• May 30th - St. Joan of Arc

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Wed May 29 08:47:40 2019
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    May 30th - St. Joan of Arc

    On May 30, 1431, the eve of the feast of Corpus Christi, Joan was led
    to the old market square of Rouen. She was tied to a stake surrounded
    by a pile of firewood ready to be lighted. From her neck a placard was
    hung with the words: =E2=80=9CHeretic, apostate, and idolater.=E2=80=9D A g= reat crowd
    was present in the square. Six hundred English soldiers guarded her.

    When she arrived at the site, she asked for a cross. An English
    soldier broke the stick of a lance, tied the two pieces together in
    the shape of a cross and gave to her. After receiving the precious
    symbol she was tied to the stake over the firewood. Then, she called
    out loudly to St. Michael. The executioner lighted the firewood that
    was soaked with oil, and the fire grew furiously from bottom to top.
    As the flames enveloped her, Joan shouted out strongly, reaffirming
    her fidelity to her mission: =E2=80=98I was not mistaken, the voices came f= rom
    Heaven!'

    In a few minutes everything was finished. The ashes were swept into
    the waters of the Seine River. Even the heart of the Maid, which
    remained intact since it had not burned in the flames, was cast into
    the river.


    Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corr=C3=AAa de Oliveira:

    We can comment on several points in this very beautiful martyrdom.

    First, the injustice of the sentence on the placard hung around her
    neck causes indignation. She was a saint =E2=80=93 a virgin who had accomplished the mission God gave her to save the French people. And
    now she was going to be burned at the stake on the orders of French
    Archbishop Cauchon, the president of the tribunal, for an infamous
    reason. To understand the significance of this, I ask that you, you
    who have offered your lives to fight against Progressivism, imagine
    that you were condemned with a placard around your neck with the word =E2=80=9Cprogressivist=E2=80=9D written on it. It would be an analogous unj= ust injury,
    a similar fabrication, a comparable lie.

    Second, there are her words about the voices from Heaven. She used to
    say that those voices came to her from Heaven; and that it was by
    following the orders of those voices and through the strength
    communicated to her by them that she had accomplished the marvelous
    work that she did--the partial liberation of France and the
    restoration of the legitimate King.
    On the contrary, the tribunal that judged her =E2=80=93 which was a mixed tribunal, ecclesiastical and civil--affirmed that all those wonderful
    victories she achieved over the English troops were accomplished
    through witchcraft. They said that the English army had been defeated
    because she had made a pact with the devil. Therefore, according to
    them, the voices came from Hell.

    The problem, then, was not to determine whether the voices were true
    or not. No one questioned the fact, because they still were not yet
    under the deleterious influence of the systematic doubt of
    Protestantism. People had faith and knew that this kind of
    communication was not rare. The problem was that the tribunal had to
    say that the voices were coming from Hell because they did not favor
    the Kingdom of England. It was for this reason Joan was condemned as a
    heretic, a witch, etc.

    Right before she expired, when she was preparing herself to stand
    before the tribunal of God, she gave another manifestation of
    sanctity. What did she do? She asked for a cross=E2=80=94a cross because an oath made in the presence of the cross is much graver. And she--a
    warrior until the end--she died fighting. She did not die meekly
    permitting her enemies to kill her, but she died calling out a
    challenge, a protest, and an encouragement to the French resistance
    against English domination. Her shout said this:

    =C2 =C2 =E2=80=9CFrench people, continue to fight, because the voices=
    in whose
    name I led you to victory truly spoke orders that came from Heaven.
    Heaven will give you, therefore, the complete victory.=E2=80=9D

    For this cry she chose the perfect, supreme, and most tragic moment
    when she was already being consumed by the fire. The members of the
    tribunal were present assisting at the scene, the English soldiers
    were standing guard, the Catholic people watching. She was tied to the
    stake, the flames were growing rapidly since the wood was soaked with
    oil. The fire was rising from bottom to top, so it had not yet reached
    the vital parts of her body.

