St. Joan of Arc
MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT
oan of Arc is the stained-glass window at the back of the church, facing the altar on the right. She is in armor, with wings behind her, holding a sword and banner.
On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class, at the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she heard voices: those of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. At first, the messages were personal and general. Then at last came the crowning order. In May 1428, her voices "of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret" told Joan to go to the 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, the chief rival of the French king, was siding with him and taking French territory. After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, the seventeen-year-old girl was given a small army with which she raised the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429.
She then enjoyed a series of spectacular military successes, during which the King could enter Rheims and be crowned with her at his side. In May 1430, as she was attempting to relieve Compiegne, she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English. She was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was nineteen years old. Some thirty years later, she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920, making official what the people had known for centuries. Her feast day is May 30.
Beatified: 11 April 1905 by Pope Saint Pius X and Canonized: 16 May 1920 by Pope Benedict XV
Patronage Captives, France, imprisoned people, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, WACs, WAVES, Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service, Women's Army Corps
Our window shows her wearing armor and holding a sword, depicting her as the warrior she was. The banner is the one she carried in battle that said, Jesus, Mary. The wings behind her symbolize St. Michael the Arc Angel’s protection over her.
