Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, APR. 20. 1909 A NEW SAINT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11839, 20 April 1909, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, APR. 20. 1909 A NEW SAINT.

There are few amongst us who have not been held enthralled by the romantic story of the Maid of Orleans, which has *bee'ri presented in our fclnldhood's story books, iri Vumerous histories, by I thrilling drama, aiid in later days by I the puppet representation of the ,kineImatograph' To thosO who have sighed 'over the sorrowful fate of this sweet girl with her gredt nobility and forceful[ness of character there must come a | sense of satisfaction that at last due honor is to be paid to her memory and she is to be elevated into the dignity of a saint. For. that is. wh^t we presume !the Ceremoriy briefly reported to-day in a cablegram^ from Rome must mean. Whilst the service held in St. Peter's was simply for the purpose qf beatification and is not in all cafes fallowed by further elevation, still beatification is a necessary preliminary to canonisation, and it isi to be expected that the Church lyvving gone so far will offer complete reparation to the memory of the girl hero. ' 'Tlie irfcident 'serves, tx> remind us of the advance iri civilisation tod of the changes that occur in standards of judgment and public ' opinion as the years go by. It shows also that true perspective of any public •ck.^ctbr can riot always be obtained by hs or her contemporaries. It is now Jiv.o hundred years since Joan of Arc was publicly burned alive as a" witch,, with, tlie approval, and indeed ot the instigation

of l-cprc.sentatives of the Ghur6h that now discovers her to be not a witc'i hut a. saint. The act of beatification places the Church in sharp opposition to the opinion of M. Anatole France* who is the most recent biographer o. the maid. M'. France's argument wasj simple and is. reducible to a syllogism— j Anyone claiming superhuman powersj says he, is an impostor ; Joan of Arq' claimed superhiman powers; therefore Joan of Arc was an impostor. It sounds very convincing until we question the major premise, but perhaps neither tlie; Church nor M. France will suffer greatly from this unfortunate conflict of view. For beatification is impossible without supei "human ■■ powers. There are three ■essentials required by the Church, and it was therefore necessary to prove in the case of Joan of Arc that she had never been publicly worshipped, that' she ■.■had' practicrid the cardinal virtue.-} upon an heroic scale, and that miracles had been wrought by her intercession. | These claims are never -lightly admit-* 1 bad. They must be first advanced by a Cardinal, they are formally opposed by lan official appointed" for the purpose, and who ia thus called! the Devil's Advocate, they must he approved by the Congregation of , RittSs, and tinally sanctioned by the Pope. It is -not. easy to see why there should have been sq muchl delay in this instance, seeing that twentyrfour hours after the death of Jdan she was declared' by Pope Calixtiiif 111. to be "a martyr for her Religion, her king,, and her country," but as she had already been burned alive perhaps ithere was no particular huriy for her beatification. It is strange, remarks ii recent writer, that the Maid of Urleans (should find her chief detractors ii} France and her chief defenders, in Eng; [land and America. Mr Andrew Lang [was quick to cross swords Y with M| Anatole France andl to point out his de-' focts as a biographer of such a char-* acter, while in America Mark 'Twain ha^ championed the cause of the Maid "witli a delightful vigor arid enthusiasm. Volf taire, on the/other hand, directed the whole force of his impish wit against her refutation, ' not, we may believe from conviction, but lather from a nat ■■" ural contempt for' chastity • aiid- virtue "The world; at largb'," coinments thi. writer we( have quoted, "will look witl interest .upon the proceedings at "Rome which will- dto no more Hhan confirm^ it; i o\*n jud^rienV The , average student o; history- might *be a. little puzzled if ' h( had to give ri precise definition of^ j saint, but he would have no hesitatior in .saying that Joan of ; Arc was one The only regrettable feature of the .cere nionialsv ij? that they coriio about . five hundred years too late." ' . .-,