Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. 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. A pious child, who enjoyed solitude in the woods near her home, at a very early age, she heard voices. Eventually she came to understand that they were those of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. …

…relapsed heretic before the secular court. On May 30, 1431, in the center of the Old Market Place at Rouen, holding a crucifix, Joan of Arc met her end as she was burned at the stake. On July 7, 1456, 25 years after Joan of Arc's execution, Charles the VII recognized Joan's service to France with a trial that annulled her verdict of guilt. On May 16, 1920, Joan of Arc became a saint when Pope Benedict XV canonized her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**