This week in Christian history: Francis Asbury leaves for America, St. Aidan dies, ‘September Massacres’

French Revolution massacres priests – Sept. 2, 1792

This week marks the anniversary of when around 200 Catholic clergy were massacred at a Carmelite convent in Paris, France, by a mob of French revolutionaries.

Part of a broader campaign of violence known as the “September Massacres,” the incident involved a mob storming the convent, which had been used as a prison for clergy who had refused to accept the new revolutionary order.

The killing began in the afternoon, with a reported 191 clergy, including three bishops, being martyred by the armed mob via firing squads or being stabbed to death by swords and spears.

“Some prisoners sought refuge in the monastery chapel, but were apprehended and led back to the monastery garden to certain execution. A revolutionary commissioner arrived, restored order, and within two hours, another 115 executions were carried out,” according to the website Carmelite Quotes.

Father De La Pannonie, one of the few clergy to escape the slaughter, later wrote that “I never heard one complaint from those whom I saw massacred.”