Feast of the Holy Martyrs of September

Holy Martyrs of September, orate pro nobis

September 2nd is the Feast of the Holy Martyrs of September, victims of the French Revolution. On September 2nd and 3rd in 1792 a group of 191 faithful Catholics were killed at the Carmes Prison (formally a Carmelite monastery) in Paris for refusing to take an oath to the Republic’s Civil Constitution of the Clergy, a heretical law that denied Papal authority and placed the clergy under the dominion of the state. Choosing death over apostasy, the imprisoned priests, monks and nuns were mercilessly massacred by a mob of bloodthirsty Jacobins and members of the vigilance committees. The martyrs were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to the Holy Martyrs of September.

Prayer to the Holy Martyrs of September

Grant a joyful outcome to our prayers, O Lord, so that we, who each year devoutly honor the day of the passion of the holy Martyrs of September, may also imitate the constancy of their faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.