The Blessed Martyrs of Rochefort
Today the Carmelite Order remembers and honors the Blessed Martyrs of Rochefort. The resolutions drawn up by the priests imprisoned on the ship Les Deux Associés teach us how to suffer and conduct ourselves in difficult and unjust situations. Christ is the model of perfect love and perfect obedience to God the Father.
In order to imitate Christ as his blessed Mother and other faithful disciples have done, we must accept the evil and unjust things that happen to us and we cannot avoid, and all the unfortunate difficulties that we encounter, knowing full well that God could have prevented them and spared us of the suffering that they cause us, but also knowing that in permitting them God will bring some greater good out of it, both for ourselves and for others.
This acceptance does not mean that we should ever condone unjust acts or abusive conduct in others, but it does mean that we must strive to forgive those who trespass against us as Christ forgives those who trespass against him.
We must often judge the unjust actions of others, hold them accountable, and call them to true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment, but at the same time we must never presume to judge or condemn their hearts, and we must always strive to forgive even those who should have known and done better.
Then we must be generous to them as God has been generous to us. This is the heroic path of mercy, to which Christ has called all his faithful disciples.
Optional Memorial - From the Supplement to the Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of Hours, Rome Institutum Carmelitanum 1993:
Fr. Leonard Duverneuil (b. 1737 at Limoges), Fr. Michael-Aloysius Brulard (Michel-Louis) (b. 1758 at Chartres), and Fr. Hubert of Saint Claude (b. 1753 at Frolois), were among a group of 64 Martyrs beatified 1st October 1995, victims of the French Revolution who came from 14 French dioceses and from various religious Orders. In their loyalty to God, the Church and the Pope, they refused to take the oath of the Civil Constitution for the Clergy imposed by the Constituent Assembly of the Revolution. As a result, they were imprisoned, massed like animals, on a slave-trader ship in Rochefort Bay, waiting in vain to be deported into slavery. During 1794, the first two Carmelites died on board ship: Fr. John-Baptist on 1st July, and Fr. Michael-Aloysius on 25th July, both being buried on the island of Aix. After the plague broke out on the ship, those remaining disembarked on the island of Madame, where Fr. Hubert died and was buried on 10th September. Noted for their loving ministry to their fellow prisoners and their patience in accepting every type of outrage, privation, and cruelty, not to mention the vicissitudes of weather, hunger and sickness, our three Discalced Carmelite priest martyrs and their companions in martyrdom gave unsurpassed Christian witness to their faith and love.
From the Common of Martyrs - The Second Reading
Resolutions drawn up by the priests imprisoned on the ship Les Deux Associés:
They bore in silence the cross that was placed on them.
They will never give themselves up to useless worries about being set free. Instead they will make the effort to profit from the time of their detention by meditating on their past years, by making holy resolutions for the future, so that they can find in the captivity of their bodies, freedom for their soul.
If God permits them to recover totally or in part this liberty nature longs for, they will avoid giving themselves up to an immoderate joy when they receive the news. By keeping their souls tranquil, they will show they support without murmur the cross placed on them, and that they are disposed to bear it even longer with courage and as true Christians who never let themselves be beaten by adversity.
If there is question of receiving back their personal effects they will show no eagerness in asking for them; rather, they will make the declaration that may be required of them with modesty and strict truth. They will receive without lament what is given to them, accustoming themselves, as is their duty, to despise the things of the earth and to be content with little, after the example of the apostles.
They are not to satisfy curious people they might come across. They will not reply to superficial questions about what happened to them. They will let people glimpse that they have patiently supported their sufferings, without descending into detail, and without showing any resentment against those who have authored and been instrumental in their suffering.
They will sentence themselves to the severest and most absolute silence about the faults of their brothers and the weaknesses into which they happened to fall due to their unfortunate situation, their bad health and the length of their punishment. They will preserve the same charity towards those whose religious opinion is different from their own. They will avoid all bitter feeling or animosity, being content to feel sorry about them interiorly and making the effort to stay on the way of truth by their gentleness and moderation.
They will not show grief over the loss of their goods, no haste to recover them, no resentment against those who possess them….
From now on they will form but one heart and one soul, without showing distinction of persons, and without leaving any of their brothers out, under any pretext. They will never get mixed up in the new politics, being content to pray for the welfare of their country and prepare themselves for a new life, if God permits them to return to their homes, and there become subjects of edification and models of virtue for the people, by their detachment from the world, their assiduousness in prayer and their love for recollection and piety.
Responsory
God and his angels look down upon us;
Christ, too, looks on as we do battle in the contest of faith.
—What great dignity and glory are ours,
what happiness to struggle in the presence of God,
and to be crowned by Christ our judge.
Let us be armed with a great determination and,
pure in heart, sound in faith, and full of courage,
be prepared to face the combat.
—What great dignity and glory are ours,
what happiness to struggle in the presence of God,
and to be crowned by Christ our judge.
Prayer
Lord God,
to the martyrs Blesseds Leonard, Michael Aloysius,
Hubert of Saint Claude, and their companions,
you gave the grace to remain faithful and to pardon others while suffering dismaying hardship.
Through their intercession grant also to us,
to be always willing to remain faithful to your Church
and to be reconciled
with one another.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever, amen.
© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.