Pierre-Adrien Toulorge

In Doville, Pierre-Adrien Toulorge exercised his ministry alongside the parish priest, Father Jacques-François Le Canut, who was a Premonstratensian canon of the nearby Blanchelande Abbey. Deeply moved by the pastoral zeal and lifestyle of his parish priest, the young vicar felt drawn to the ideal of Saint Norbert, founder of the Order of Premonstratensians (or Canons Regular of Prémontré). This order combines contemplative life in community with parish ministry. In 1787, Pierre-Adrien requested admission to Blanchelande Abbey. He was sent to complete his novitiate at Beauport Abbey, near Paimpol, then returned to Blanchelande where he pronounced his solemn vows in June 1788. When the French Revolution broke out, the National Constituent Assembly decreed the suppression of religious orders in 1790. Pierre-Adrien refused to abandon his vows and his canonical life. With two other confreres, he expressed his desire to continue living in community, but they were forced to leave the abbey on October 11, 1790. He then found refuge in a nearby farm, at La Cour, belonging to the Le Sens family, from where he continued to clandestinely exercise his ministry in the surrounding parishes.

In August 1792, the Legislative Assembly passed a law condemning all public official priests who had not taken the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy to deportation. Although as a regular priest (religious) he was not considered a public official and was therefore not targeted by this law, Pierre-Adrien Toulorge made a mistake. Believing himself obliged to go into exile, he obtained travel papers and embarked for the Channel Island of Jersey on September 12, 1792. Upon arriving in Jersey, where hundreds of priests from the diocese of Coutances had taken refuge, he learned from a colleague that he was not affected by the banishment law. Concerned for the salvation of the faithful left without pastors in Normandy, he decided to return clandestinely to France. He landed at Portbail around October 20, 1792, and immediately went into hiding. He then learned that a new decree (of October 23, 1792) condemned to death any emigrant who returned to France if they did not leave the territory within two weeks. Pierre-Adrien chose to stay to serve the Church. For nearly ten months, he lived hidden by inhabitants of Doville and the surrounding area, changing refuge almost every night, celebrating Mass, and administering the sacraments in secret. On September 2, 1793, he was arrested while carrying his liturgical objects. Imprisoned in Coutances, he was questioned about his stay in Jersey. Panicked and wanting to save his life, he began by denying that he had emigrated. But in his dungeon, he was deeply troubled by this lie. Seized by grace, he understood that only the truth would set him free. During subsequent interrogations, he decided to tell the whole truth and confessed his stay in Jersey, knowing full well that this admission condemned him to death. The departmental council, seeking to save him from the severity of the Convention representative Jean-Baptiste Lecarpentier, omitted to mention his confession in the minutes. Before the criminal court, Judge Loisel suggested he retract or remain silent, but Pierre-Adrien refused to lie again. He was sentenced to death on October 12, 1793.

The night before his execution, Pierre-Adrien Toulorge went to confession and wrote three letters of great spiritual strength. The next day, Sunday, October 13, 1793, he was led to the scaffold and guillotined on the Place de la Croûte in Coutances. He died at the age of 36. From the day after his death, the people of Coutances considered him a saint and nicknamed him the "martyr of truth." The beatification process was opened in 1922 as part of the trial of the martyrs of the Revolution in the Manche, but it was interrupted around 1928. The cause was officially resumed in 1995 by the Diocese of Coutances and the Premonstratensian Order. On April 2, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing his martyrdom in hatred of the faith (in odium fidei). The beatification ceremony was celebrated on April 29, 2012, at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Coutances. It was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and papal legate, representing Pope Benedict XVI.

The spirituality of Blessed Pierre-Adrien Toulorge is deeply marked by the love of truth and the joyful acceptance of sacrifice. In a sermon delivered in Doville before the Revolution, he declared in an almost prophetic manner: "How happy, then, my Brothers, is the condition of the children of God! [...] they suffer, and already His tenderness is moved [...] all that a faithful soul desires is to perpetuate or to consummate its sacrifice." His letters written on the eve of his death testify to an extraordinary peace and serenity. To his brother, he writes: "Rejoice, you will have a protector in heaven tomorrow, if God, as I hope, sustains me." To a friend, he confides: "Tomorrow, at two o'clock, I will leave this earth, so laden with abominations, to go to Heaven. What is my consolation now is that God gives me a very great joy and serenity; and what strengthens me is the hope that, soon, I will possess my God...". He also writes: "How can it be, sinner that I am, that I have the happiness of being crowned with martyrdom?". Before mounting the scaffold, he sincerely forgives his executioners. His legacy is today perpetuated by the Order of Premonstratensians and by the Association of Friends of Blessed Pierre-Adrien Toulorge, founded in 1994, which organizes annual pilgrimages in his footsteps on the moor of Doville. He is celebrated on October 13, the day of his birth into heaven.