Four members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary will be beatified in Paris this month: Fathers Ladislas Radigue, Polycarpe Tuffier, Marcellin Rouchouze, Frézal Tardieu. These four brothers were shot on May 26th, 1871 during the time of the Paris Commune together with Fr. Henri Planchat, their companion in martyrdom, the first priest of the religious of Saint Vincent de Paul. They were killed for their faith and their commitment to the Catholic Church during a time of social and political upheaval in Paris. The beatification process is recognition by the Church of their martyrdom and their example of faith and devotion.
The date of the beatification is April 22, 2023 and the beatification ceremony will take place in the church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. With great joy we welcome this good news for the Church and for our Congregation. With this act, the Church recognizes that our brothers were martyred "for the Glory of God and the salvation of the world." For this reason, they are proposed as exemplary witnesses who accompany the Church on her pilgrimage in history.
This recognition reminds us of our common vocation to holiness. The life of God shines through these martyrs - who knew how to welcome it and let it unfold in their lives in the manner of Jesus: through the services that were entrusted to them and through their courage in assuming the risks of following Jesus. At the same time, this recognition causes us to rejoice and give thanks for the work that God is carrying out in his Church, through so many men and women, witnesses to his love, a love given to the end. Let us then enter into the joy of God and of the whole Church, occasioned by these brothers - and through this act of thanksgiving we thank God for what He has accomplished in them. Let us rejoice, with the brothers and sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, together with Christian communities throughout the world. Now we can count on our brothers as intercessors before the Lord.
Let us especially unite ourselves to the intercession of these brothers through our adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, in service to the Church, and in closeness to the poor. Finally, may we rediscover the path of surrender that led them to martyrdom.
May Our Lady of Peace continue to raise in the Congregation bold artisans of peace just like our brothers were. May they accompany us and sustain us through their surrender and their prayer, so that God may also carry out his work in each one of us. Alberto Toutin sscc, Superior General (Adapted)
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