Saint Joan and Easter
While there are no historic accounts remaining of Saint Joan of Arc specifically celebrating Easter it is easy to imagine her in worship as she was once described by one of her contemporaries:
"At the church one often saw her prostrated before the crucifix, sometimes with hands joined, face and eyes uplifted towards the Christ or the Holy Virgin."
Perhaps it is because Easter is the preeminent event for a devout believer to celebrate and remember the ultimate victory of Christ that God chose this particular time to give Joan the ominous news that she would be captured soon. As Joan later related at her trial:
"During the week of last Easter, on the fosses of Melun, I was told by my Voices, that is to say, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, that I would be captured before St. John’s Day, and that it was necessary that this should happen, and that I must not be astonished and must accept it willingly, and that God would aid me."
I am comforted by the thought that Joan received this news with the message of Easter burning in her heart and soul of ultimate victory in Christ remembering that HE IS RISEN!!!
This Article by Ben D. Kennedy was originally posted at http://saint-joan-of-arc.blogspot.com
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