The Philosophical Foundations of Le Royaume
Phase 2 – The March of Hope with Joan of Arc
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The second phase is a deep relationship and union of hearts with St. Joan of Arc by divine will and through the heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. This union of hearts means that we seek to understand as Joan understood and to reinterpret our understanding of the world through her lens and how God’s grace worked in her.
“Theology addresses a select group, and for its adherents—that is, for those who have already experienced a certain enlightenment and hence are striving for holiness—it would do more than instruct them in the content of faith. By unveiling a suprasensible world for them through its images, it would teach them to free {99} themselves more and more from the sensible world and in the end it will bring them to the point where they no longer need sensible images at all.”
Stein, Edith. Knowledge and Faith (The Collected Works of Edith Stein, vol. 8) . ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.
The second phase elevates the soul after the “divine glance” to a suprasensible world of truth, beauty, and goodness. This transformation comes through the friendship, patronage, and sisterly care of St. Joan of Arc, which aims to free oneself more and more from the sensible world to unite our hearts more perfectly with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. With St. Thérèse at her side, St. Joan leads us by the heart to the center of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, where Jesus is crowned in all his glory.
Across the cresting hills this dawn Across the cresting hills this dawn Finds dreamy landscapes veiled by mist Our Lady points through fields beyond Amidst their haze a shadow sits As sunlight breaks the shades turn true The figure, clear, on horseback, too Our Lady smiles, it’s Joan of Arc! A saint to guide me to her heart In Mary’s heart, Christ’s Kingdom’s found The Maid knows well the pathway stark By fire in glory she was crowned That Kingdom loves God’s Joan of Arc! This saintly Maid inspires my soul! I follow Joan through fire or cold Toward Christ’s Kingdom in Mary’s heart Toward Christ’s Kingdom in Mary’s heart ~ From my book, Little Flowers and Fiery Towers: Poems and poetic prose in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Joan of Arc.
For those now enlightened to the truths of the Catholic faith, who recognize in the Church the mystical body and bride of Jesus Christ, and whose hearts are aflame with desire for the kingdom of God, a new landscape opens before us as Joan of Arc shows us a new world view, that is, God’s view. Rather than beginning with the course and crude material world, we look to Heaven to understand the truth of our being. We interpret the world through the lens of Heaven, the viewpoint of God, rather than through our earthly perspective using a telescope or microscope. Our material search for understanding becomes a journey toward the heavenly kingdom in the distance rather than a tiresome hike through the Dark Forest of natural reasoning alone.
My heart was leaping!
A lesson in Hope!
That God’s first words convey the wisdom
Of purpose and unity both!
Hushing noisy philosophers aside
With Joan of Arc as my guide
I watched the beauty unfold
I let God explain his point of view
I have always wished
That beauty had meaning
I had always missed the point
Of the creation story
Joan of Arc!
With my saintly sister Thérèse
Had brought me to my first juncture in Hope
The meaning of creation – my world view is changing!
~ From my book, Seek First the Kingdom: The March of Hope.
The second phase is a deep relationship and union of hearts with St. Joan of Arc by divine will and through the heart of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. This union of hearts means that we seek to understand as Joan understood and to reinterpret our understanding of the world through her lens and how God’s grace worked in her. She becomes our “lesson in Hope,” where we first desire God’s kingdom and then see the world as a pathway to that kingdom. The kingdom is truth, and what leads us in the material world to that kingdom is true. Joan of Arc is our guide when we turn over the lens of our spiritual eye and see reality through her eyes. Joan is Our Lord and Our Lady’s vessel of grace whose waters overflow in the celestial hierarchy to our thirsty souls below.
“Coming out of the Dark Forest of sin, rebellion, and chaos through the hands of Mary, I saw the shadow of yet another great saint in the rising mist that represents my ever-brighter view of the landscape that is the Kingdom of God, another saint chosen from all eternity to assist me on my journey in cooperation with Jesus, Mary and Thérèse. St. Joan of Arc cooperated with God and Mary to break the chains that drove me to insanity and almost to the point of death. Joan of Arc is an instrument in the hands of Jesus and Mary to help me fly like the wind into the center of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to complete Jesus’ project of True Devotion to Mary in me.”
~ Ibid.