Today, September 2, is the Feast of Blessed John Francis Burté and Companions, martyrs of the French Revolution in the late 18th century who refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ and His Holy Church and paid the price with their lives.
Below is a wonderful reflection on the significance of these martyrs for us today by Catholic writer, Randy Petrides, pictured above. Randy is a parishioner at Holy Family in Grand Blanc. He spent 38 years as a trial lawyer and administrator in the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office. Upon retirement in 2017, he transitioned into Catholic Theology and writing, with an emphasis on Church history and the saints. His book, “How the Saints Shaped History”, is published by Our Sunday Visitor Press. Randy writes:
September, 1792. Paris. Priests and bishops are crammed into a Carmelite convent, arrested for refusing to take a loyalty oath to the state that would compromise their faith. A mob bursts in. At least 96 are massacred, including John du Lau, Archbishop of Arles and Fr. John Burte, a Franciscan theology teacher. Over ninety others were killed in two other locations during this September rampage. All were beatified in 1929. Over the next two years, thousands of other faithful Catholics were martyred as well, including 19 “Martyrs of Laval” in the west of France, and the “Martyrs of Compiegne” – 16 mostly elderly nuns, force-marched to the guillotine.
What happened? After all, France was a Catholic country. In a flash, that changed. The French Revolution toppled the monarchy and led to the 1790s Reign of Terror. The Catholic Church became the enemy of the state.
Until the 1500s, Europe had been Christian. But weaknesses in Church leadership, the Protestant Reformation, and sectarian wars tore the Church asunder, opening the door in the 1700s to a powerful change in world view: the “Enlightenment.” It still prevails today: a rational, secular, all-scientific view of reality that rejects divine revelation and claims the “individual” – not church or state – is the only source of truth. France was the epicenter of the Enlightenment and her Revolution came from it.
Could it happen here? It’s a scary possibility. Enlightenment thought reigns in most of our institutions. Anti-Christian attitudes and violence are growing. God is marginalized. It’s not that far from 18th century France to today’s martyrs throughout the world and the growing marginalization of Christians here at home.
Yet there is hope. We are called to seek grace, to be alert, to pray for religious freedom, to live our faith passionately, and to summon courage so that we might be ready for whatever may come.
Blesseds John Burte and John du Lau, pray for us.