Of all the Saints...

Today presents me with one of those contemplative moods. The kind where the second you wake up, you are already in mid thought, and sense in your brain that you have been having an intense meeting with yourself for the better part of the night.

I had an awesome conversation with some very dear friends last night about the nature of our mission as spouses and parents. As Catholics, we need camaraderie with friends who not only share similar virtues and beliefs, but also who share the same perspectives that we may have on life.

I'll be honest, with my beliefs sometimes I feel quite alone. I know there are those that disagree with me that read this blog and could use this nugget of information against me, but I am not worried about such things. You see, my worry is not others and their attacks, my worry is my own sin and my own faults. The devil often worms his way into our hearts and heads through doubt and deception. So I won't let that which I feel is of God to be something I am ashamed or worried. I was thinking of all this when I ran across the post at Dymphna's Road today.

Of all the Saints that I could have come across today:

St. Joan ~ Ora Pro Nobis

While I am no St. Joan, I do feel her solitude. The doubt that she must have had to fight off to cling to that which she believed. The struggles of doing so much for her nation, only to be put to death for it by those entrusted with the faith, in which she believed. 

I guess in the end some of us will be right, and some of us will be wrong. It can't be about intellect, because that isn't just. It can't be just about effort, because that goes back to intellect. Maybe it is a spiritual intellect, our hearts, our souls that wage the daily wars of spirituality against the principalities and powers. I don't know, I just hope that I have the conviction, the love, the determination, the bravery, the humility, and the determination to wage the wars and take heaven by force.

I don't care what people around me say about me, especially regarding my faith. I have even begun to joke that if I am ever put to the stake over my beliefs, such as St. Joan, that I would much like to have a stake made of Cedar because I think the smell would be pleasant. I mean, at that point it would be little consolation but we should take what we can get right? Kind of like St. Lawrence, no use in being all sad and soppy when things get to that point, at least make it memorable? Don't worry though, I don't think I am worthy enough to be a martyr, nor do I think I am important enough that my little, probably blasphemous ideas are important enough to be a threat to anyones sensitivities. 

I do think though, that many of us are so afraid of offending one or two people that we would forsake all of heaven and our eternal souls to be well liked by a few. Isn't that what sin is really all about? If it isn't about private personal self-gratification, it is about looking good to others. St. Joan didn't have that problem, so she was killed. I wonder if she was put to death ultimately because Bishop Cauchon and the rest of the clerics were upset that she was making them look bad. Maybe they just really thought she was crazy. 

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St. Joan of Arc Feast Day & other AmChurch Shenanigans

Today is the feast of St. Joan of Arc. Don't believe me? Well just look on a Catholic Calendar... oh wait, that's right, it isn't on there, because of, well... all sorts of reasons known only to the American Catholic Church 'powers that be.' Just know that she is important, regardless of what anyone says. The Pope even spoke of her importance to the Universal Church recently.

St. Joan is a patroness of this blog, and of me, personally. I have had a lot of strong, important women in my life named Joan.

I seek St. Joan's intercession regularly - and so should you. She clung to a cross as she burned at the stake, and her crime was listening to the will and words of God. Therefore, let us remember her example when we complain of our hardships and when struggle to walk the path God has set for us. Celebrate her feast with your family, celebrate the fullness of our Catholic Faith Tradition, and remember that the Universal Church was constructed so that our Faith contained a continuity with the entire "Body of Christ."

St. Joan is a perfect saint to remember today, on this day where we memorialize those that chose a path of danger and destruction. Let us ask St. Joan to intercede for those that have chosen to disregard their personal safety so as to win and secure the freedom and liberty of those unable to do so for themselves.

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At least the AmChurch doesn't move around with the important feasts like Ascension Thursday...

Oh, the AmChurch and their "exceptions"

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The Pope and St. Joan of Arc

St. Joan has long been a favorite saint, and 'patron' of mine. If you look on our 'Patrons' page you will see her. [Which reminds me that I need to add the 2010 additions.] For a while in Catholicism though, she existed in a somewhat precarious light. Although dying in 1431 she wasn't beatified until 1909, interestingly by Pope St. Pius X, and then canonized in 1920 by Benedict XV. She has made her way on and off of Catholic calendars, her feast day is celebrated on May 30. So there are different groups of Catholics that view her in different lights depending on the way they were introduced to her. Some hold a very skeptical view of her, based on the accounts of her 'acts' regardless of the Churches stance.

So I was rather pleased when Pope Benedict XVI spoke on her this morning at the Vatican. Benedict said of her:

"Through the 'voice' of St. Michael the Archangel, Joan felt herself called by the Lord to intensify her Christian life and to act personally to free her people...


This young French peasant girl's compassion and commitment in the face of her people's suffering were made even more intense through her mystical relationship with God. One of the most original aspects of her sanctity was this bond between mystical experience and political mission."

