Remembering the Catholic Martyrs of the Commune of Paris
by VP
Posted on Sunday May 30, 2021 at 06:19PM in Articles
(Translation from the French)
Vow to the Sacred Heart
"O Heart of Jesus, look not upon our sins, but upon the blood of the martyrs who cry for mercy!"
Card dedicated to the Souls for Reparation of the Guard of Honor
This image was made in the context of the 1870 National Vow: the project of building the Sacred Heart Basilica in Montmartre in reparation for sin: "In 1870, war broke out between France and
Germany. The Council that was being held in the Vatican at the
time was suspended and the Pope, no longer under the protection of
French troops, considered himself a prisoner within the Vatican.
France was defeated and partially occupied by German troops. The
initiative of Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohault de Fleury was
a spiritual one. They vowed to build a church dedicated to the
Sacred Heart “as reparation” (i.e. as penance for infidelity and
sin) for they held that the misfortunes of France had spiritual
rather than political causes". The origin of the Construction of the Basilica, "the National Vow"
THE TEXT OF THE VOW IN THE BASILICA: (January 1871)
“In the presence of the misfortunes that have befallen France and the greater misfortunes that perhaps still threaten her. In the presence of the sacrilegious attacks committed in Rome against the rights of the Church and the Holy See and against the sacred person of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. We humble ourselves before God and uniting in our love both Church and Fatherland, recognize that we have sinned and been justly punished. And to make honorable amends for our sins and obtain through the infinite mercy of the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ pardon for our faults, as well as the extraordinary help that alone can deliver the Holy Pontiff from his captivity and put an end to the misfortunes of France, we hereby promise to contribute to the construction, in Paris, of a sanctuary dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” The origin of the Construction of the Basilica, "the National Vow"
"On January 18, 1872, the Archbishop of Paris Mgr Guibert approved the
project and wrote a letter in 1873 to the Minister of Religious Affairs
to request "a temple erected to remind people of the divine protection
of France and Paris, and should be located on a site dominating Paris
that can be seen from all points of the city". Basilica Sacred Heart
"The Works Committee of 1872 followed by the vote in Parliament of 1873 continued the idea of 1870 that has now become a “National Vow” and not just a Parisian one." The origin of the Construction of the Basilica, "the National Vow"
The drawing depicts Paris being surrounded by flames and the execution of its Archbishop during the Commune Insurrection in 1871.
On the right is
the Pantheon, on the left the Sainte Chapelle engulfed in flames, bottom left the "Communards" (Insurrectionists) executing Archbishop Darboy, Our Blessed Lord looking at Paris showing His Sacred Heart.
At the bottom of the Holy Card "Dédiée aux Ames
Réparatrices de la Garde d'Honneur" refers to the group started in France by Sister
Marie of the Sacred Heart Bernaud on March 13th, 1863.
"Fierce Anticlericalism"
"One of the little-known facets of this fleeting dictatorship of the proletariat was its fierce anticlericalism, mainly because the Communards — true to their ancestors from the French Revolution — associated the Catholic Church with conservatism, aristocracy and imperial power. They were furthermore considerably galvanized by the militant atheism of one of their leading figures, revolutionary socialist Auguste Blanqui.
Shortly after being established, the Commune revoked the Concordat of 1801 that made Catholicism the “religion of the great majority of the French” and classified clergy members as civil servants. On April 2, the Communards then proclaimed the separation between the Church and the state, which implied the secularization of religious congregations’ properties.
According to historian Yves Chiron, during the Commune, two-thirds of the churches in Paris were closed, looted, vandalized or turned into prisons, workshops or meeting rooms for political clubs.
(...)
In the aftermath of the Commune, the Catholic martyrs became the subject of an increasing popular devotion among the faithful. Four causes of beatification were opened in the years following the insurrection — one for Archbishop Darboy and his four companions; one for the five Dominicans; one for the Jesuits; and one for Father Planchat and Picpus Fathers Ladislas Radigue, Polycarpe Tuffier, Marcellin Rouchouze and Frézal Tardieu.
But while the various causes slowly faded into oblivion in the 1970s, that of Father Planchat and his companions resumed its course in 2008 and is — according to its postulator, Father Sabourin — nearing completion. Their martyrdom could be recognized by Pope Francis by the end of this year.
In
2017, Father Planchat’s body was exhumed from the church of Notre-Dame
de la Salette and was found intact — although riddled with bullets."
Source: National Catholic Register, by
