All saints
May 2026

St. Joan of Arc

A fearless teenager who followed God's call and led an entire army at seventeen.

St. Joan of Arc — hand-drawn portrait for Catholic kids

Joan was a farm girl from a tiny French village who never learned to read or write. When she was about 13, she began to hear the voices of saints telling her that God had a mission for her: save France.

At 17 she convinced the future king to give her an army. Dressed in armor, carrying her banner, she led soldiers twice her age to a victory at Orléans that turned the whole war around. The soldiers didn't follow her because she was the strongest. They followed her because she was the bravest, and her courage came from prayer.

Joan's life ended when she was only 19, but her trust in God never wavered. Nearly five hundred years later the Church declared what the people of France already knew: the girl who listened was a saint.

The May envelope

May's letter came from St. Joan, sharing her story with the little ones on the list, along with her hand-drawn prayer card, a sticker, and the May zine.

  • A hand-drawn letter from St. Joan of Arc
  • A collectible prayer card, pencil art on the front, a hand-lettered prayer on the back
  • A St. Joan of Arc sticker
  • An 8-page hand-illustrated zine

Fun facts

  • She led the army at Orléans when she was just 17
  • The French call her La Pucelle d'Orléans, the Maid of Orléans
  • She was canonized in 1920, nearly 500 years after she lived
  • Her feast day is May 30

Feast day: May 30 · Patron of France and soldiers

Read the longer story → St. Joan of Arc: The Teenager Who Led an Army

A different saint writes to your little one every month. Letters from Heaven mails a hand-illustrated letter, prayer card, sticker, and zine, straight to your mailbox.

Start the letters