SAINT FOR ALL SEASONS
SAINT JOAN OF ARC

By Brother Patrick

Joan of Arc is born in January 1412 in Domremy, a sleepy village in Northeast France. Joan’s parents are good, faithful, and hardworking. Her father is called a laborer, but he is actually a landowner and keeper of livestock. Her mother is devout. She makes a pilgrimage to Rome and perhaps to other shrines in Europe. Beyond this idyllic setting, the Hundred Years’ War rages between France and England. It is a conflict over the crown, over who should rule Northern France, over whether or not France itself should be one unified nation.

A prophecy circulates across the countryside that an armed virgin will appear to save the rightful king, a French king. History does not reveal whether Joan of Arc knows about the prophecy. As a child, she helps her mother with household chores. She also works with her father by tending their fields and caring for their animals.

As a teenager, Joan begins to have visions. Saint Catherine of Alexandria (287-305), a martyr and virgin who is venerated as patron of unmarried girls, appears in a vision. Saint Margaret of Antioch (289-304), a martyr who is venerated as patron of the falsely accused also appears in a vision. And Saint Michael the Archangel, surrounded by a choir of angels, speaks with her in the family garden. In response to these voices, Joan pledges to live a life of prayer, a life of virginity, a life of service to her country.

In 1428, Joan is instructed by the Voice of God to seek an audience with Charles, the young heir to the French throne. When Joan finally meets with Charles in private, she reveals that she knows his private thoughts. She knows about the solemn prayer that he offers to save and unite France. She promises to lead the French army, expel the English army, and see Charles crowned as the rightful king. By 1429, Joan dresses as a male soldier, both to protect her purity and to prove her commitment to the king’s cause.

Unsure about the young visionary, Charles orders his theologians to investigate. These experts conclude that Joan of Arc is a chaste, pious, and humble servant of the king. Charles gives Joan a horse and a suit of armor. He allows her to accompany his army to the City of Orleans, which is occupied by English forces. As the assault begins, Joan cries out: “In God’s name! Let us go bravely! Courage! Do not fall back! In a short while, this place will be yours! Watch! When the wind blows my banner against the city walls, you will take it!” And so it happens. In just three days, Joan of Arc liberates the city. The victory is considered a miracle. That summer, Joans stands beside Charles as he is crowned King of France.

In 1430, King Charles commands Joan to confront forces that are loyal to the English at their stronghold just north of Paris. During battle, Joan is thrown from her horse. She is captured by jealous French enemies. She is sold as a prisoner to the English army. And King Charles does nothing to help her.

Joan of Arc is charged with seventy counts that include heresy and witchcraft. The charges are considered crimes against God, so Joan should be held in a church prison. She should be guarded by nuns who can protect her virginity. Instead, Joan is confined to a military prison. She is guarded by brutish men. She is threatened with rape and torture. In order to protect her vow of chastity, she tightly ties together her uniform. A new charge is then added: dressing as a man.

For more than one year, Joan is poorly fed, bound by heavy chains, and interrogated again and again by a tribunal of priests and theologians. They are deeply suspicious that a woman should achieve so much fame and respect among the People of God.

Worn down by illness and relentless questioning, Joan, who can neither read nor write, eventually makes her mark on a document that is nothing more than a confession. She is pronounced guilty. Here again, the customary punishment for confessing religious faults should be an act of penance and a period of incarceration in a church prison where she would be guarded by women. Instead, Joan is sentenced to life in an English military prison. She is brought a dress and told to wear it. And so, she surrenders her military uniform. But Joan’s enemies are not satisfied. They set a trap for her. When Joan asks the guards to remove her shackles so that she might bathe and use the bathroom, they take her dress and give back her uniform. The trap is sprung.

By again wearing men’s clothing, Joan is considered an unrepentant heretic. The punishment is death by fire. Because Joan is finally allowed to confess her sins and receive the Holy Eucharist, the death penalty should be nullified. But Bishop Pierre Cauchon, her worst enemy, ignores church law. Donald Spoto describes what happens next in his book, Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint.

Spoto writes: “Death by burning was considered so dreadful that there was a so-called merciful gesture performed just as the fire was lit: the executioner climbed a ladder behind the stake and either cut the throat or strangled the victim to death. This was not done to Joan, who endured a protracted torture and death because the pyre was built unusually high, for all to see.”

“An English guard, touched by her plight, took two sticks from the bundle at his feet, tied them together in the form of a cross and handed it to Joan, who put it underneath her garment, close to her breast. She was then dragged up and chained to the stake, praying aloud constantly…”

“The fire and smoke, lambent and smoldering, took their deadly time. According to the record, very many people in the crowd no longer cheered and whistled but instead began to protest, weeping and fainting at the sight and sound of such horrifying agony.”

“With her last breath, Joan of Arc sang out the name of her Lord Jesus. Her head slowly bowed, and her shackled body slumped against the stake. The market square was suddenly subdued. For a long while that morning, there was the hiss and crackle of flame and wood, and then there was silence (Spoto, 189-190).”

Moments later, an English soldier says: “God forgive us. We have burned a saint.” In order to prevent the collection of her relics, Bishop Cauchon orders Joan’s ashes to be gathered up and scattered into a river. The Hundred Years’ War continues for another twenty-two years. King Charles keeps his crown. And in 1456, he orders an investigation into Joan’s case. She is judged to be innocent of all charges. She is declared a martyr. She is canonized in 1920. She is venerated as patron of France. She is also venerated by those who are falsely accused.

Winston Churchill writes: “Joan was a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind that she finds no equal in a thousand years. She embodied the natural goodness and valor of the human race in an unexampled perfection. Unconquerable courage, infinite compassion, the wisdom of the just, shone forth in her. She glorifies as she frees the soil from which she sprung (Birth of Britain, 1956).”

Finally, Pope Benedict XVI says: “Brothers and sisters, with her luminous witness, Saint Joan of Arc invites us to a higher standard of Christian living: to make prayer the guiding motive of our days; to have full trust in God’s will, whatever it may be; to live in charity without favoritism or limits, and drawing, like her, from the love of Jesus, a profound love for the Church (2011).” Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brother Patrick Garvey is co-founder and spiritual director of the Assisi Project. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Saint John Seminary, and the Catholic University of America. He is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and university lecturer. He also serves as an Associate Minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport in Massachusetts. On October 3, 2023, the Feast of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Patrick was consecrated as a diocesan hermit by Bishop Mark O’Connell, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information about the Assisi Project and our ministries with adults of all ages and backgrounds, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com.

Art Credit: Jerome Cid – 249632837 – Dreamstime

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ABOUT US

Founded in 2007, the Assisi Project is a Fellowship of Franciscans in Spirit with friends and followers throughout the world. We are dedicated to helping Christian believers of all ages more faithfully live the Gospel of Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. The Assisi Project is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization. Please support our ministry via Pay Pal (see link below) or mail a tax-deductible donation to the Assisi Project, Post Office Box 3158, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01931-3158. The Assisi Project Podcast is produced by the Assisi Project, Inc. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. May the Lord give you peace!

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