© 1994 Br. Robert Lentz, OFM
Kittredge Cherry writes an excellent blog and ran the following piece which came from Trinity Stores and it's amazing icon painter Robert Lentz. Check out some of his other creative and inspiring images on the store's web site:
Joan of Arc was a cross-dressing teenage warrior who led the medieval French army to victory when she was 17. She is a queer icon, girl-power hero and patron saint of France. Her feast day is today (May 30).
Smart and courageous, Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431) had visions of saints and angels who told her to cut her hair, put on men’s clothes and go to war. At age 18 she helped crown a king and at 19 she was killed by the church that later made her a saint. She died for her God-given right to wear men’s clothing, the crime for which she was executed 580 years ago today.
Today’s LGBT people recognize a kindred spirit in her stubborn defiance of gender rules. LGBT writers tend to downplay Joan’s Christian faith, while the church covers up the importance of her cross-dressing. In truth, Joan believed strongly in God AND in cross-dressing. She insisted that God wanted her to wear men’s clothes, making her what today is called “queer” or “transgender.” Cross-dressing was illegal, but what really upset the church authorities, then as now, was the audacity of someone being both proudly queer AND devoutly Christian. Her belief that God was the source of her gender-bending queerness makes her an especially inspiring role model for LGBT Christians.
1 comments:
Thanks for a beautiful presentation of my post about Joan of Arc. She is a real inspiration as a saint who is both queer AND Christian. The words of her traditional prayer have fresh meaning in a LGBT context: “As I pray that I may be as bold in my beliefs as you, St. Joan. I ask that you ride alongside me in my own battles.” God bless you!
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