Joan of Arc
Prayer:
“If I am not in God’s will or in
God’s grace, may God put me there. And if I am, may God so keep me.”
I’m
very much aware that Church of Our Saviour has a long tradition of
being devoted to the rules of non-violent protest. I’ve lost count how many
copies Mother Paula has put into my hands over the years. Honestly, the
non-violent way is the way I honor most. But St. Joan of Arc reminds us of the
truth found in Ecclesiastes;
“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun:
“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun:
There is a time
to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”
To quote a magnificent documentary I’d just
watched; “Joan of Arc was literally born and died in flames.” When she was born,
January 6, 1412 ,
the English had already been at war, destroying France for nearly 90
years. Joan watched as the English destroyed not only cities, but set fire to
villages and crops, leaving her neighbors homeless and starving, leaving them
that much easier to defeat. She watched as plagues, caused by the conditions of
war, ravaged her neighbors. Naturally, Joan was angry and horrified. Surely,
she cried to the Lord for mercy, for an end to war.
Perhaps, Joan should have been a little more
careful about what she prayed for! When she was 13 years old, this young farm
girl began to hear the voices of St. Catherine, St. Margaret and St. Michael.
Among the things they told her was, her mission was two-fold;
1)
YOU fight the English,
YOU stop them from starving and killing your people, as well as raping the land
of its resources).
2) You make the way for
Charles, the French Dauphin, to be crowned King of France.
Since the birth of
modern psychiatry, it’s been popular for cynics to say St. Joan was
schizophrenic. The truth is, there is no good evidence for this, none.
Schizophrenics are often lost to reality, lost in the hallucinations of their
own minds. There is no evidence that this was true of Joan. Her powers of observation
and her wits were razor sharp, she was in full control of her faculties at all
times.
So, how does a mere
peasant girl go from her farm to see the Dauphin in his castle? It wasn’t easy.
Joan’s family had forbidden her for years to make the journey and I’m sure made
her know there would be dire consequences for disobedience. But Joan’s Saints
gave her no rest and even though it meant disobeying her parents she was
determined to go, saying; “If I have to walk and wear my legs down to the
knees, I will go!”
Then she had to get
past the nobility, in the form of Sir Robert de Baudricourt, who sent her away
in humiliation 3 times, saying “her father should give her a good beating.”
When at last, Joan convinced Sir Robert that she had a true vision for rescuing
France
from the iron fist of the English, she was then put the test in the court of
the Dauphin. She was let into the court but not told which man was the heir to
the French throne. They figured, if she was truly sent by God, she would
recognize the future king no matter what disguise he wore or how hidden he may
be. And she did! For Joan had the gift of prophecy. Joan so convinced Charles
that she was sent by God to resurrect France that he made her
the head of his army. A breath-taking moment in world history, Joan, at the age
of 17 was and remains the youngest person to ever lead an army.
The army that Joan was
put in charge of was embarrassed and resentful of her presence. Who was this
little girl, who had no knowledge of strategy and no experience with weapons?
There was no way these battle-hardened men were going to listen to her, regardless
of what Charles commanded.
Not only that, but this
army was demoralized. They had been fighting for generations and France was all but lost.
They fought half-heartedly during the day, and at night they went back to their
tents to gamble and spend time with prostitutes. From the generals to the
lowliest warriors, they were full of their own ideas and own experiences, they
had no room and no patience for Joan’s visions.
Joan was driven by compassion
for her people and counse1ed by her voices, not the least of which was St.
Michael the Archangel ,
defender of the military, the greatest strategic mind that God ever created.
So, it didn’t matter if these warriors were full of their own ideas, Joan
proceeded to empty them. She sent the prostitutes away, far away. She forbid
the soldiers to gamble and she even forbid them to cuss or swear. Finally, she
sent them all to Confession.
After Joan emptied
these men, she filled them. She insisted that they begin each day with Eucharist.
She also told them it was time to stop playing at war, time to focus and get
serious. Just because the sun was going down didn’t mean the battle was over
and they could all go back to their comfortable tents, eat dinner and go to
bed. No! Joan told them, keep fighting! Fight until there is a winner or a
loser. Period. In this way, she changed the face of war forever. So, she not
only filled her men with a love for Eucharist, but with focus and
determination.
She never asked her men
to do anything she wouldn’t do. Joan was often at the head of every charge,
twice she was wounded in battle, both times she fought to return to the battle
field and had to be restrained at the rear until healed. This did not go
un-noticed, so she also filled her men with admiration and a passion to see her
mission fulfilled.
As a result, we see
things like; Joan’s army annihilated the English at Patay, killing over 2,000
while suffering no losses themselves! And, Joan did see her Dauphin crowned
King at Rheims .
Although Joan had a
genius for war, she didn’t love it. In
fact, she hated it. She’s reported as saying; “every time I see French blood
flow, my hair stands on end!”
Joan hated war so much,
she often sent warnings to the English telling them to go home, telling them she didn’t want to see them die and buried in
the fields of France .
Since Joan’s army had so much success, many of the English did heed her
warnings and abandoned the fight to go home. This became a problem and the
English warlords saw that Joan had to be discredited, if not killed.
These days, our leaders often demonize our enemies. How many times have we heard these sayings? “Better dead than Red” or, “The Axis of Evil”? Joan was very unusual in that she refused to demonize the English, she said; “I don’t know whether God loves or hates the English. I only know they will be cast out ofFrance .”
How very remarkable. If only for this
reason, for seeing her enemies has human beings worthy of compassion, she was
rightly Sainted!
These are more than just words! It’s been noted that once, an English soldier fell near her, mortally wounded. In her compassion, she bent to help him and comfort him, but he soon died.
Lent is coming, quickly, you may want to ask
yourselves; Do I see my neighbor’s land being taken away? Do I see my
neighbor’s going hungry? Do I see my neighbor’s being denied medical care? For
those of you taking stock of the challenges in your lives and the changes you
want to make both in your own lives and in the communities around you, St. Joan
has shown you the way; remove the inane distractions and little sins in your
lives that are blocking your progress, make a good Confession, devote yourself
to the Eucharist, make a plan on how to remove that evi1 and rep1ace it with
good. Focus on that p1an, have a passion for it. Then and only then, will we
see peace and relief of suffering. Joan knew these things, she worked for them,
she died for them.These days, our leaders often demonize our enemies. How many times have we heard these sayings? “Better dead than Red” or, “The Axis of Evil”? Joan was very unusual in that she refused to demonize the English, she said; “I don’t know whether God loves or hates the English. I only know they will be cast out of
These are more than just words! It’s been noted that once, an English soldier fell near her, mortally wounded. In her compassion, she bent to help him and comfort him, but he soon died.
Although Joan’s army turned the tide and went a long way toward driving the English out of
Happy 600th birthday, Joan! The Victory is yours.