Why are we so hard on the French?

(from my in-house cartoonist, Magnus. Frenchie is decked out complete with hairy legs and a poodle gagging on stinky cheese.)

For heaven’s sake, they turned out the likes of St. Joan of Arc! She is another personal favorite of mine. I was first introduced to her in high school while I was preparing for Confirmation. Unfortunately, I remember very little about that process except for what I was wearing, an off-white skirt and jacket with black pin-stripes from Montgomery Wards, and that I had a crush on one of the older teen volunteers. Very sad. Fortunately, in the process of choosing a patron saint, I discovered a world of people who lived a life of faith and virtue, with seemingly no concern for the torture and death that ensued them. My mother gave me a copy of the Lives of the Saints as part of my Confirmation gift. I can see it on the shelf from where I am sitting as I write. That book has served me and my family well.

I was a typical teenager in many ways. On all outward appearances, I was a polite and good student. I had an affinity for music and would spend many hours practicing the things I wanted to master and not so much time on the material I was supposed to learn. I, as an only child (not really, but that’s much too complicated to explain right now) was like most children, adversely affected by my parent’s divorce when I was 12. My very well-intentioned mother did her best to make sure that I stayed emotionally healthy, but I internalized most of the hurt and disappointment and made a tremendous effort to shut the whole thing out of my mind and make normalcy out of what was left. Everyone says that high school should be the best time of your life. For me, that wasn’t the case. My anger and resentment was slowly sucking me into despair. When I was younger, I would walk the two short blocks to Church and sit in the quiet, dark, peaceful, beautiful presence of our Lord. I had always found solace and comfort there. I frequently “escaped” to the Church. By the time I reached the age for Confirmation, I had unknowingly allowed Satan to distract me and drag me down with his cunning ways. This is where St. Joan of Arc comes in to save the day.

St. Joan of Arc represented many attractive qualities to me at the age of 15, or however old I was. I can’t even remember that. She was one bad ass chick. She disguised herself as a man, put on her heavy suit of armor, headed out onto the battlefield with the big boys, and was subsequently burned at the stake. While this is certainly a misguided notion of real feminism, I was, nonetheless, impressed with her tenacity and wanted to be just like her. This was a very superficial view of the situation, but God knew what I needed and how it would help me later, so with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and my own shallow perception, I chose St. Joan of Arc as my patron saint.

(A signed print from artist Matthew Alderman, that graces our dining room. This is my all time favorite depiction of St. Joan. She is flanked by St. Michael, St. Margaret and St. Katherine.)

As I matured in my faith, let go of my teenage angst, and began looking at the life of this saint more in depth, I realized how many aspects of her life deserved emulation. She heard the voice of God calling her to something very difficult. Like our Blessed Mother, she said yes to His request despite the heartache and consequence that followed. While on first appearances, her actions look as if they are commanding and assertive, she is actually a model of submission to God’s will. I also realized that courage was more than having the guts to go to war. Genuine courage means that you stand up for what is right, but you also have to have the necessary humility to admit your faults and failures. I ask St. Joan to pray for me every time I am standing in line for Confession. I ask God to give me the same graces he gave her so that I can face my sins and shortcomings while I am asking for His mercy and forgiveness. He never ceases in His generosity

St. Joan of Arc, model of courageous virtue, pray for us!