Today, May 30th, is the day of Saint Joan of Arc, known as the “Lady of Orleans”, who freed France from a long rule by the English.
Joan of Arc was born in France in the Lorraine region, on January 6, 1412 in the rural area of that province. She was known by everyone for being pious, very devout but illiterate, so much so that she signed her name using a cross.
At the age of 13, Saint Joan of Arc would have her first mystical experiences, but she was misunderstood and ended up being labeled crazy, even by her parents.
During the period in which the saint lived, France was going through the 100 years’ war with England, and the country was weak, as the king was deposed and the English were increasingly trying to take the throne, during this period Saint Joan of Arc received messages asking him to expel the invaders and restore King Charles VII back to his throne.
However, King Charles VII only agreed to follow Joan of Arc’s advice when he realized that that message was a true sign from God, so Joan put on armor and wielded as her weapon a flag with the cross and the names of Jesus and Mary on it. embroidered, asking the commanders to fight for the country and for God.
After a difficult battle, Joan managed to take King Charles VII back to the throne, being crowned in Reims cathedral according to tradition, but Joan’s fate was more cruel, being betrayed and sold to the English who tried her for heresy and witchcraft in a grotesque completely illegal religious process, being burned at the stake at the age of 19 on May 30, 1431 while murmuring the names of Jesus and Mary.
Twenty years after her unjust death, Pope Callixtus III reviewed the processes involving Joan of Arc, and rehabilitated her, and she would be canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV, and became the patron saint of France.