May 30 - Saint Joan of Arc
Born: 1412
Died: 1431
Nationality: French
Vocation: Laywoman
Attributes: Armour, Fleur de Lis, sword, flag
Patronage: soldiers and France
Canonization: May 16, 1920, by Pope Benedict XV
St. Joan of Arc was born the daughter of peasants in the small town of Domremy-Greux nestled southeast of Paris. Her parents were pious Catholics, and Joan followed in their example. When she was 12 she began to hear locutions and see visions of three saints: St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Margaret, and St. Michael. At first, the messages were general, helping her to live a life dedicated to God. In 1428, when she was 13-years-old, these voices came with a mission. They asked her to drive the English from French territory and bring the heir of France’s throne, the Dauphin, to Reims to be crowned.
The visions and message continued for three more years, but became insistent when she turned 16. She asked one of her relatives to take her to Vaucouleurs, where she asked the commander of the Garrison for permission to visit the French royal court, which was then in Chinon. These early petitions and searching was met with ridicule – people thought the peasant girl was crazy. She eventually convinced two soldiers to go with her to meet the Dauphin. Charles VII, attempted to trick her, by disguising himself as a courier and putting another on his throne. Joan went straight to the disguised prince and knelt. After winning the trust of the Dauphin, Joan led an expedition to Orleans, wearing armor. This decision to wear men’s clothes and cut her hair – a practical choice on the battlefield – caused many misunderstandings about Joan both then and now.
Throughout this time, God granted Joan profound wisdom, and at times the ability to see the future. Joan never killed anyone in battle, but rather carried a banner with symbols of Jesus and Mary. Under Joan’s leadership, the French were able to raise the siege of Orleans. The king was able to enter Rheims and be crowned, with Joan looking on.
Joan, however, was soon after captured by the Burgundy forces. While some efforts were made to save her – and Joan herself attempted to escape – the newly appointed King Charles VII soon abandoned his efforts to rescue the girl who had put him on the throne. Joan was left to the mercy of the English, particularly the English clergy.
Throughout her trial, everything was done to get Joan to confess something on which she could be condemned to death. With people spying on her in confession, refusing to let her sleep, and dragging her into court for hours upon hours of cross-examination, Joan remained unflinching in her faith and sharp in her mind. When the examiner asked Joan if she knew she was in God’s grace, (something impossible to know) she famously responded: “If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.” She was on trial for heresy and witchcraft, but all her interrogators were in shock at her wisdom.
She was ultimately condemned to death, mostly a political decision by the English. She was burned at the stake in 1431, at just 19-years-old. Clutching a small cross made of the wood on which she was to be burned, she died a saint.
A posthumous trial some years later acquitted the innocent girl officially. She was honored by all of France, but not officially canonized until 1920, hundreds of years later.
St. Joan of Arc, pray for us.