmelite nuns of Compiègne on 18 December 2024, by Pope Francis.