St. Therese and St. Joan of Arc

About a year ago I set up a special page detailing the devotion of St. Therese of Lisieux to St. Joan of Arc The page contains poems about St. Joan as well as several pictures of St. Therese dressed as St. Joan for a play that she had written to honor St. Joan. You can see the page at:
St. Therese and St. Joan of Arc

After I shared the page with an online group about Joan of Arc where I am a member one of the ladies noticed something remarkable in one of the pictures of St. Therese. There are crosses in her eyes. We had quite a discussion at the group trying to explain the crosses and several theories were put forward which motivated me to do more research into the photographs. I found out that St. Therese’s sister Celine was an avid photographer who took many photos of St. Therese which are contained in a book titled The Photo Album of St. Therese of Lisieux
http://books.google.com/books?id=YNJNAAAACAAJ&dq=st+theresa+lisieux+photo+album&ei=_waDSsrIN6nEzgSXv-XdCg

I obtained a copy of this book from a local Catholic University and was most interested to see if the crosses were still visible in her eyes in the original photographs. The book states that the photographs are “un-retouched” and “reproduced directly from the plates developed in the late 19th century.” Remarkably, the crosses are still visible in the same picture although it is a little harder to see them. The other valuable information that the book contained was a map of the Carmelite convent and some descriptions of the different courtyards and the locations where the pictures were taken.

From my own limited investigation I have not been able to find any plausible earthly explanation for the crosses in St. Therese’s eyes. I figured that over the course of the past year someone more knowledgeable in photographic techniques of the 19th century would give me an explanation but so far that has not happened. I guess at this point I am wondering if this is indeed a real miraculous occurrence that no one previously noticed until the photograph was digitally prepared for the Internet. If so then it is time that everyone knows about it thus the purpose of this blog entry.

Maid of Heaven on Google Books

Google finally set up Maid of Heaven on Google Books so that a limited number of pages can be previewed. If you would like to preview my book about Joan of Arc and read a few pages and see some of the historic pictures contained within just go to the link below. WARNING they did a lousy job copying the cover so refer to the image below for a more accurate representataion of what the cover actually looks like.

http://books.google.com/books?id=NQ_B0G8d2RMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=joan+of+arc&lr=&ei=31d3Sv3nIqO4ywSmiaTcAg

A Million Page Views!

The big news this month at MaidOfHeaven.com was that the site achieved a milestone in going over One Million Page Views since going online in early 2007. When I first set up the site it was mainly designed to give information about my book Maid of Heaven but I soon realized that there was a great need on the Internet for detailed history about Joan of Arc. Except for a few exceptional sites the vast majority contained little more than encyclopedia type information about Joan and her life. I am thrilled that so many people have visited MaidOfHeaven.com and been able to really learn all about Joan and her amazing life. If you would like to read the press release articles about this major milestone visit the articles at:
http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109539&Itemid=36
http://www.prlog.org/10278612-joan-of-arc-website-celebrates-millionth-page-view.html
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/joan-of-arc-website-celebrates-its-millionth-page-view-107748.php
http://www.prurgent.com/2009-07-09/pressrelease45485.htm

Go Here for all Press Releases Related to Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc Books

Are you looking for a good book to read to learn more about Joan-of-Arc ? Of course I am partial to Maid of Heaven but there are many great books out there about Joan and quite a few are available online for free. One of the best is Mark Twain’s fictional account of Joan’s life which is available online at MaidOfHeaven.com at:
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

For a list of all the online books available at MaidOfHeaven.com go to:
Joan of Arc Books Online

For a list of even more online books about Joan of Arc available at various places on the internet visit the page below and scroll down to the section titled:
Books Online

I hope these lists of free books will make it easier for everyone to learn all about the remarkable St. Joan of Arc.

Joan of Arc's Crowning Achievement

“Huzzah after huzzah swept the army from van to rear; and as for Joan, there where she sat her horse gazing, clothed all in white armor, dreamy, beautiful, and in her face a deep, deep joy, a joy not of earth, oh, she was not flesh, she was spirit! Her sublime mission was closing – closing in flawless triumph.”

On July 17, 1429, Joan of Arc achieved what was her greatest accomplishment in liberating France when Charles VII was crowned King of France. Many people, including historians, have a hard time understanding the strategic brilliance of Joan in focusing upon getting Charles VII crowned in the traditional way so that the people of France would view him as their legitimate King. Joan understood that to achieve ultimate victory over England it was necessary to unite France behind one King. Unfortunately for Joan the crowning of Charles VII also marked the pinnacle of her career. But she had changed the course of history and ultimately the man she conducted to throne of France would lead France to complete victory over the English.

Joan of Arc's Voices

A couple of new pages have been added to MaidOfHeaven.com to honor the Saints that spoke to and guided St. Joan and that she referred to as her Voices. The Saints were St. Michael the Archangel, St Margaret of Antioch, and St. Catherine of Alexandria. Each page contains a historic painting and a brief description of the Saint as well as relevant quotes by St. Joan about her Voices. The pages are available at:
St. Michael
St. Margaret
St. Catherine

Joan of Arc Quote

Joan-of-Arc
Anyone that knows me or has spent much time at MaidOfHeaven.com understands how much I revere the actual words that St. Joan of Arc spoke while she was alive. There is something almost magical about some of her quotes and I love to re-read them from time to time to feel closer to her. Unfortunately, not everyone respects St. Joan as I do as many of her famous quotes have been distorted and used improperly. One distorted quote that I see quite frequently on the internet is: "I am not afraid ... I was born to do this." The actual words that Joan spoke from which this quote was derived were: “I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me; and if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to messire the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!"

The big problem I have with the new version is the removal of what to Joan would have been the most important part: God. Saint Joan of Arc knew exactly what the source of her strength was and she always gave credit to God for everything that she accomplished in her life. I therefore think the proper derivation of Joan’s words in this instance would be:

"I am not afraid because God is with me. I was born for this!"

My new version is much truer to Joan’s original words and one that I hope will eventually supplant the false version as more people learn the truth about who St. Joan of Arc really was.

Vive la Jehanne!