In the absence of the new prioress, Mother Marie proposes that the nuns take a vow of martyrdom. However, all must agree, or Mother Marie will not insist. A secret vote is held; there is one dissenting voice. Sister Constance declares that she was the dissenter, and that she has changed her mind, so the vow can proceed. Blanche runs away from the convent, and Mother Marie goes to look for her, finding her in her father's library. Her father has been guillotined, and Blanche has been forced to serve her former servants. The nuns are all arrested and condemned to death, but Mother Marie is away at the time of the arrest. Upon receiving the news, the chaplain tells Mother Marie, when they meet again, that since God has chosen to spare her, she cannot voluntarily become a martyr by joining the others in prison. At the place of execution, one nun after another stands and slowly processes toward the guillotine, as all sing the "Salve Regina" ("Hail, Holy Queen"). At the last moment, Blanche appears, to Constance's joy, to join her condemned sisters. Having seen all the other nuns executed, as she mounts the scaffold, Blanche sings the final stanza of the "Veni Creator Spiritus," "Deo Patri sit gloria...", the Catholic hymn traditionally used when taking vows in a religious community and offering one's life to God. Recordings Audio Denise Duval, Régine Crespin, Denise Scharley, Liliane Berton, Rita Gorr, Xavier Depraz, Paul Finel, Michel Forel, Louis Rialland, Janine Fourrier, Gisele Desmoutiers, et al.; Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris; Pierre Dervaux, conductor (HMV/EMI/Warner Classics) Catherine Dubosc, Michel Sénéchal, François le Roux, Rita Gorr, José van Dam, Rachel Yakar, Martine Dupuy, et al.; Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Lyon; Kent Nagano, conductor (Virgin Classics) Catrin Wyn-Davies, Ashley Holland, Peter Wedd, Gary Coward, Felicity Palmer, Josephine Barstow, Orla Boylan, Sarah Tynan, Jane Powell, Anne Marie Gibbons, Ryland Davies, William Berger, James Edwards, Roland Wood, Toby Stafford-Allen, David Stephenson; Orchestra and Chorus of English National Opera; Paul Daniel, conductor (Chandos, titled The Carmelites, sung in English) Sally Matthews, Deborah Polaski, Heidi Brunner, Michelle Breedt, Hendricke van Kerckhove, Yann Beuron, Magdalena Anna Hoffmann, Christa Ratzenböck, Jürgen Sacher, et al.; Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Arnold Schoenberg Choir; Bertrand de Billy, conductor (Oehms Classics) Leyla Gencer, Virginia Zeani, Gianna Pederzini, Gigliola Frazzoni, Scipio Colombo, Nicola Filacuridi, Eugenia Ratti,