Saint Joan of Arc

Joan was born around 1412 in Domrémy, in eastern France, to a family of farmers, during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. From about age thirteen she heard voices she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who told her to help the uncrowned French king, Charles VII. In 1429, at seventeen, she convinced Charles to send her with an army to Orléans, besieged by the English, and the siege was lifted on May 8, 1429. She then led the way to Reims, where Charles was crowned on July 17.

In May 1430 Joan was captured at Compiègne and handed over to the English. Tried for heresy at Rouen by a court led by Bishop Pierre Cauchon, she was condemned and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, calling on the name of Jesus. A papal retrial in 1456 declared her innocent. She was canonized in 1920.

France honors her as a secondary patroness, and Orléans celebrates its liberation every May with the Fêtes johanniques. Her statue stands in many churches, and she is a model for soldiers, young people and all who must stand up for the truth against powerful opponents.