Joan of Arc, example of holiness for lay people involved in politics, says Pope
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Dedicating oneself to public life as a service. This is the teaching offered by St. Joan of Arc, "a beautiful example of holiness for lay people involved in politics, especially in the most' difficult situations", one of those strong women who brought the light of the Gospel in history to the end of the Middle Ages," described by Benedict XVI to eight thousand faithful at his general audience.
Joan was a woman who loved Jesus and the Church "to the end" and who "with her luminous witness invites us to a high standard of Christian life: making prayer the mainstay of our days, following the will of God whatever it may be, living love without favouritisms and without limits".
Born January 6, 1412, to a wealthy farming family, Joan was "very close" to Catherine of Siena, "two young women of the people, lay consecrated virgins; two mystics engaged, not in the cloister, but actually in the midst of the most dramatic realities of the Church and the world of their time”.
Joan was born during the great crisis of the Great Western Schism. "At the time of her death there was a pope and an anti-pope, at the time of her birth a pope and two anti-popes" and there are the "fratricidal wars between the peoples of Europe, the most intense of which was the war of 100 years" .. As a young girl she "received a good Christian education, but could neither read nor write, her sources are the testimonies of the two trials, the first sentencing, contains long transcripts of interrogations that lasted over two months, the second wanted by Pope Callistus III, who overturned the sentence, contains the eye-witness accounts of 120 witnesses, of all periods of her life.
"From her words, we know that the religious life of Joan matures from a mystical experience at the age of 13 years," when she hears the voice of the archangel Michael calling her. "Her immediate response, and her yes and her vow of chastity”. She has an intense life of prayer and "compassion and commitment of the French peasant girl for the suffering of her people are made more intense by her mystical relationship with God" .
"The relationship between mystical experience and political mission is a peculiar feature of Joan." After years of "hidden life follows an intense period of public life. A period of action and passion”. She began her work of liberation aged only 17. She is a "very strong and determined” woman “able to convince insecure and discouraged men". Her “commitment for the liberation of her people is understood as the work of human justice through charity”.
In early 1429, Joan began her work of liberation. "The numerous testimonies show us that this young woman of only 17 years was very strong and determined." She met the dauphin of France, the future King Charles VII, who submitted her to the examination of some theologians. "Their judgement was positive; they see nothing wrong in her, simply a good Christian". On March 22, 1429, Joan dictated an important letter to the king of England and his men who were laying siege to the city of Orleans. "It was a proposal for a true peace with justice between the two Christian peoples, in the light of the names of Jesus and Mary, but it was rejected”. Thus Joan committed herself to the struggle for liberation of the city, which took place on May 8. The other highlight of her political action was the coronation of King Charles VII in Reims, July 17, 1429. "For a whole year, Joan lived with the soldiers, carrying out among them a true mission of evangelization. Many of their testimonies speak about her kindness, courage and extraordinary purity. She was called by all, and she called herself, the Maid, that is the virgin". "Joan’s passion begins May 23, 1430. Imprisoned, on December 23 she was brought to Rouen, where there is "a long and dramatic trial for sentencing, which begins in February 1431 and ends May 30 with her burning at the stake. It was a great and solemn trial, presided over by two ecclesiastical judges," but in fact "entirely driven by a large group of renowned theologians of the University of Paris, playing the role of advisors. The French ecclesiastics had made an opposing political choice to Joan’s, and from the outset they had a negative opinion of her and her mission. This trial is a shocking page in the history of the Saints and also a illuminating page on the mystery of the Church which, in the words of Vatican II, is at once holy and always in need of purification. It was a dramatic encounter between this Saint and her judges, who are clergymen. Joan is accused by them and found guilty, to be condemned as a heretic and sent to the terrible death of the fire".
They were "theologians who lacked the charity and humility to see the action of God this young woman " and who bring to mind the words of Jesus, "the mysteries of God are revealed to those who have the hearts of children, while remaining hidden from the learned and wise. " Thus, the Joan’s judges "are fundamentally unable to understand her, to see the beauty of her soul: they did not know they were condemning Saint”. Joan’s appeal to the Pope on May 24, was dismissed by the court. On the morning of May 30, she received Holy Communion for the last time, and was conducted to the scaffold. "She asked one of the priests to hold a cross in front of the flames. Thus she dies gazing at the Crucified Christ and calling out loud several times Jesus’ name ".
About 25 years later, a trial overturning her sentence revealed her innocence and "perfect fidelity to the Church." Joan of Arc was later canonized by Benedict XV in 1920. The name of Jesus, invoked by the Saint in the very last moments of her earthly life, "was like a continuous breath of her soul, like the beating of her heart, the centre of her whole life." Joan "had understood that love embraces the whole reality of God and man, heaven and earth, the Church and the world."
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29/09/2010
18/11/2009
