Yesterday was the anniversary of the deaths of the Blessed Carmelites of Compiègne – nuns guillotined by French revolutionaries in 1794. The standard then was trial and execution in 24 hours. There was no time for justice. Falsely accused of hiding arms for counter-revolutionary forces, the Carmelite Prioress had held up a crucifix at the sisters’ trial, proclaiming it contained the only arms they had ever kept.