This laminated holy card from Italy portrays St. Joan of Arc receiving communion on the front and a prayer on the back.
Prayer to St. Joan of Arc
Feast Day May 30
Patroness of Service Women
Most extraordinary soldier, you insistently proclaim "Let God be served first!" You began by writing many victories and received the plaudits of princes, but then you were given to the enemy and cruelly put to death. Instill in us the desire to serve God first and perform our earthly tasks with that idea ever in our minds.
Patron Of:
France, Imprisoned, Martyrs, Prisoners, Rape Victims, Soldiers
Profile One of five children born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romee. Shepherdess. Mystic. From age 13 she received visions from Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Michael the Archangel.
In the early 15th century, England, in alliance with Burgundy, controlled most of what is modern France. In May 1428 Joan's visions told her to find the true king of France and help him reclaim his throne. She resisted for more than three years, but finally went to Charles VII in Chinon and told him of her visions. Carrying a banner that read "Jesus, Mary", she led troops from one battle to another. She was severely wounded, but her victories from 23 February 1429 to 23 May 1430 brought Charles VII to the throne. Captured by the Burgundians during the defence of Compiegne, she was sold to the English for 10 thousand francs. She was put on trial by an ecclesiastical court conducted by Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, a supporter of England, and was excuted as a heretic. In 1456 her case was re-tried, and Joan was acquitted (23 years too late).
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." - Saint Joan of Arc, as recorded at her trial
Born 6 January 1412 at Greux-Domremy, Lorraine, France