THE MAID OF ORLEANS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 5, 4 February 1904, Page 3

THE MAID OF ORLEANS

THE STEPS TOWARDS BEATIFICATION

Some time ago we • dynamited a cable-demon's fiction to the effect that the process of beatification of Joan of Arc, the wondrous Maid of Orleans, had come to an untimely end and been completely abandoned owing to the discoveiy, by the Vatican authorities, that she was no maid ' The story was a falsehood of the whale cloth, and as cowaidly a calumny uu the memory; of a great and good woman as was ever sent to our shores. A recent cable-message announced that her beatification had been fixed for January 6, and from another source we learned that it is to take place on the occasion of the Pope's next visit to St. Pater's. The story of the various steps towards her beatification up to November 28 is told in an interesting way by a Rome correspondent in the columns of an American contemporary. He writes as follows :—: — The Congregation of Rites, in the presence of the Pope, has given its decision on the moral heroism of Joan of Arc , this is the last stage but one in the process of beatification. There remains, before she can be crowned, the proof of the miracles performed so that the beatification cannot be pronounced till some months have elapsed. I should not dream of lifting a corner of the veil that conceals the canonical drama, but to relate to mankind, which is properly curious, what properly belongs to the public domain will seem neither indelicate nor presumptuous. It was Monsignor Dupanloup who, at a critical moment, made a boJd proposal to the Holy See The people of France, who first acclaimed the Maid of Orleans' mission, had also placed on her head the mystic halo It raised altars to her, established festivals to glorify her magnanimity and to exalt her. Such a general instinct precedes in the Church the liturgical codification Does not everything in Joan of Arc show her moral pre-eminence, that infallible mark of saintship , the Maid's gentleness, her generalship without a mistake, her heroic valor, her keen and subtle diplomacy, her mildness joined to force, and her humble attitude when giving imperatne commands 9 The Peasant Girl of Domremy wore this man pilous crown with the quiet ease that makes her a unique being, the splendor ol j whose life startles us The historian finds in her, in an incomparable degree, the merits of both sexes She did and acted before she knew, or rather she knew without having learned In e\erything she still looked to that to which none else looked It was impossible to combine in the same person more grace, more reason, more virtue ; her life was a permanent miracle , she was outside the limits of humanity. ' From time to time,' says La Brugere, ' there appear on the suiflace of the earth rare, exquisite men, who shine by their virtues and whoso eminent qualities shed a prodigious light. Like those extraordinary meteors whose cause is unknown, and of whose fate after they have disappeared we knoweven less, they have neither ancestors nor descendants , they themselves comprise their whole race.' From what a height the maid looks down on these souls will be shown biy the documents in the case. Rome, it must be admitted, received the advocate of Joan of Arc with the 1 silent dread that cautious old men feel when they see a bold gesture. Monsignor Dupanloup, with his enterprising manner, disturbed their caution What a perspective of troubles and worries opened before them Nationalism with its passions, French ardor, England, rival jealousies, the apotheosis of war, many shadows in the picture apart from Joan's ' weaknesses,' all this brought up a vision of endless procedure Monsignor Dupanloup, in his stirring way, rushed through this terror like a whirlwind, bearing down resistance in his path. Joan of Arc's Case was Begun. There was at Orleans an antiquarian of the old school, innocent as a child and learned as the Benedictines. On his deathbed, two years ago, Abbe Desnoyers asked Monsignor Touchet the question : 'Do you believe that I have been a scholar more than a priest ? ' His candor was inspired by the glory of the heroine. But Rome, anxious for the maintenance of her canons, insisted that the Iriquisition should be begun all over again It was France's good fortune that at the Vatican there was somebody who could read the souls of men and nations. Cardinal Parocchi, who had charge of the investigation, had the gift of imagination and the charm ol eloquence. In the winter of 1893, at the first plenary meeting when Joan of Arc was proclaimed Venerable, his plea roused such applause that the Cardinals, in their excitement, thought of proclaiming the beatifica-

