Thanks!!!

I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who helped me to celebrate Saint Joan of Arc’s Birthday this year. The following websites were especially helpful in getting the word out:

Spirit Daily
BigNews.Biz
Free Republic
Roman Catholic Catechism
Catholic Mom in Hawaii Blog

If anyone is wondering why you see little to no coverage of St. Joan of Arc’s Birthday by the mainstream news services well that is a good question. To me it is just more proof of how corrupt and irrelevant our mainstream “Press” has become. Joan is the most famous women to ever live and if you look at the news archives from 100 years ago you will see that she received all kinds of news coverage on her birthday. This is just another example of how today’s “Press” only covers “news” that they are either being paid to cover or is consistent with their social and political agendas for which they are also paid to promote. So much for our so called “Free Press.” Sorry for the rant against the press on this blog devoted to Saint Joan but I also value true freedom as much as St. Joan of Arc did and examples like this really disgust me.

Deo Vindice!

Joan's Birthday

"It was during the night of the Epiphany of Our Lord when men are wont most joyfully to recall the acts of Christ that she first saw the light in this mortal life”

Tomorrow will mark the 599th anniversary of the birth of Joan of Arc and I hope everyone will have a chance to celebrate in their own way. I recently added a quote on the MaidOfHeaven.com quotes page by 19th century French artist Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel that reflects some of my own sentiments about Joan:
"Jeanne d'Arc does not belong to France alone but also to all those whose thoughts are elevated enough to grasp the superior and beautiful among goodness."

I will celebrate Joan’s birthday tomorrow by lighting a candle in her honor and by re-reading my poem Maid of Heaven that I wrote to her. I celebrate this way every year and try to spend some time alone with her and God remembering her for who she was and is in Christ. I hope all of you will find your own way tomorrow to honor and remember Saint Joan of Arc.

Joan of Arc’s Birthday Page

Jesus & Joan

Christmas is a good time to talk about the real focus of Saint Joan of Arc’s life as she was clearly focused upon serving Jesus Christ as she showed in everything that she did. Joan had the name of Jesus and his mother Mary placed upon her famous banner along with a picture of God holding the world. Go here for more about Joan’s Banner

Joan also wore a ring that had been given to her by her parents that she described as having three crosses and the names of Jesus and Mary. Go here for more about Joan’s Ring

Even the letters that Joan sent out usually contained a cross along with the names Jesus-Maria. Go here for more about Joan’s Letters

In all that she did Joan of Arc honored Jesus and everyone around her saw her great faith and were inspired by her devotion and piety. The following words by Joan’s childhood friend Hauviette are typical of the descriptions of Joan that were later recorded by everyone that knew her: “Joan was a good, simple and sweet-natured girl, she went often and of her own will to church and the sacred places and often she was ashamed because of people remarking how she went so devoutly to church.”

Merry CHRISTmass to all or as Joan would say:

JESUS MARIA

Joan of Arc's Coat of Arms

Joan was awarded a armorial bearings more commonly referred to as a "coat of arms" by Charles VII on June 2, 1429.
I recreated her coat of arms based upon the drawing by Charles VII and the description Joan gave at her trial. A copy of Charles VII's drawing and Joan's description are available at:
http://www.maidofheaven.com/joanofarc_coat_of_arms.asp

Vive la Joan

Joan of Arc's Friends & Companions

One way to better understand Joan of Arc is to examine some of the people she interacted with while she lived. Several new pages have been added at MaidOfHeaven.com that give information about some of the key people in her life like her father and mother as well as many of the soldiers that fought with her like the Duke of Alencon and La Hire. To learn more about them try the following pages:

Jacques d’Arc – Joan’s Father
Isabelle Romee – Joan’s Mother
LaHire
Duke of Alencon

For a complete index go to:
Joan of Arc Friends & Companions

Mark Twain & Joan of Arc

Mark Twain had a great admiration for Saint Joan of Arc for almost his entire life. As his biographer A.B. Paine explains, Twain’s interest in Joan started one day in Hannibal, Missouri when he was a young man working as a printer’s apprentice:

“He was on his way from the office to his home one afternoon when he saw flying along the pavement a square of paper, a leaf from a book. ... He caught the flying scrap and examined it. It was a leaf from some history of Joan of Arc. The "maid" was described in the cage at Rouen, in the fortress, and the two ruffian English soldiers had stolen her clothes. ... there arose within him a deep compassion for the gentle Maid of Orleans, a burning resentment toward her captors, a powerful and indestructible interest in her sad history. It was an interest that would grow steadily for more than half a lifetime and culminate at last in that crowning work, the Recollections, the loveliest story ever told of that martyred girl”

If you have never read Twain’s great biography Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc then you give it a read. I personally consider it the best fictional account of Joan’s life and you can read the review I wrote about it at: Joan of Arc Book & Movie Reviews

The full book is available online at MaidOfHeaven.com at:

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
or go to the
Table of Contents for Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Ben D. Kennedy & Joan of Arc

People are constantly asking me how I become interested in Joan of Arc and about why have I devoted so much time and energy to writing a book about her and in creating my large website MaidOfHeaven.com devoted to teaching her true and full history. I provide some insight about my motivations on the home page where I wrote:

People have asked me why I chose to write about Saint Joan of Arc since it seems to some a departure from my normal American based writings. There is much that I can say about how the lessons learned from Saint Joan's life are very relevant to today's American citizen, but the real reason I wrote about her is ultimately much more personal. I find myself feeling similar to the way a great American writer of the nineteenth century felt. Mark Twain, after finishing his own biography about Saint Joan of Arc, said that:
"Possibly the book may not sell, but that is nothing-it was written for love"

You can also find some more details about me on the About the Author page at MaidOfHeaven.com and learn more about the creation process of the book on the page for Maid of Heaven: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc There is also a good Question and Annwer interview I did about both Joan of 'Arc and my book located at Online Interview about Joan of Arc

Deo Vindice,

Ben D. Kennedy