“If the Church Militant tells you that your revelations are illusions or somehow diabolic, would you defer to the church?”
- Joan, “In that case, I would defer as always to God, whose command I have always obeyed, and I know well that what is contained in this trial comes through God’s command, and what I have affirmed in this process that I have done by God’s command. It would be impossible for me to do the contrary. And should the Church Militant command me to do otherwise, I would not defer to any man of the world, other than our Lord, whose good command I have always done.”
“Do you believe that you are subject to the church of God that is on earth, that is to say, the lord our pope, to the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church?”
- Joan, “Yes, so long as Our Lord is first served.”
“Have you received the command from your voices not to submit to the Church Militant, which is on earth, nor to her judgment?”
- Joan, “I shall not answer anything that comes into my head, but what I do answer is at the command of my voices; they do not command me not to obey the church, God being first served.”
(Joan of Arc – Her Story by Régine Pernoud)
Do you sometimes feel down regarding all of the confusion in the Church these days? Do you get depressed when yet another bishop of the Church subverts the faith he is supposed to build up and defend? At times do you almost give up? Well, if so, you might imagine your frustrations summarized on facebook in a clever meme with Joan’s picture concluding, “Joan of Arc is not impressed!”
After leading Charles VII to his crowning in Reims and later being captured by English sympathizers, Joan of Arc faced a politically motivated inquisitional trial at the hands of the Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon. With Cauchon, and against Joan, were roughly 60 intellectual Church prelates from the University of Paris (most of them intimidated by Cauchon and the English army into participating) who, together, challenged this uneducated peasant girl on the most intricate matters of theology. At stake (no pun intended) was whether she would live or die, or at best spend her life in prison. By her side to help her against this powerful court of Churchmen was… well… not one soul. It was simple, uneducated Joan against the best and brightest of “the Church.” Cauchon, himself the head of “the Church” in this trial, deliberately set about to mentally and physically abuse Joan until she caved and confessed heresy. In this way, the English would prove that Charles VII was a morally tainted King of France, as he was crowned through Joan of Arc’s military leadership. Cauchon, a Burgundian Frenchman (who were the sympathizers in alliance with the English against their French brethren in Charles’ party) would then secure for himself a top ecclesiastical position with the court of King Henry VI of England. It was pretty straightforward. Frame this innocent 19 year old heroine in order to burn her at the stake, thus satisfying the English and therefore getting a cushy promotion in the Church through it all! What was that again about your frustrations in dealing with Churchmen these days?
How did Joan of Arc deal with this English/Churchmen-led cloak and dagger obfuscation in pleading her case? In my opinion she did it this way. Joan of Arc never denounced the Church (though she denounced Cauchon himself). Joan of Arc never left the Church. Joan of Arc stayed very focused on: 1) obedience to God and the truth (“Yes, so long as Our Lord is first served”); 2) obedience to the Church Militant even though she was being persecuted by a Bishop of the Church Militant itself (“…they {St. Margaret and St. Catherine} do not command me not to obey the church, God being first served”) and 3) an incredibly powerful faith (“I know well that what is contained in this trial comes through God’s command, and what I have affirmed in this process that I have done by God’s command. It would be impossible for me to do the contrary”).
Joan of Arc was obedient to the truth, obedient to the Church, and strong in faith during this excruciatingly tortuous time. It was not easy for her to know how to answer her inquisitors. In fact, without God’s help, she would never have succeeded in baffling the entire court with her wisdom and understanding. The proud prelates were humiliated for three consecutive months as this Daughter of God answered all of their (purposefully) disorienting, rapid fire questions with knowledge that seemed profoundly beyond her uneducated capabilities. In other words, she did beautifully. She really did.
Well, with that being said, I suppose we would imagine her being freed and even applauded by the Churchmen. Surely they were so impressed that they found Joan to be an irresistible inspiration. Not so fast. Cauchon could not let her slip through his hands. He had ambitions, you know! It is a complicated matter at the end, but suffice it to say that Cauchon deliberately tricked her and set her up for a fall. That fall would spell her doom. No, Joan was not rewarded for her tenacity in an earthly sense. That is not the way it works in Christianity. That is not the way it worked with Jesus Christ. Christ was crucified after successfully having baffled his own enemies with wisdom from on high, and Joan, in imitation of Jesus Christ, was burned alive at the stake for doing the same. That is what we call a “reward from on high.” Martyrdom. Giving up our lives for Jesus Christ.
This is only one of the great lessons we have from Joan of Arc’s life. It is an important one for today. The devil will be routed from the confines of the Catholic Church through our 1) obedience to truth; 2) obedience to the Church (even if we are in the conflict of our lives with individual Churchmen); and 3) incredibly strong faith in the pledge of God’s salvation He has given to us through the treasury of Faith held in that Church.
This is why, in my own writings, I point out that I am “traditionally minded” (in a hermeneutic of continuity) while still being obedient to Vatican II. Vatican II does not prevent me from being Catholic. I go to the Traditional Latin Mass. I combat the Modernist false notions of religious freedom, ecumenism, and tolerance for other religions. I try to carefully word my writings such that I am not judging that which I cannot judge. I am not a priest or bishop. I have no ecclesiastical authority. Though I will have much to answer for when I die, the question of the validity or not of propagating the Novus Ordo will not be one of them. Popes, Cardinals, and other Bishops will have to answer for that. Meanwhile, I am responsible for my own soul and for the leadership I give to my family. That is why I take my family to the Traditional Latin Mass. I keep them away from heretical ecumenism gatherings. I make sure that they know that the Catholic Church has no equal on earth and is the only source of salvation for mankind. There is nothing in Vatican II that tells me otherwise. Yes, there is obscurity in the documents, an obscurity that I believe to be diabolical, but there really is nothing that tells me I cannot be Catholic.
Sure, I can choose to follow “the Spirit of Vatican II” straight to Hell if I so desire. This is the twisted spirit that uses that obfuscation to deliberately mislead the faithful into following the evils of Modernism (which, according to Pope St. Pius X is the sum of all heresies). However, Vatican II does not tell me that I have to do that. Vatican II never orders me to be un-Catholic, even though it appears at times to lead me there using the most charming language.
So, like Joan of Arc, our challenge is to remain true, obedient, and strong. We must remain true to the Faith and true to the Pope and Magisterium of the Church. That is not easy to do when we hardly know who to trust these days. Satan certainly has not destroyed the Church, but he might come close if we leave. It is our call to remain strong in the Church despite the evils we are subject to in her.
Just remember, though, that like Joan of Arc, we cannot expect to be congratulated or rewarded here on earth. We can hope only that by persevering to the end, we will receive the far more important reward from on high. Joan of Arc stayed true and was burned at the stake by Churchmen of the Church she loved and defended. We must be ready to do the same.
The next time you feel down about the conditions in the Church and ready to throw in the towel, think of Joan of Arc. Particularly remember that she is “not impressed” with your (and my) cowardice. A dove rose from the flames after she was burned and flew toward free France. I am convinced that from there it flew to Heaven. This is the example of Joan of Arc we must follow.
