Born around 1412, Jeanne d’Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc) was the daughter of Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family from the village of Domrémy, in northeastern France.
During th
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Joan of Arc: The Short but Eventful life of the Maid of Lorraine
May 22, 2021
This is a good time to remind ourselves about the life and death of Joan of Arc, because it was on May 9, 1920, that Joan of Arc was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. This is also the month she was executed. She led the French armies against the English during the Hundred Years' War. After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. By the time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans, as she was known, had long been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of French unity and nationalism. Also nicknamed the "Maid of Lorraine," Joan of Arc is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Hundred Years War.
Father Damien’s Legacy: Leader by Example & "Martyr of Charity"​
Apr 17, 2021
Father Damien was born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium, and missionary who dedicated his life to the lepers of Hawaii and eventually contracted the disease himself. He was declared a Saint by the Catholic Church. Father Damien has been described as a "martyr of charity". In the Anglican Communion and other Christian denominations, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for leprosy and outcasts.
Jozef De Veuster was the youngest of seven children and fourth son of the Flemish corn merchant Joannes Franciscus ("Frans") De Veuster and his wife Anne-Catherine ("Cato") Wouters in the village of Tremelo in Flemish Brabant in rural Belgium on 3 January 1840. His older sisters Eugénie and Pauline became nuns, and his older brother Auguste (Father Pamphile) joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus Fathers).
Jozef was forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm.
His father, a small farmer, sent him to a college a
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