Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc is the patron of soldiers and of women in the military because she was, almost uniquely among the saints, a battlefield commander: a peasant girl who, obeying the voices of Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret, led the armies of France to relieve Orléans and saw the king crowned at Reims. She is the patron of prisoners because of how her story ended — betrayed, sold to the English, held in chains, and burned at Rouen in 1431 after an unjust trial, only to be solemnly vindicated and at last canonized in 1920. She is invoked by those falsely accused and by all who endure persecution for conscience’ sake. Above every other patronage she is the second patron saint of France, the maid who gave her country back to itself.
Saint Joan of Arc was a French peasant girl who, guided by heavenly visions, led the French army to decisive victories during the Hundred Years’ War. Born around 1412, she helped Charles VII secure his coronation at Reims. Captured by the Burgundians and handed to the English, she was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431 at age nineteen. She was canonized in 1920.
