Blessed Madeleine Fontaine
Blessed Madeleine Fontaine (French: Marie-Madeleine Fontaine; born April 22, 1723 AD in Étrépagny, Normandy, France; died June 26, 1794 AD in Cambrai, France) was a French Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, superior of her community, who was guillotined during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. She is the best known of the four Daughters of Charity honored as the Martyrs of Arras (or of Cambrai). Her feast day is June 26.
Superior of the Daughters of Charity at Arras, Madeleine Fontaine refused with her sisters to take the oath imposed on religious by the revolutionary government, and continued their works of charity and teaching of the faith. Condemned for this, the four sisters were guillotined. She was beatified in 1920.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Madeleine Fontaine
| Blessed Madeleine Fontaine | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | June 26 |
| Profession | Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul; superior |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Daughters of Charity; Martyrs of Arras; French Revolution martyrs |
| Patronage | Daughters of Charity; those who serve the poor under persecution; France |
| Attributes | Palm of martyrdom; Daughter of Charity's cornette; guillotine |
| Birthplace | Étrépagny, Normandy, France |
| Death Place | Cambrai, France |
| Cause of Death | Martyrdom; guillotined at Cambrai during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution for refusing the oath and continuing religious life; Daughter of Charity and superior; one of the Martyrs of Arras |
| Primary Shrine | Arras / Cambrai, France |
Biography
Marie-Madeleine Fontaine was born on April 22, 1723, at Étrépagny in Normandy, France. She entered the Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, the community founded by Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac to serve the poor, the sick, and the young in the world.
She was sent to Arras, in northern France, where she became superior of the local house of the Daughters of Charity. There she and her sisters devoted themselves to the care of the sick, the relief of the poor, and the education of children.
When the French Revolution imposed on religious and clergy an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy—which subordinated the Church to the revolutionary state—Madeleine Fontaine and her three companions refused to take it, unwilling to betray their faith and their consecration, and they continued their works and the teaching of the faith. In the fierce persecution at Arras under the revolutionary official Joseph Lebon, they were arrested.
The four Daughters of Charity—Madeleine Fontaine, Marie-Françoise Lanel, Thérèse-Madeleine Fantou, and Jeanne Gérard—were condemned and taken to Cambrai, where they were guillotined on June 26, 1794. Madeleine Fontaine, the eldest and the superior, was the last to die; she is remembered as having declared from the scaffold that they would be the last to be executed—words that proved true, as the Terror ended a few weeks later with the fall of Robespierre.
The four Martyrs of Arras were beatified on June 13, 1920, by Pope Benedict XV. Their feast is kept on June 26.
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Feast day
June 26
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