May 30: Saint Joan of Arc
Obedient to the voice of God
A “strong” woman who followed the impulse of the Spirit and obeyed the voice of the Lord asking her to free her people and to restore faith for those in desolation. A laywoman, consecrated to virginity yet not cloistered, Joan of Arc was involved in the most dramatic conflicts of the Church and society of the time. Condemned as a heretic through a purely political show trial, she was sentenced to a tragic death even before her trial began - burned at the stake in the old market square of Rouen.
Born in 1412 into a family of wealthy peasants in Domrémy in Lorraine, at the age of 13 Joan saw an apparition of Saint Michael in the guise of a knight, of Saint Margaret of Antioch and of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The Archangel and his two Saints ordered her to take the Dauphin, the future King Charles VII of Valois, to Reims to have him duly crowned and “to drive the English from France”.
Her response to divine intervention was a vow of virginity and an intense life of prayer and frequent reception of the Sacraments. This young peasant girl felt an urgent need to console her people, to show everyone God’s mercy. Her public commitment was the manifestation of her mystical experiences.
The voices that Joan heard became a test for her. She spoke of them to no one, but the voices continued to be heard insistently.
At the age of sixteen, she decided to confide in her uncle, Durand Laxart, who took her to Robert de Baudricourt, captain of Vaucouleurs, a fortress near Domrémy. The officer advised them to take Joan back to her parents and not to listen to her. However, the following year, the English invaded Lorraine, and with determination, Joan returned to captain Baudricourt, who then asked his parish priest to verify that she was not demonically possessed. Having received reassurance, he assigned her some men to escort her and had her accompanied to Chinon to meet the Dauphin. Thus began the public life of Joan who, at only 17 years old, found herself facing an impossible task: to liberate her land and her people, during what is known as the Hundred Years' War.
She told the Dauphin about the rumors she had heard. Wary, he had her interrogated by some theologians in Poitiers. She was recognized as worthy of faith and a good Christian. On that occasion, Joan announced four prophetic events: the English will lift the siege of Orleans, the king will be consecrated in Reims, Paris will return to the royal domain of Charles and the Duke of Orleans will return from his captivity in England.
Charles entrusted her with an army to free Orleans from the hands of the English. Nicknamed the “Maiden,” that is, the virgin, she left for Orleans wearing armor and a sword. On March 22, 1429, Joan dictated a letter to the King of England and his representatives, who were besieging Orleans. She proposed a true peace in justice between the two Christian peoples, in light of the Names of Jesus and Mary. The English opposed it and considered her a witch. For her part, Joan felt she had to commit herself to freeing the people and restore confidence in the troops. She carried a banner on which she had painted the image of “Our Lord who holds the world.” For her, the liberation of her people was a work of human justice, to be accomplished in charity, for the love of Jesus.
On the night between May 7 and 8, 1429, she won and the city was liberated. The news spread quickly throughout France.
After this victory, the French had two options: attack Paris or, as Joan requested, go to Reims to crown the king. The Dauphin granted her request even though he was very afraid because Reims was surrounded by the English and their allies, the Burgundian possessions. Joan marched towards Reims, liberating every city in her path. On July 17, 1429, Charles was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims in the presence of Joan and took the name of Charles VII. Joan had accomplished her mission: to give France their legitimate king.
At this point, the king no longer needed that “maiden” who, for a whole year, had evangelized the soldiers. For the Court she was and remained something foreign or bizarre, a useful tool until success was assured and would turned its back on her, as happened when she tried to liberate Paris. Perhaps through treason, on May 23, 1430 Joan was taken prisoner at Compiègne by the Burgundians. Sold to the English, she was taken to Rouen to undergo a trial which began in February 1431 and ended on May 30 with her execution by burning at the stake. The charge was heresy.
She was judged by theologians from the University of Paris; two ecclesiastical judges presided over the trial: Bishop Pierre Cauchon and the inquisitor Jean le Maistre. These French ecclesiastics sided with the English, so they had already prepared a negative judgment about Joan and her mission. Thus came the capital sentence to be burned alive. At the last moment not even King Charles VII intervened to free her, regardless of her singular help for him to secure the throne.
On May 24, Joan appealed for the Pope's judgment, but the court rejected the request. On the morning of May 30, she received Communion in prison and was led to the stake in the old market square of Rouen. She asked one of the priests to hold a processional cross in front of her, so that she could see the Crucifix until the last moment of her life and she repeatedly pronounced the Name of Jesus aloud.
About 25 years later, under the authority of Pope Callixtus III, a new trial was held, which ended with a solemn sentence that declared the previous sentence null. It was July 7, 1456. Joan was beatified by Pope Pius X on April 18, 1909, and canonized on May 16, 1920 by Benedict XV. Since 1922, France has venerated Saint Joan of Arc as its Patroness.