For the Love of St. Joan of Arc

I like collecting images of St. Joan of Arc, as she is my Confirmation saint and "Joan" was my Nana's middle name. These pieces of art speak to me. The largest one, on the top especially, as it hangs in the Met in NY.  While I lived there, I would visit her and she was life-sized! Face to face I could look into her eyes, watering with awe and incredulity at the Saints who were speaking to her.

I've seen all her movies and admire the Saint for her bravery and faith against all odds and torturous death. But, I must read Mark Twain's book on her. He called it his favorite of all he ever wrote and since Tom Sawyer is on my top ten literature list, I am sure I would love Twain's Joan of Arc.

"She was truthful when lying was the common speech of men; she was honest when honest was become a lost virtue; she was a keeper of promises when the keeping of a promise was expected of no one; ... she was full of pity when a merciless cruelty was the rule; she was steadfast when stability was unknown, and honorable in an age which had forgotten what honor was; she was a rock of convictions in a time when men believed in nothing and scoffed at all things; she was unfailingly true in an age that was false to the core; ... she was of a dauntless courage when hope and courage had perished in the hearts of her nation..." Mark Twain, Joan of Arc

Her own words inspire, too.

"It lies with the Lord to make revelations to whom He pleases."

When asked if she is in God's grace: "If I am not, God put me there, and if I am, God keep me there!"

"In God's name! Let us go on bravely!"

To one of the Captains: "You have been with your counsel and I have been with mine. Believe me that the counsel of my Lord will be accomplished and will stand, and this counsel of yours will perish."

"Trust in God. Make confession, and be shriven, for so God will help you."

"I was born for this."

"Fear not: what I do, I do by commandment. My brothers in Paradise tell me what I must do."

"I pray you, go to the nearest church, and bring me the cross, and hold it up level with my eyes until I am dead. I would have the cross on which God hung ever before my eyes while life lasts in me." Said Last Day, Wednesday, May 30, 1431...yes TODAY is her feast day.

In the end....."Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen." Louis Kossuth

Quotes found HERE