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Following the series on Saint Joan of Arc and two texts from our archive of biblical meditations, I would now like to turn to the reflection on another letter from the New Testament. It is the Letter to the Church in Philippi. It comes from Saint Paul, the beloved Apostle to whom we owe so […]

Mt 11:25-30 At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 In those days, a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the

I am delighted for—and with—everyone who followed the twelve reflections on the Blessed Virgin of Orléans. This is not the first time I have written about her, and—God willing—it will not be the last. Indeed, every time I write about her, it feels fresh, which is connected to the fact that the Virgin of Orléans

What had happened to the heroic Joan of Arc, who had endured so many trials and never doubted her mission? Let us think of Saint Peter. Did he not repeatedly show Jesus his love? Did he not leave everything to follow Jesus? Did he not say that he was willing to die for Jesus? What

Joan withstood the terrible ordeal of interrogation, the harassment she endured at the hands of the English guards, the harsh conditions of her imprisonment, and the judges’ attempts to convict her of heresy. Not even the threat of torture caused her to falter. Supported by her saints, she remained unyielding. She told those who threatened

In Rouen, the conditions of the Virgin’s imprisonment worsened. Although she should have been held in a church prison under the supervision of women, English soldiers guarded her instead. The priest Jean Massieu of Rouen described her conditions of imprisonment as follows: “Joan was imprisoned in the citadel of Rouen in a room on the

After her capture, it became clear what the English intended to do with her. Joan was not merely a prominent prisoner; with her, English military dominance in France had come to an end. They therefore believed they knew what had caused their defeats. In their view, a witch—and thus a woman influenced by the devil—had

After Charles VII was crowned in Reims, the king began negotiating with the Burgundians. On the day of the coronation itself, Joan wrote to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, on behalf of Charles VII. She pleaded with him in the name of God: “May the King of France and you conclude a good and

After the city of Orléans had been relieved of its siege, Joan felt compelled to fulfill her next prophecy: to lead the king to Reims for his coronation. She knew from her visions that she did not have much time to complete her mission, and she had to seize the moment. The English were weakened,