    At this crucial moment, no wail of pain, no cry for mercy came from
    her lips. She called out loudly to St. Michael, probably to ask
    strength from the Archangel--who was her great protector--to do what
    she would do. After that, like Our Lord who cried out in a loud voice
    before He expired, she also cried out in loud voice, a voice that
    could be heard throughout the square. It was her protest:

    =C2 =C2 =E2=80=9CKnow this, all of you--you friends and enemies, you =
    men of my
    time and you men of the future until the end of the world--know that
    the voices I heard came from Heaven. With this last proclamation, my
    mission is accomplished.=E2=80=9D

    This testimony given at the hour of her death is a supreme act of
    heroism--more worthy than her triumphal entrance into Reims beside
    the King who would be crowned there, more glorious than her first
    triumphal entrance into Orleans, and more splendid than all her epic
    deeds. That shout at the moment her soul was leaving this earth to be
    judged by God is truly marvelous!

    Third, that the flames consumed the body but spared her heart is also
    something very beautiful. To have heart is not to be sentimental. To
    have heart is to have strength of soul, great value, love for elevated
    things, love for the supernatural mission God gave us. And if ever
    someone had heart, this one was St. Joan of Arc. Thus the beautiful
    fact: the body was consumed by the fire, but not the heart. It was a
    miracle of Heaven to confirm what she had just affirmed minutes
    before, that the voices came from Heaven. She was already in Heaven
    but her heart was still on earth confirming the truth she had spoken.
    The English commanders understood quite well the danger in keeping
    that heart. They sensed keenly the devotion that this heart would
    inspire, and they had a great fear of that heart, just as the Jews had
    fear of the Cadaver of Our Lord and sent guards to watch over His
    Sepulcher. For this reason then, the English swept her heart into the
    river. It is the characteristic hardness of the impious that should
    not surprise us.

    http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j024sdSt.JoanofArc.htm


    Saint Quote:
    When I am in Heaven, where everything is possible, I will cling to the
    mantle of the Mother of God and I will not turn my eyes from you. But
    do not forget what this poor old man has said to you.
    -- Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo from his deathbed


    <<>><<>>
    Short Prayers:

    May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament
    be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection,
    at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world,
    =C2 even to the end of time.=C2 Amen.

    O Mary! my Queen! my Mother! remember I am thine
    own. Keep me, guard me, as thy property and
    possession.

    May the most just, most high, and most amiable will of
    =C2 God be done in all Things--praised and magnified
    forever!

    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)
  • From rich@1:396/4 to All on Fri May 29 09:09:09 2020
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    May 30th - St. Joan of Arc
    =C2 (1412-1431)

    Who today does not know the history of the Maid of Orleans, who saved
    France from the foreign domination of the English, only to be betrayed
    by the legitimate prince whom her efforts had crowned at Rheims, then
    burnt at the stake on May 30, 1431? Both in the French and English
    languages, many books and articles have honored her since her
    canonization in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

    The French Revolution created =E2=80=9CMarianne=E2=80=9D, a mythical young = beauty, as
    the symbol of France. A nobler symbol of France is Joan of Arc, who
    was not only a real-life patriot but a saint.=E2=80=9CJeanne la Pucelle=E2= =80=9D, as
    the French used to call her, was the daughter of Jacques d'Arc, a
    peasant farmer of Dornremy, in northeast France. Although she never
    learned to read and write, Joan was well-instructed by her mother in
    household skills. As a child, she was hearty, happy and helpful. She
    became a holy young woman too =E2=80=9C. . . so good,=E2=80=9D those who kn=
    ew her
    testified, =E2=80=9Cthat all the village loved her.=E2=80=9D

    Joan, lived, however, in troubled times. Henry V of England had
    invaded France to add it to his kingdom. The dukes of Burgundy,
    enemies of the French king, sided with Henry. Although Henry of
    England and the mad Charles VI of France died the same year, the war
    continued. Charles VII was heir to the French crown, but stuck in the
    mud of despair, he practically gave up the fight.

    When she was 14, Joan began to have apparitions and to hear voices
    that advised her. Eventually the voices identified themselves as those
    of St. Michael, St. Catherine, St. Margaret. These =E2=80=9Cinstructors=E2= =80=9D
    gradually informed the teenager that she was called by God to a
    special mission.

    In 1422, the voices came to the point. They commanded her to go to the
    French king and tell him that she was sent by God to lead his armies
    to victory! When he showed amazement at the command, the saints
    assured her that since God had picked her for the job, he would see
    her through.

