I have spoken before about the many spiritual lessons I have
learned from St. Joan of Arc but one that is very dear to me is how I learned
to more fully celebrate Christmas because of St. Joan's own birth on the
Epiphany. Like many Christians at
Christmas I had focused primarily on Christmas day without understanding that
the full celebration lasts until Twelfth-night or the Epiphany. The reason the Epiphany is so important is
because that is when we celebrate the actual revelation of God to man in human
form in the person of Jesus Christ. It
is on this day that the three wise men following the star in the sky arrived in
Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus which completed the revelation to the world
that the savior to mankind had been born.
One of the most detailed descriptions I have ever seen about the full
story of the birth of Christ including the Epiphany is contained in the first
59 pages of the famous novel Ben Hur and I would encourage anyone wanting a
more complete understanding of the full Christmas story to read these pages as
I have now begun doing every year to celebrate Christmas. You can find this book online at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2145/2145-h/2145-h.htm
And to better understand about the significance
of St. Joan of Arc's own birth on the Epiphany I would recommend reading a
paper I wrote two years ago to celebrate her 600th birthday titled: Saint Joan of Arc: A Brilliantly Shining Light of God - The Significance of Joan of Arc's Birth on the Epiphany
Thank you once again St. Joan for teaching me more
about the great God that you love and serve so well as one of His Saints.
