St. Joan of Arc
A farm girl who couldn't read led an army at seventeen.
Joan grew up in a village so small it barely had a name, doing chores, minding animals. Around thirteen she started hearing saints' voices telling her God had a job for her, which is the sort of thing that gets a farm girl laughed at.
At seventeen she talked the future king of France into handing her an army. She put on armor, picked up a banner, and led men twice her age to a victory at Orléans that turned the entire war.
They did not follow her because she was the strongest person there. She was not. They followed her because she was the least afraid, and the reason she was the least afraid is that she prayed more than any of them.
St. Joan of Arc facts for kids
- She was seventeen at the battle of Orléans
- The French call her La Pucelle d'Orléans, the Maid of Orléans
- She never learned to read or write. Her letters were dictated.
- It took the Church almost 500 years to canonize her. 1920.
Feast day: May 30 · Patron of France and soldiers
Proper to the calendar of France.
St. Joan, when I am the smallest one in the room, make me brave.
The longer story
We wrote a whole post about St. Joan, with more of the story than fits on one page.
St. Joan of Arc: The Teenager Who Led an ArmyWe mailed this one
St. Joan wrote a letter to the kids on our list, and it went out with a hand-drawn prayer card, a sticker, and an 8-page zine.
See St. Joan's letter