Father Louis Joseph François (1751-1792)

He was born in Busigny (France) on February 3, 1751. Among his eight siblings, Louis Joseph and two others were admitted to the Congregation of the Mission as candidates for the priesthood; one sister became a Daughter of Charity. At the age of 16, he was received into the Internal Seminary. He made his vows in 1769 and was ordained a priest in 1773.

His first years of ministry were dedicated to the formation of the clergy. Later, the Superior General asked him to serve in the General Secretariat of the Congregation in Paris. While living there, Father Louis Joseph was frequently invited – thanks to his excellent qualities as a preacher – to preach at major celebrations throughout the capital. At the request of bishops, he also led retreats for the clergy. He directed as well the Tuesday Conferences at Saint-Lazare, which were highly appreciated by Parisian priests.

After the death of the superior of the Saint-Firmin Seminary, the former College of Bons-Enfants dating back to the time of Saint Vincent, François was appointed to that position. During this period, he wrote several pamphlets and publications against the French Revolution, particularly against the obligation imposed on priests and bishops to swear allegiance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Driven by a deep love for the Church, he courageously opposed the confiscation of ecclesiastical property decreed by the Revolution. Because of his courage and integrity, he was considered a true defender of the faith and became deeply hated by the revolutionaries.

He continued his tireless work until his arrest on August 13, 1792. On September 3 of the same year, at 5:30 in the morning, the doors of the Saint-Firmin Seminary suddenly opened with great noise. Many rebels entered, beginning the terrible execution of its inhabitants.

Gifted with intelligence and courage, Father Louis Joseph François met with representatives of the government in an attempt to restrain the fury of the revolutionaries against so many innocent Christians. The authorities offered him the possibility of escaping with his confrères and the other inhabitants of the Seminary. However, Father François continued to seek dialogue, firmly defending respect for the principles that guided those who refused to submit to the demands of the Revolution.

Suddenly, some executioners burst into the room, seized him, and threw him from the window into the street, where enraged women, armed with sticks, machetes, and kitchen knives, ended the life of this wise and virtuous Priest of the Mission.

Father John Henry Gruyer (1734-1792)

He was born in Dôle (France) on June 13, 1734. Already a priest, and longing for a more generous commitment to evangelization, he wished to enter the Congregation founded by Saint Vincent. He was received into the Internal Seminary on January 23, 1771, and the following year was sent to Angers for a missionary experience. With great joy, he pronounced his vows on January 24, 1773.

He was then sent as a pastor to Versailles, where he spent 18 years serving God’s people with devoted zeal. He was persecuted by the revolutionaries because of his opposition to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, even witnessing the invasion of his parish church.

On June 18 of that same year, he had to leave for Paris. He went to the Saint-Firmin Seminary and asked Father Louis Joseph François for hospitality. From August 13 onward, the atmosphere in the Seminary became increasingly tense because of constant threats. In the following days, at least 96 new prisoners were brought there.

Finally, on September 3, 1792, Father John Henry Gruyer, a man of remarkable pastoral sensitivity, was killed with sticks and iron bars after being thrown into the street from the upper floors of the building, like many other prisoners in the Seminary.

Father Peter René Rogue (1758-1796)

He was born in Vannes (France) on June 11, 1758. Already a priest, he began to feel the desire to become a Lazarist because he wanted to work in the formation of diocesan clergy and in popular missions for the poor, especially those forgotten in rural areas. He entered the Congregation of the Mission on October 25, 1786.

After the Internal Seminary, he was sent to the seminary of Vannes. These years of formation work were violently interrupted by the turmoil of the French Revolution, which sought to persecute and suppress the Catholic Church.

Betrayed by someone who had benefited from his family’s generosity, Father Rogue received news of his condemnation in the presence of his mother and, within 24 hours, was executed by guillotine on March 3, 1796.

Peter René Rogue is also known as the martyr of the Eucharist because he was arrested precisely while carrying Holy Communion to a sick person. Moved by an extraordinary pastoral charity, he did not fear danger when it came to comforting and supporting those who needed it most.

Father Nicolas Colin (1730-1792)

He was born in Grenant (France) on December 12, 1730. He was admitted to the Seminary of the Mother House in 1747. After ordination, his first assignment was at Saint Louis Parish in Versailles, where he remained from 1754 until 1770, when the Bishop of Langres convinced him to take charge of the parish of Genevrières.

Although he left community life during those troubled times, he always continued to identify himself as a Priest of the Mission, as shown by parish records and documents he signed for 21 consecutive years, demonstrating that he never lost his connection with the Congregation.

His love for the Church led him to reject anything that seemed to threaten the unity of Christ’s disciples, the communion of the faithful with their pastors, and the living of Christian faith and its essential values.

The Revolution, however, could not accept his position. Colin was expelled from his parish and replaced by a priest who had accepted all the demands of the Constitution. As a caring pastor, he continued to encourage his faithful to remain firm in the hope of better days.

For this reason, Colin anonymously published a booklet containing his final advice. Its contents reveal his deep love for Jesus Christ, the Church, and his parishioners, as well as the integrity of his character, his sense of justice, and his insistence on respect for human freedom:

“It would be absolutely absurd to attribute to any other impulse than the irresistible authority of my conscience the inflexibility that exposes me to the harshest trials, which, in exchange for my fidelity to the faith, assures me nothing but hunger, exile, prison, and even death.”

In November 1791, the courageous priest left Genevrières for Paris, where he returned to the Community and began living with his confrères who worked at the Saint-Firmin Seminary. Already united with Fathers François and Gruyer in the same charism and mission, Colin also joined them in offering his life, crowned by martyrdom on September 3, 1792.

Father Jean-Charles Caron (1730-1792)

He was born on December 30, 1730, in Auchel (France). He and three of his brothers became priests, two of them in the Congregation of the Mission. Jean-Charles was received among the sons of Saint Vincent on October 9, 1750. He made his vows in 1752.

After his ordination, he was sent to Saint Louis Parish in Versailles. In 1770, Father Caron left the parish and the Congregation of the Mission, for reasons that remain unknown. He later received an assignment at Saint Étienne Parish, where he remained until 1781, before taking up another pastoral ministry in Paris.

In 1791, he took the oath required by the Revolution, though with some reservations. Because of his hesitant attitude toward the demands of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Father Caron was declared refractory and, on July 31, lost the position he had received from the revolutionaries.

After a short period, he sought refuge with Father Louis Joseph François at the Saint-Firmin Seminary and rejoined the Vincentian community. Persecuted and arrested, he did not give up.

On September 3, 1792, united by the bonds of faith and vocation, Caron and his companions received the palm of martyrdom.

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In the Christian tradition and, consequently, from a Vincentian perspective, martyrdom appears as the supreme expression of an existence freely and deeply identified with the person and mission of Jesus Christ, in the most varied circumstances. Saint Vincent expressed this when speaking to his Missionaries:

“Could there be anything more reasonable than to give our life for Him who so freely gave His own for all of us? If Our Lord loves us to the point of dying for us, why should we not desire to have the same disposition toward Him, even to die for Him if the opportunity should arise?” (SV XI-3, 259).

Such was also the experience of the Missionaries who, amid the persecutions imposed by the French Revolution, gave their lives out of love for the faith they professed. This faith gave them apostolic strength and opened before them the infinite horizon of a life fulfilled in the eternal love of the Lord.

Vinícius Teixeira, CM