Saint15th century · Feast May 30
Also known as Jeanne d'Arc, The Maid of Orléans
Peasant girl who led armies in the Hundred Years' War and was burned at the stake at nineteen.
Joan believed she had received a mission to help crown the dauphin of France and lift the siege of Orléans. She succeeded, was captured, tried by an ecclesiastical court under English influence and executed. She was rehabilitated within a generation and canonised in 1920.
France in the Hundred Years' War was fractured and exhausted. Joan's mission emerged in the middle of that political and military crisis.
Courageous obedience to conscience under pressure and public scorn.
Joan is a companion for young people, for the misunderstood and for anyone asked to stand firm.
People turn to St Joan of Arc in matters of:
God of courage, by the example of St Joan give us the strength to follow you honestly, even when we are alone in it. Amen.
c. 1412
Born in Domrémy
1429
Lifts the siege of Orléans
1431
Executed at Rouen
1920
Canonised
May 30 · Other
St Joan of Arc
Source-quality status: unverified prototype
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