Blessed Jean-Marie du Lau, archbishop of Arles, France, died on this date in 1792 with 190 others during the anti-Church violence of the French revolution.

Two years prior, a populist assembly passed a law that subordinated the Church in France to the government. The law was particularly harsh on monastic orders, and required all clergy to swear by an oath to accept it. Nearly all bishops in France opposed the measure and refused to take the oath.

In the late summer of 1792, violence spread as insurrectionists clashed with the monarchy and its allies. Populist militias massacred more than 1,500, including 191 who were beatified as martyrs.

Many of these martyrs were clergy and leaders of religious communities, and were held in prisons. Most were offered the opportunity to take the oath to accept the primacy of the government over the Church, and when they refused, they were killed on the spot.

Blessed Jean was imprisoned with 150 others in a Carmelite church. All were clergy except for one layman, a cavalry officer who volunteered to accompany his parish priest to prison. Under Jean’s guidance, the group lived a regular life of prayer and worship in prison, and surprised their guards by the joy they displayed.

On this date in 1792, the group was taking a rest period in the garden of the church where they were imprisoned when an armed mob broke into the complex and began killing any prisoners they could find. Jean was in the chapel when the melee broke out, and calmly emerged. He was asked if he was the archbishop, and when he confirmed his identity, he was killed with sword and pike.

After the first wave of killings, the mob set up a mock court and called the surviving clergy, two by two, to swear by the oath. Every single one of them refused it without hesitating and were led down a staircase where they were murdered. One bishop had been injured during the initial outbreak, and when he was called, he replied, “I do not refuse to die with the others, but I cannot walk. I beg you to have the kindness to carry me where you wish me to go.” He, too, was killed when he refused the oath.

One of the imprisoned priests had been in charge of arranging meals with the guards, and he handed to the mob the 325 francs he owed the caterer before being killed. Two other priests heard each others’ confessions before being led before the court.

After dispensing with all they could find there, the mob moved on and the killing persisted into the next day. The 191 are remembered as the Martyrs of September, and were beatified in 1926.

Blessed Jean-Marie du Lau, you refused to deny your faith and the Church in France, and died with the priests you led—pray for us!