tiob at once by acclamation. Cardinal Longenieux objected. It is his merit, and will ever be his honor, that he chilled the enthusiasm ; for the suit, as it proceeds will throw light on every page of the epic" and wipe out the disturbing shadows from the picture full of wonder. Despite Leo XIlFs good will, ten years went by. Rome supplied itself with all the testimony. In the front row we have Monsignor Touchet, the conqueror He told the Pope what he believed. Fond of great ideas and of pageants, Leo XIII. allowed himself to be carried; away by the magic of the prelate's firm conviction ' And your mind is made up? You know that Joan is blessed ? ' < Most Holy Father, I wished to be sure I have studied, I believe it.' When Monsignor louchet yields to the charm of the Maid he grows excited, his eyes gleam, his face lightens up •itis a transfiguration springing from the most beautiful enthusiasm, that of the heart. One evening he told The Mysteries of Her Life to some intimate friends ; everyone was in tears At Orleans 122 meetings were devoted to the preparation of the brief. Learned men, historians, documents, )the archi\es of the past, the facts of the present, none of these does the Bishop allow to escape his vigilance The statement of M. Kurth seemed most decisive The celebrated professor of the Liege University, a historian and critic, declared : ' I do not know history nobody does, but I have grown gray studying! documents. Oii my soul and conscience I proclaim that since the Blessed \irgin no soul has shone with such brilliance; she is the gentlest and purest example of the human race ' There were still doubts. To do away with these) Leo XIII , by his personal authority, gave Monsignor Touchet the assistance of the first furist in Rome Monsignor Ahbrandi. At the same time, at Cardinal Parocchi's death, Monsignor Touchet confided the direction of the case to Cardinal Ferrata. Four times did the Bishop of Orleans try in vain to talk the matter o\er with the former Nuncio to Paris ; it was only after he had thoroughly studied the matter that the Cardinal shed light on the case with the Italian clearness, that diplomatic shrewdness, and that conviction 1 that make him a man ot action lie managed to touch up the lights and to disipatc the shadows. Consequently a t the second meeting, last year, All the Cardinals of the Congregation voted that the case should be intioduced , out of twenty-one consulters only five hesitated and preferred ' suspension.' Yet those two victories did not decide the question. Strong prejudice appeared against the full rehabilitation of the Maid. What would England say 7 What would the, world think," K-alous of this moral supremacy and light ' ? Monsignor Touchet refused no task. In the name of the Church and of Great Britain Cardinal Vaughan exalted the French Jephtha and put a stop to the echoes of the Roman court When, at the Bishop's invitation, Monsignor Ireland from New Orleans pulpit made universal the veneration of Joan and her glory, even Germany smiled at the profaning sentimentality of Schiller, and the Russian; General Dragjomicoft took the pains, in an exact essay, perhaps the most comprehensive of all, to throw light for France on the epic of her heroine and the popular cm rents of the time. An Austrain once said to me: ' The Maid of Domremy Belongs to Heaven and to humanity. We do not fear the glorification of the soul of Fiance in its transcendental and enlightened side The horizon of life will be broadened by her canonization ' Rome feared the cloud of glory rising from Joan's exploits which might darken the peace and fraternity of the Gospel. Should the noise of the camps, the array of battle, tho shedding of blood be exalted "> No ! If the Maid of Orleans rushed into the shock of arms it was because the equilibrium of Europe demanded it imperatively God wished to preserve France as an essential organ of civilisation. The delicate point is the apparent retraction at Rouen Here, if lam not mistaken, will be found the new light shed on the case by the investigation. This has be<'n most thorough and will give light with no shadows Monsignor Touchet will write the final book on the heroine, and this, apart from any supernatural apotheosis, will be the real benefit conferred by the long consultation The history of France will be the greater oigan of civilization