Joan of Arc & Prayer
"Many times I saw Joan on her knees. She seemed at her prayers, but I did not well understand what she said. Often enough she wept." Louis de Coutes - Joan's page
Prayer was a central part of Joan of Arc's daily life and she lived out St. Paul's admonition to believers to "pray without ceasing." As Joan's own mother described about her prayer life while she was growing up: "Because the people suffered so much, she had a great compassion for them in her heart and despite her youth she would fast and pray for them with great devotion and fervor."
"When she was in the fields, she used to drop to her knees and pray every time
she heard the church bells toll" Jean Waterin - Farmer from Domremy
During Joan's trial she was specifically asked to give an example of how she prayed to God for assistance to which she responded:
"Most sweet God, in honor of your holy passion, I beg you, because you love me, to reveal to me how I must respond to these churchmen. As for the dress, I know well the command by which I have taken it, but I do not know in what way I must leave it. May it therefore please you to teach it to me." Prayer by Joan of Arc
|
