Blessed Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret

Anne-Marie-Madeleine-Françoise Thouret, known as Charlotte of the Resurrection, is the oldest of the martyrs of Compiègne, who were executed by guillotine in Paris during the reign of terror. She was beatified on 27 May 1906, by Pope Pius X, and canonized on 18 December 2024 by Pope Francis and her feast day is celebrated on 17 July. Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret was born on the 16 September 1715 in Mouy, in the diocese of Beauvais. Her father died when she was a child and her mother remarried. Her relationship with both her mother and step-father was strained. As a youth, she developed a love of dancing, and took every opportunity to escape from her family and go dancing. She was highly sought after for her cheerful personality, which allowed her to develop connections who were able to help her hide her disobedience. At some point, a "tragic event", according to her, occurred during a ball, and she swore that she would never set foot in a ballroom again. She joined Carmel de Compiègne at the age of 21 in 1736, and professed her final vows 5 years later. At this point, she took on the name Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection. She first served as a nurse in the convent's infirmary, and then as a painter. It was reported that she was so dedicated to her duties that her health suffered. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, Charlotte, age 74, was the prioress of Carmel de Compiègne, presiding over 21 nuns, and needed a crutch to walk. As a result of 13 February 1790 decree suppressing French religious orders, to which Charlotte had a strong negative reaction, all of the sisters were invited to declare whether their intention was to leave the nunnery. All of them affirmed a wish to "live and die in this holy house". They were expelled two years later. A century before the revolution, one of the Carmelite sisters named Élisabeth-Baptiste, had a vision of all of the nuns of the convent in the glory of the heavens, dressed in white robes and holding hands.