The Dove and Rose

In this episode, I discuss a significant juncture on my journey with St. Joan and St. Thérèse: The Dance of Reason.

St. Thérèse participated in Joan's mission through prayers, plays, and poetry; let us join them.

This episode closes the season on St. Joan of Arc using Régine Pernoud’s book, Joan of Arc - Her Story. This might seem like a hasty finish to Joan’s tale. We concluded the previous episode with the crowning of King Charles. The ceremony in Rheims reveals Joan of Arc in her earthly glory. She victoriously celebrates the fulfillment of Heaven’s command.

However, we know there is much more to her story. Entire seasons could be devoted to the “second half” of Joan’s quest beyond her home village of Domrémy. But we have not focused primarily on her history in these discussions. The point has been the phenomenology of her appearance on the world stage and how that manifestation relates to our lives today. This last point is precisely what I bring together here.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux participated with St. Joan’s mission centuries after Joan’s death. Thérèse was more than inspired by Joan. Thérèse participated in Joan’s mission. I explain that mystical relationship in this episode and invite the listener to participate also, now in our temporal sphere, with St. Joan and St. Thérèse. Joan’s earthly mission was to fifteenth century France, but her heavenly mission extends through the ages. Together St. Joan and St. Thérèse are the “combined hearts” of the Dove and Rose and the most beautiful color in the Heavens.

Despite the English efforts, Joan bested them once again. 

Joan of Arc defeated the English at Orléans and lifted the siege. She convinced the Dauphin, Charles VII, to march to Reims for his coronation against the advice of his other captains. Joan wins the day and leads Charles through the enemy Burgundian territory to Reims.

Mark Twain refers to this march as a miracle, one he calls the “bloodless march.” Town after town swears allegiance to Charles, and enthusiasm for his crowning grows. People take to the roads to join Joan and her Dauphin!

Not everyone is happy, however. The English sympathizers in Reims are forced to leave with the prospect of Joan’s army arriving soon. They take much of the coronation regalia to discredit Charles’ coronation. However, they leave the most important coronation artifact - the Holy Oil used by every French King from the time of Clovis.

Despite the English efforts, Joan bested them once again. She has the location (Reims), the Holy Oil, and the archbishop for the ceremony.

At Reims, Joan of Arc kneels and hugs the newly crowned King by the legs. She did what God commanded her to do.

St. Joan reveals a fundamental characteristic of her spirituality. “Act and God will act!” Joan shouted to the Duke of Alençon as they prepared for battle at Jargeau. The Duke had been hesitant to take on the reinforced bastille in the Loire Valley. He was hesitant no more.

We witnessed Joan of Arc’s sensational victory at Orléans that broke the back of the English siege. The English withdrew but retreated to other bastilles in the area. Joan has the wind at her back, and devotees are building. Her army - Charles VII’s army - is larger and more inspired than ever. Against the conventional wisdom of her captains, she persuades Charles to march to Reims for his coronation. However, to make that march, the Loire Valley must be cleared out to protect the French rear guard on the way. Charles puts the Duke of Alençon in charge of this operation with Joan of Arc at his side. They began at Jargeau.

In this episode, I stress the fundamental nature of Joan of Arc’s spirituality. It is “Act and God will act.” This saying is remarkably close to her answer at Poitiers when asked why God needs an army to do his will. “The men will fight, and God will bring the victory.” Receiving Joan of Arc as she gives herself to us demands more than inspiring thoughts. Her influence demands action and a change in our day-to-day orientation toward God and the divine order.

Joan of Arc is in Orléans! She is the “appearance of hope appearing” for the city of Orléans. Like the French people in general, the citizens of Orléans have been demoralized beyond repair from a natural standpoint. Joan, though, is bringing hope on a supernatural level. And, she begins her exploits that will prove her claims that her mission is divine. The Bastille of Saint-Loup is taken by her forces, followed by the Augustinian. On May 7, 1429 she takes the most important Bastille of them all, Les Tourelles. This frees Orléans and forces the English to pull out entirely from the city.

Her miraculous victory sends shock waves through Europe. Stories become embellished. The truth is inspiring and wonder-filled as it is, but now even these are growing into mythologies. How do we come to understand the true essence of Joan of Arc? How do we come to know her as she presents herself from herself in our lives? We can begin with a correlation of the freeing of Orléans to our own lives. Perhaps we have been freed from a spiritual siege through St. Joan’s intercession and sisterly care. Can we correlate our map of meaning to hers?

Joan of Arc is the embodiment of a supernatural union between metaphysics and phenomenology.

Joan of Arc is preparing her army for the march to free Orléans from the English siege. She makes her way from Poitiers to Chinon and then to Tours where she is fitted for armor. Joan requests that a sword be retrieved that sits behind the altar at the church of St. Catherine of Fierbois. However, amidst the preparation we have a rare opportunity to understand more of Joan’s map of meaning. We are looking at Joan for her perspective, and she is showing us God’s perspective. Joan has a very Platonic understanding of France, one that points upward to the social Kingship of Christ and not downward to cultural triumphalism. Joan of Arc is a phenomenon. To understand her more deeply and meaningfully, we need a phenomenological perspective. Joan shows herself to be the embodiment of a supernatural union of metaphysics and phenomenology. Each remains uniquely its own, while Joan unifies them in truth, beauty, and goodness through the grace at work in her.

The phenomenological unity of Joan’s character gives us an intuitive sense of truth.

