Shining Light Doll-St Joan Of Arc

Meet St. Joan of Arc!

St. Joan of Arc (May 30th)
Patron of: France, prisoners, soldiers, military personnel

"I am not afraid... I was born to do this"
-St. Joan of Arc

Joan was born to a peasant family around the year 1412 in Domremy, in northeastern France. Joan was born into a country that had been in a long war with England (known as the Hundred Year’s War). It had started as an inheritance dispute over the French throne. At the time Joan was born, the French were losing the war. Joan lived a very ordinary farmer’s daughter’s life until the age of 13, when while in her father’s garden she experienced her first vision. She saw the Archangel Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. They told her God wanted her to help lead the French army in order to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation. Joan trusted in God’s plan for her life, and help lead the French army in many victories over the English. She also succeeded in her mission of having Charles VII crowned King in Reims. St. Joan of Arc was captured and martyred by the English when she was only 19 years old- but her victories and legacy changed the course of French history.