Saint Joan of Arc Day (30/05)

On May 30, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Joan of Arc Day.

Joan of Arc (modern French). Jeanne d'Arc) — patroness of the military and France. In 1920, by an official decree of Pope Benedict XV, Joan of Arc was canonized, although people have worshipped her for centuries.

Jeanne was born in 1412 in the French village of Domremi. At the age of 12, the first revelation appeared to her. According to her, Joan heard the voices of Archangel Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret, who prepared her for the special mission of the savior of France. The country was in a critical situation — all of northern France was occupied by the British, the army was extremely weakened, and the question arose about the independence of the French state.

Over time, the voices Jeanne hears call her to action. Joan of Arc, having difficulty making her way from the territory occupied by the British and their allies — Burgundians to the city of Chinon to the Dauphin Charles, convinces him that the Almighty is speaking through her.

Put at the head of the army, Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old girl, showed courage and encouraged the people to fight the enemy. She broke through with her troops into Orleans, besieged by the British, and on May 8, 1429, forced them to lift the siege of the city, for which people began to call her the Maid of Orleans. A number of victories won by Joan of Arc allowed the Dauphin Charles (Charles VII) to be crowned in Reims on July 17, 1429.

However, the king and the aristocratic elite, frightened by the wide scope of the people's war and the growing popularity of Joan, actually removed her from command of the army. On May 23, 1430, while sallying from besieged Compiegne, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians as a result of betrayal and sold to the British. A church court in Rouen, where the judges were French — accomplices of the invaders, accused Joan of Arc of heresy and witchcraft and sentenced her to be burned at the stake. This happened on May 30, 1431.

The executioner was required to burn all the remains. Several times he placed burning brushwood and coals around Zhanna’s heart, but he could not turn the girl’s heart into ashes. Finally, struck "as a manifest miracle", he stopped tormenting this Heart, put the Burning Bush in a sack along with all that remained of the Virgin's flesh, and threw the sack into the Seine.

25 years after her execution in the new church trial of Joan of Arc, which took place in France in 1456, she was solemnly rehabilitated and recognized as the beloved daughter of the Church and France.

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