    After many initial difficulties, Joan was able to persuade the
    general, Baudricourt, to take her to the king. Forewarned, Charles had disguised himself to test her; but the Maid, assisted by her voices,
    picked him out at once in the crowded chamber. Startled, the king
    asked his council to interview Joan. The councillors were very
    favorably impressed and recommended that Charles give her military
    authority. So Joan, clad in white armor, rode off at the head of the
    regiment to rescue the city of Orleans, which lay under enemy siege.

    Although wounded in the affray, Joan succeeded in raising the long
    siege of Orleans in just a few days. Then she moved on to Patay, where
    her troops achieved another victory. On the strength of these
    victories, Charles went to Rheims, where he was crowned king on July
    17, 1429. Joan stood beside him at the ceremony, bearing her special
    religious banner.

    The coronation over, La Pucelle returned to the battlefield. But on
    May 23, after leading an unsuccessful sortie out of Compiegne, she was accidentally locked out of the city, and fell into the hands of the Burgundians. The vengeful Duke of Burgundy kept her captive several
    months. Then he sold her to the English for a huge price. The
    ungrateful Charles did nothing to rescue her.

    The English leaders sought Joan's death. They could not condemn her=
    on
    the basis other victories, but they hit upon another approach, which
    would also, they thought, discredit her.

    Pierre Cauchon, the pro-English bishop of Beauvais, brought her before
    a church court on the charge of witchcraft and heresy. After a rigged
    process, the court condemned her as a relapsed heretic, and Joan, at
    the age of 19, was burned to death at Rouen on May 30, 1431. She died
    with great courage, invoking the Holy Name. Her ashes were thrown into
    the Seine River to prevent their veneration.

    At length, however, the English forces were driven from France. In
    1454, at the insistence of Joan's family, Pope Callistus III ordere=
    d a
    retrial. Enough of the witnesses of Joan's military career and her
    trial were still alive. Their testimony in favor of her orthodoxy and
    holiness was absolutely convincing. The pope therefore cancelled the
    sentence of the earlier court. Almost 500 years later, in 1920, Pope
    Benedict XV canonized the Maid as a saint. One might say she, too, had
    risen from the dead.

    Many groups tried to lay claim to St. Joan as their own. But, though a
    patriot, she was not a nationalist; though a soldier, she never used
    her sword to wound; though the victim of a rigged church trial, she
    was completely devoted to the Church; though a female leader, she was
    not a feminist.

    No, St. Joan of Arc was simply a devout, highly intelligent, and
    utterly common-sense young woman who accepted a divine assignment
    comparable only to those given to the Old Testament heroines, Judith
    and Esther. In Joan, St. Paul would say, But the foolish things of the
    world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise: and the weak
    things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong.
    (1 Cor. 1:27).
    =E2=80=93Father Robert


    Saint Quote:
    Forgive me, but I think there is no labour greater than that of prayer
    to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies, the demons,
    want to prevent him, for they know that it is only by turning him from
    prayer that they can hinder his journey. Whatever good work a man
    undertakes, if he perseveres in it, he will attain rest. But prayer is
    warfare to the last breath.
    --St. Agathon

    Bible Quote:
    "My dear friends, do not be taken aback at the testing by fire which
    is taking place among you, as though something strange were happening
    to you; but in so far as you share in the sufferings of Christ, be
    glad, so that you may enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.=C2 If you are insulted for bearing Christ's name, blessed are
    you, for on you rests the Spirit of God, the Spirit of glory." [1
    Peter 4:12-14]


    <><><><>
    NO TIME

    I knelt to pray but not for long,
    I had too much to do.
    Must hurry off and get to work,
    For bills would soon be due.
    And so I said a hurried prayer,
    Jumped, up from off my knees,
    My Christian duty now was done.
    My soul could be at ease.
    All through the day I had not time
    to speak a word of Christ to friends; they'd laugh at me I feared.
    No time, no time, too much to do,
    That was my constant cry.
    No time to give to those in need.
    At last t'was time to die.
    And when before the Lord one night I stood with down cast eyes.
    Within his hands he held a book.
    It was the "Book of Life".
    God looked into his book and said
    Your name I cannot find.
    I once was going to write it down
    But never found the time.

    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)