Thoughts and Concepts behind

The Prayer to Sainte Jehanne d'Arc, La Pucelle

"Valiant St. Jehanne, Maid of Orleans, to you I offer this prayer in hope that you may guide me in the virtues of courage, patience, leadership, and trust in God's will."

*St. Jehanne, as a saint of the Catholic Church, serves as an example of how a person should offer themselves as a dwelling place for God. She personified the four "cardinal virtues": prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance (Catechism 1805). By aspiring to be like her in virtue is to become closer to God. We can ask her for intercession for ourselves and the whole world (see Catechism 2683, 2684). Our devotion to St. Jehanne, who dwells in heaven, brings us closer to Christ and, in being more closely united to Christ, we fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness (Catechism 956, 957).

"Inspire me from this hour forth to accept God's will unquestioningly, just as you did when obeying the saintly voices of His messengers in the fields of Domremy."

*St. Jehanne heard and listened to the Voice of God through Saints Catherine, Marguerite, and Michael. She has said that she first heard the voices while a child in her birthplace, Domremy. St. Jehanne had complete faith in her messengers' commands and brought them to fruition, despite great opposition.

"Pray for me to be compassionate, serving God by serving those who are downtrodden and poor in spirit. Obtain for me the strength and courage to defend God's mission of love and justice and to lead by the example of piety, truth, forgiveness, and faith unwavering."

*St. Jehanne, in following God's commands, served her countrymen who had been oppressed by the English. Her cause lead her into battle where she continued to honor God by encouraging purity and morality from her fellow soldiers. St. Jehanne fulfilled God's mission through justice--the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor; establishing harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. She, by honoring God's commandments, fulfills his foremost law: love.

"Come to my aid as I pray ardently for God's mercy, remembering to forgive others, even in times of persecution. Dauntless Warrior Saint, beseech our heavenly Father, in honor of His Holy Passion, to grant me the courage to speak truth in the face of adversity and the initiative to step forth in spiritual battle for Him."

*St. Jehanne exhibited mercy in battle, giving her opponents opportunity to retreat in peace. In captivity, she bore her wrongful imprisonment patiently. She remained faithful to God. In her trial, Jehanne spoke what she knew to be God's truth despite the threat of torture and death. Jehanne, by acting upon her Voices' commands, stepped forth in spiritual battle for Him and continued to defend His mission to her death. This paragraph of the prayer also contains reference to a prayer Jehanne recited in her trial which contains the phrase, "...in honor of Your Holy Passion," on March 28 regarding guidance in how to answer her judges about dressing in men's clothing.

"O chaste and steadfast Maid, galvanize my spirit that I may strive in each moment to be placed in God's grace. And may I recall that, like you in battle, I am to be a soldier for the Lord in this life, for it is He who shall give victory."

*St. Jehanne exhibited the virtue of chastity during her life. She vowed virginity for as long as it would please God. In being chaste, a virtue that let her love with an upright and undivided heart, she also achieved purity of intention (seeking to fulfill God's will in everything), purity of vision (refusing complicity in impure thoughts that turn us aside from God's path), and purity of heart ("Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God) (Catechism 2518-2520). This paragraph also contains references to Jehanne's response to her trial judges when asked if she was in God's grace. Jehanne's response was: "If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there." Her reply adhered to Catholic doctrine that grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith, that we cannot rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved (Catechism 2005). There is also a reference to her response to her examiners in Poitiers when questioned about the need for soldiers in fulfilling God's will to deliver France : "In God's name! The soldiers will fight, and God will give the victory!" Each of us can view ourselves as soldiers in a lifelong battle to fulfill God's will, to overcome the evils of this world. It is our duty as His children to devote our lives to the glory of His Kingdom.

Additional Notes

The spelling of her name in this prayer, "Jehanne," is used to reflect the spelling she herself used as is evident in historical documents and letters attributed to her.

The title, "La Pucelle," is used since this was the only surname Jehanne assigned to herself during her lifetime. The phrase is French for "the Maid."

The phrase, "Jhesus Maria," ends this prayer to recall the battle standard Jehanne carried that bore the same words.

The paragraphs in this prayer are punctuated throughout by five crosses to signify the five crosses that adorned the sword she had recovered from the church altar of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois.


Valiant St. Jehanne, Maid of Orleans,

to you I offer this prayer in hope that you may guide me in the virtues of courage, patience, leadership, and trust in God's will.

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Inspire me from this hour forth to accept God's will unquestioningly, just as you did when obeying the saintly voices of His messengers

in the fields of Domremy.

+

Pray for me to be compassionate, serving God by serving those who are downtrodden and poor in spirit. Obtain for me the strength and courage to defend God's mission of love and justice and to lead by

the example of piety, truth, forgiveness, and faith unwavering.

+

Come to my aid as I pray ardently for God's mercy, remembering

to forgive others, even in times of persecution.

Dauntless Warrior Saint, beseech Our Heavenly Father,

in honor of His Holy Passion, to grant me

the courage to speak truth in the face of adversity and

the initiative to step forth in spiritual battle for Him.

+

O chaste and steadfast Maid, galvanize my spirit that I may strive

in each moment to be placed in God's grace.

And may I recall that, like you in battle, I am to be a soldier for

the Lord in this life, for it is He who shall give victory.

 

Jhesus Maria

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