The Church’s enemies delight in finding examples of error in the lives of saints, yet the Church has never maintained that saints led perfect lives. Rather, it maintains they led lives of heroic virtue, struggling against our common fallen nature—a nature that manifests in concupiscence and a darkened intellect. It is their struggles with their own limitations that make the saints accessible—and inspiring—to all of us.
Sometimes, however, someone attempting to misrepresent the Church or the saints using a supposed scandal just gets it wrong. One of the most common examples of this involves St. Joan of Arc. Take this professor at the University of Utah who argues that Joan of Arc’s clothing and role as a soldier are proof that “Transgender people have served honorably and bravely in militaries for as long as there have been militaries.” This argument could easily be dismissed since one such case in two thousand years is hardly sufficient evidence, but we also find no evidence in St. Joan’s motives suggesting she sought to break the “glass ceiling” or the “gender barrier” either.
A little homework goes a long way. There may be no medieval figure about whose life we know so much and with such certainty. Why? Because the details of St. Joan’s life were given under oath and corroborated by hundreds of witnesses—and not once, but twice. What’s more, Joan, who testified at her own trial, left a very clear picture of how she understood herself and her divine mission.
With respect to her femininity, we know she was enthusiastic about the art of making a home. “In sewing and spinning I fear no woman,” she declared at her trial. Once the dauphin had been crowned, she sought to return to her simple life in Domremy. Additionally, soldiers who served with her testified to her purity and modesty, and the inspiring effect it had on them. Upon joining the French Army, one of her first acts was to chase the prostitutes from the camp with her sword. She also made explicit her desire to consecrate her virginity.
Are these the characteristics we associate with today’s advocates for sexual disorder?
Concerning the wearing of men’s clothing, we know she adopted the practice beginning with her journey from Domremy to meet the Dauphin at Chinon. Why? As a practical matter of disguise. Given the demands of battlefield life, she continued the practice throughout her Loire Valley campaign and during her imprisonment to protect herself from rape by guards. On the very matter, G.K. Chesterton wrote, “It was exactly the sort of person, like Joan of Arc, who did know why women wore skirts, who was most justified in not wearing one.”
If Joan were the progressive pioneer some paint her as, we’d see some account of this in her trial documents. We don’t. Instead, all we find is a simple farm girl who does what she does because she’s following divine voices—voices that tell her she is to liberate the French people from English tyranny.
St. Joan of Arc, pray for us!