Blessed Noël Pinot

Ordained in 1771, he served for several years as assistant pastor at different parishes. He was a parish priest at Saint Aubin, Louroux-Beconnais, France in 1788, with a special ministry with the sick. In the French Revolution, he was required to take an oath of loyalty to the new government, an oath that was opposed to Church principles. Noel refused, and was ordered to abandon his parish, to come no closer to it than eight miles for at least two years. He left, then returned in secret, and ministered clandestinely to his flock. Some of his brother priests took the civil oath, but Noel convinced several of them to renounce it, and return their loyalty to the Church. In 1793, a counter-revolution began in western France; when these forces won some victories, Pinot returned to openly ministering to his flock. However, the forces of the Revolution began to win again, and Pinot became a wanted man. Captured by government soldiers while preparing for Mass, he was imprisoned for twelve days; sentenced to death for refusing to take the oath, and encouraging others to do so. He was guillotined on February 21, 1794; his memorial is kept on this date.