There are saints for just about every single day of the month. So I thought I would simply choose one each month randomly and tell you a little about him or her. Things like their feast day, when they died, how they died, and what they are the saint of. Saints are very important in the Catholic church. So this month I decided that the Saint of the Month will be St. Joan of Arc.
I selected her because most everyone knows her and her story, even if you aren’t Catholic. St. Joan of Arc was born on January 6, 1412. She was born into the French peasant class and at a very early age she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. The messages she heard at first were pretty general. Then in May 1428 the voices told Joan to go tot he King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom. At that time the English king was after the throne of France and the Duke of Burgundy was siding with the English king. Think more along the lines of The Three Musketeers plot and you have want was going on at the time.
Joan had a lot of opposition from the church and the courtiers but, finally the seventeen year old girl (yes 17 years old) was given a small army with which she raised the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429. After that she had a series of spectacular military successes including the King entering Rheims to be crowned with her at his side.
In May 1430, she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English and after months of imprisonment, she was tried at Rouen by a tribunal presided over by the infamous Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais. Joan was trapped into making a few damaging statements and then when she refused to retract the assertion that it was the saints of God who had commanded her to do the things she had done she was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress. Joan was then burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was only nineteen years old.
Thirty years later she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. Her feast day is May 30 and she is the patroness of soldiers and of France.
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I am familiar with the story of St. Joan of Arc, but you filled in a few details for me. What amazing faith and courage she demonstrated! I look forward to learning about other Catholic saints.
I knew most people knew her name. I thought these would be something fun and a little different.
I am familiar with her story but I really didn’t remember that she was that young! Wow! To have such a strong sense of who you are at such a young age is amazing! I also couldn’t remember what she was the saint of. I love this new Saint of the Month feature.
I am so glad everyone loves this new feature. She was very young and knew who she was and what she was meant to do.
I was familiar with her name but not the particulars of her story. What an amazingly brave young woman! I can’t believe she did what she did at such a young age. Thanks for the mini history lesson that was fun to read.
She was very brave. I chose her first because I knew people would recognize her name.
I ask many saints for guidance and help, they are very important to me as a Catholic, love the post!
Like the others, I too knew the basic story of Joan of Arc. What wonderful details and information you provided on top of what I knew!