Jacques Retouret and comapnions, 26th August.
Jacques Retouret
was born into a merchant family in the city of Limoges; Jacques received a good education
and was great reader. At the age of fifteen he joined the Carmelites of the
Ancient Observance and after a novitiate he went on to study and was ordained a
priest. Jacques was as a popular preacher and although
he felt called to be an active preacher around the local area his health forced him to limit his mission
work.
In 1790 the French Revolutionary authorities passed a law requiring all priests to swear allegiance to the civil constitution, which
would effectively remove them from the authority of, and allegiance to, Rome.
Many refused, and in 1791 the government began deporting them to French Guyana. Eight
hundred and twenty seven priests and religious, among them, following his arrest at the
Carmelite house in Limoges, was Jacques Retouret O. Carm. were imprisoned on hulks (old ships no longer sea-worthy and used
for storage, jails, hospitals, etc.) at Rochefort, France to await exile, most on the Deux-Associés and the Washington
which had previously been used to house slaves or prisoners. Because the British Navy was blockading the port of
Rochefort the prisoner were left on the hulks; they were basically ignored and
left to death die with little food and water, very poor sanitation,
and no medical help. Five hundred and forty two of them died before those still
alive were released in February 1795. Many of the survivors wrote about their
experiences and about those who died and though these documents it has been
possible to positively identify sixty four of these Martyrs of the Hulks of
Rochefort; among them Jacques Retouret, Priest and Martyr. Jacques, along with sixty three others, was
beatified by Pope John Paul II on 1st
October 1995. There memorial is 26th
August.
Jacques Retouret
was born into a merchant family in the city of Limoges; Jacques received a good education
and was great reader. At the age of fifteen he joined the Carmelites of the
Ancient Observance and after a novitiate he went on to study and was ordained a
priest. Jacques was as a popular preacher and although
he felt called to be an active preacher around the local area his health forced him to limit his mission
work. 
In 1790 the French Revolutionary authorities passed a law requiring all priests to swear allegiance to the civil constitution, which
would effectively remove them from the authority of, and allegiance to, Rome.
Many refused, and in 1791 the government began deporting them to French Guyana. Eight
hundred and twenty seven priests and religious, among them, following his arrest at the
Carmelite house in Limoges, was Jacques Retouret O. Carm. were imprisoned on hulks (old ships no longer sea-worthy and used
for storage, jails, hospitals, etc.) at Rochefort, France to await exile, most on the Deux-Associés and the Washington
which had previously been used to house slaves or prisoners. Because the British Navy was blockading the port of
Rochefort the prisoner were left on the hulks; they were basically ignored and
left to death die with little food and water, very poor sanitation,
and no medical help. Five hundred and forty two of them died before those still
alive were released in February 1795. Many of the survivors wrote about their
experiences and about those who died and though these documents it has been
possible to positively identify sixty four of these Martyrs of the Hulks of
Rochefort; among them Jacques Retouret, Priest and Martyr. Jacques, along with sixty three others, was
beatified by Pope John Paul II on 1st
October 1995. There memorial is 26th
August.
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