The entire release from the Vatican Information Service (The Holy See's Press Office) is a great read so I reproduce it here in full, please take a few moments and read it [my emphasis in BOLD]:

VATICAN CITY, 26 JAN 2011 (VIS) - During this morning's general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 3,000 people, Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431), whom he described as "one of the 'strong women' who, at the end of the Middle Ages, fearlessly brought the splendid light of the Gospel into the complex events of history".

The life of Joan of Arc, who was born into a prosperous peasant family, took place in the context of the conflict between France and England known as the Hundred Years War. At the age of thirteen, "through the 'voice' of St. Michael the Archangel, Joan felt herself called by the Lord to intensify her Christian life and to act personally to free her people".

She made a vow of virginity and redoubled her prayers, participating in sacramental life with renewed energy. "This young French peasant girl's compassion and commitment in the face of her people's suffering were made even more intense through her mystical relationship with God. One of the most original aspects of her sanctity was this bond between mystical experience and political mission". said Benedict XVI.

Joan's activities began in early 1429 when, overcoming all obstacles, she managed to meet with the French Dauphin, the future King Charles VII. He had her examined by theologians of the University of Poitiers who "delivered a positive judgment, they discovered nothing bad in her, and found her to be a good Christian".

On 22 March of that year Joan dictated a letter to the King of England and his men, who were laying siege to the city of Orleans. "Hers was a proposal of authentic and just peace between two Christian peoples, in the light of the names of Jesus and Mary", said the Holy Father. But the offer was rejected and Joan had to fight for the liberation of the city. Another culminating moment of her endeavours came on 17 July 1429 when King Charles was crowned in Reims.

Joan's passion began on 23 May 1430 when she fell into the hands of her enemies at Compiegne and was taken to the city of Rouen. There a long and dramatic trial was held which concluded with her being condemned to death on 30 May 1431.

The trial was presided by two ecclesiastical judges, Bishop Pierre Cauchon and the inquisitor Jean le Maistre, but in fact it was conducted by a group of theologians from the University of Paris. These "French ecclesiastics, having made political choices opposed to those of Joan, were predisposed to hold negative views of her person and mission. The trial was a dark page in the history of sanctity, but also a shining page in the mystery of the Church which is, ... 'at the same time holy and always in need of being purified'".

"Unlike the saintly theologians who illuminated the University of Paris, such as St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Duns Scotus, ... the judges were theologians who lacked the charity and humility to see the work of God in this young girl. Jesus' words come to mind, according to which the mysteries of God are revealed to those who have the hearts of children, but hidden from the wise and intelligent. Thus Joan's judges were radically incapable of understanding her, of seeing the beauty of her soul", the Pope said.

Joan died at the stake on 30 May 1431, holding a crucifix in her hands and invoking the name of Jesus. Twenty-five years later a trial of nullification, instituted by Pope Callixtus III, "concluded with a solemn sentence nullifying the condemnation and ... highlighting Joan of Arc's innocence and perfect faithfulness to the Church. Much later, in 1920, she was canonised by Pope Benedict XV".

"The Name of Jesus invoked by this saint in the last instants of her earthly life was as the continual breath of her soul, ... the centre of her entire life", the Holy Father explained. "This saint understood that Love embraces all things of God and man, of heaven and earth, of the Church and the world. ... Liberating her people was an act of human justice, which Joan performed in charity, for love of Jesus, hers is a beautiful example of sanctity for lay people involved in political life, especially in the most difficult situations".

"Joan saw in Jesus all the reality of the Church, the 'Church triumphant' in heaven and the 'Church militant' on earth. In her own words, 'Our Lord and the Church are one'. This affirmation ... takes on a truly heroic aspect in the context of the trial, in the face of her judges, men of the Church who persecuted and condemned her".

"With her shining witness St. Joan of Arc invites us to the highest degree of Christian life, making prayer the motif of our days, having complete trust in achieving the will of God whatever it may be, living in charity without favouritisms or limitations, and finding in the Love of Jesus, as she did, a profound love for His Church".

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So, as you can see a Saint whose mystical experience bonds with political mission and is guided by St. Michael the Archangel, kind of fits rather nicely with the theme of this blog. A few have accused me of coming into conflict with those that I ought not to; either out of respect or out of intellectual ability. Now I am no St. Joan, but I understand that the pursuit of the truth must occur. If two Catholics disagree, but hold one another to task - then hard feelings, respect, and understanding can easily be had at the end of the day. Unfortunately, in today's world and especially so in the blogging world, things are taken personally and attacks are made at a personal level. This does nothing but sidestep the intellectual pursuit of truth, and ultimately it sidesteps the pursuit of Jesus and his salvific message.

I intend to use this message from the Pope as both a reaffirmation to my mission with this blog, but also as an opportunity to revisit that mission, and more so the method by which I undertake that mission. For as the Pope said of St. Joan, we must "make prayer the motif of our days, having complete trust in achieving the will of God – whatever it may be."



Links:
VIS Original Post
CNA Account of the Pope's Message

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