The Philosophical Foundations of Le Royaume
The Detailed Model
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Building on our General Model, let us explore the entire model step-by-step. We will develop each part in its appropriate order. Let us begin with the Christianized Platonism behind the devotion to St. Joan of Arc and Le Royaume as represented by St. Mary Magdalene.
The spirituality of devotion to St. Joan of Arc and Le Royaume
The first aspect we want to review is the gestalt of St. Mary Magdalene standing on the shores of what is now southern France. Mary Magdalene is a type for us of the Christianized Platonic worldview. Her life in Provence brought the House of New Bethany royal line to France and established it there. In this narrative, Christ bequeathed France to Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. The House of New Bethany, which was to establish and steward France as the "Eldest Daughter of the Church" for Jesus Christ, was sanctified through the "divine touch" on her forehead at the resurrection. This divine touch is the precursor to the "divine glance" we received in the ages that followed. Mary Magdalene is the bridge for us between the Platonic orientation and Jesus Christ. Her life as a contemplative hermit for thirty years in Provence was an inspiring exercise in ultra-realism.
With the above in mind, let us explore the spirituality. We follow the general definition of spirituality from Edith Stein. In Potency and Act, she summarizes spirituality as similar to seeing a mountain come into view on the horizon. Our first response is to intuitively understand that "something is over there." When we then ask, "what is it?" and begin the journey of discovery, we are engaged in "spirituality." Our devotion to St. Joan starts just this way, with a "divine glance" in the spirit of St. Mary Magdalene's "divine touch," followed by the desire to know "what is it?" and then to seek it. We are now on a "spiritual journey" with St. Joan of Arc. She is no longer simply a historical figure or a picture of a saint on a holy card. We are moving forward in spirituality, and as she guides us, we are in spirituality with her. We call this a union of hearts.
The Theology of devotion to St. Joan of Arc and Le Royaume
We now add the theological component to our spiritual journey with St. Joan. Edith Stein informs us that theology does more than instruct us; it frees us. Here is the important "going forward" for us. We are grounded in the truths of our faith through Thomist Scholasticism, yet, we move forward dynamically in freedom through Dionysian symbolism. This movement outward into freedom, using Thomism as our guard rails, prepares us for the phenomenological symbolism Joan leads us through to better understand God. Thus, in our devotion to St. Joan, theology is instructive and freeing. Most importantly, it leads us to God.
The Phenomenology of devotion to St. Joan of Arc and Le Royaume
As we continue to develop the fullness of the model, Edith Stein is our "Philosophical Mentor." Cascading downward, "so as to draw back upward" from the theological, we follow our intuition under Joan's direction through a phenomenological understanding of the movements of grace in our soul and the development of the Dionysian symbolism described above. Joan is leading us as we "seek first the kingdom" that we might bring it "on earth as it is in Heaven." In our family of spirituality, this means the kingdom of Our Lord in the center of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In this phenomenology, we are "bested" by St. Joan's point of view and passively follow her in searching for this kingdom's ratio or logos. We grasp her grounds and reach her conclusions through intuition, ideation, and generalization under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the grace working through St. Joan.
The Ontology of devotion to St. Joan of Arc and Le Royaume
Finally, we understand the objective ratio, the living logos that is the Truth behind this journey. It is the objective reality behind the symbolism. As Edith Stein again informs us, we know everything objective must show itself as it is. It must be accessed appropriately, and we have done just that with Edith Stein's phenomenology and reconciliation with Thomas Scholasticism.
We are now "filled up" and flowing over, having found the form in the center of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to which we are called by Jesus Christ to follow His will, and we are doing all that is possible with the aid of grace to be who we are called to be in the House of New Bethany, the spiritual heritage of St. Mary Magdalene.
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.Check out the Heroic Hearts podcast on Substack, Spotify, or Apple. Heroic Hearts is a podcast about healing, enchanting, and elevating our hearts through the stories and spirituality of St. Joan of Arc and St. Therese of Lisieux. Co-hosted with Amy Chase.