We are in the last stages of Joan’s trial at Poitiers where the Dauphin, Charles VII, hopes to gain assurance about her from his trusted theologians. The closing of the trial and Joan’s triumphant return to Chinon with the blessing of the judges proves remarkable almost beyond compare. In this episode I discuss how it is that Joan of Arc changes the hearts and minds of all the key people involved in her mission. It is a revelation of Hope given through an intuitive sense of truth based on the unity of Joan’s character. The theologians ask for “signs” that they might be convinced. Joan gives no such signs. What she does give them is a phenomenological sense of truth and a revelation of Hope. Joan gives them the phenomenology of her own being which proves to be more persuasive than any material “sign.” A breathtaking contemplation for us!

Joan's story continues to reflect the "appearance of her appearing" in history.

Joan won over the Dauphin, Charles VII. However, she must still be tested by the theologians in Poitiers. In this episode more of Joan of Arc is revealed as history reveals her. We discover yet more mystery. This young seventeen-year-old woman makes a reference to her lasting “one year, hardly more.” What could this mean? Her newly assigned page Louis de Coutes is impressed by her seeming fervent prayers offered in solitude. The ecclesiastical court in Poitiers is equally impressed with Joan’s character and demeanor. “I would really like to have had so fine a daughter,” reflected one member. Most importantly, the historical context of Joan’s life widens a bit more based on her testimony. We learn more about her past, but this is nothing in comparison to the astonishing revelation of what inspired her to begin her project in the first place and venture into danger to see the King.

"Her words put me on fire, inspiring in me a love for her that was, I believe, divine.”

In the previous episode, we learned more about the historical context through which the phenomenon of Joan of Arc appears in history. We still do not know from where she comes originally, nor anything regarding her childhood. However, we do know that she came to Chinon with her troop of six or so soldiers from the loyal outpost of Vaucouleurs in the far northwestern region of now occupied France.

In this episode, for the first time, we learn something about Joan’s essence, that is, about who Joan of Arc really is. One of her most loyal fellow travellers, Jean de Metz, states it as follows:

Every encounter with Joan is like confronting a divine fire. Everywhere she goes and with everyone she meets, Joan overcomes significant skepticism and opposition. She wins them over with this “fire of divine love.” In this episode she begins to win over the dauphin, Charles VII.

St. Joan of Arc is a phenomenon with an astonishing metaphysical vision and mission.

In this episode we are going to witness Catholic metaphysics collide with phenomenology through the person of St. Joan of Arc. Following French historian Régine Pernoud into chapter two of her book, Joan of Arc - Her Story, we stand with the people of Chinon as Joan enters with her troupe. We are curious. Who are they? Who is she? Where did they come from? Why are they here?

We will discover a bit more about St. Joan of Arc such as where she departed to reach Chinon and what the circumstances were surrounding her departure. The listener might be astonished at what we uncover. While Joan still remains a mystery, we nevertheless can sense that transcendent metaphysics and phenomenology are bursting forth through her like the sunlight on the horizon at dawn.

The “appearance of the story appearing” emerges through the mist in that sunlight.

We receive a response to our inquiry about Joan of Arc.

Dunois receives a response to his inquiry about the mysterious maiden crossing France just south of Orléans, the city he is defending during the English siege. The maid is real. The fairytale is true. The legend of France being saved by a maiden from Lorraine manifests in the historical person of Joan of Arc. In order to understand this phenomenon more clearly, Régine Pernoud reveals a little more of the historical context. We are not studying Joan of Arc’s life by obtaining information to derive meaning - we are beginning with the meaning of her life so as to understand the information we want to obtain! Joan is the now the center of our intentionality. She is the reference by which we study the facts around her. We are learning so as to uncover a mystery - the mystery of Joan of Arc.

As Joan emerges from the mist in our hearts, we establish nodes of meaning.

In this episode I help you begin the process of building your “map of meaning” under the inspiring patronage of St. Joan of Arc. We are moving forward in our discussion of the phenomenology of Joan of Arc’s life. However, we have not yet moved from Dunois’ side at the opening of chapter one as he gazes over the Loire river in the direction of a mysterious maiden rumored to be moving across France. Régine Pernoud’s approach to this book is phenomenological, and we see that in real history, Dunois himself received the mystery of Joan of Arc phenomenologically! There is so much packed into the opening paragraphs of chapter one that demands to be explored before moving on. The mystery of Joan of Arc and our inquiry into her will establish the foundation for building a map of meaning to begin interpreting this fairytale-like phenomenon.

Our Lady as the archetype for our phenomenological inquiry into St. Joan of Arc.

In this episode I discuss how to turn our journey on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse into a living, spiritual rosary for Our Lady. The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Annunciation is the archetype of our own phenomenological inquiry. We pursue Joan through the meadows, over the creeks, across the rivers, and beyond the snow-capped mountains as our guide leading us to Our Lord’s Kingdom in the distance. The Blessed Virgin is our model, and our journey with Thérèse in pursuit of Joan becomes a living spiritual rosary in the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the mystery unfolds.

Understanding St. Joan and St. Thérèse's "states-of-affairs."

In episode 2 I walk you through a more structured approach to our phenomenological journey with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse of Lisieux on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed. Importantly I introduce you to a concept in St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’ (Edith Stein’s) book Finite and Eternal Being. You will learn about describing St. Joan and St. Thérèse’s “states-of-affairs” as meaningful phenomena in your life. Typically we study them as “objects” with historical dates, characteristics, achievements, writings, and such. However, we want to begin describing them as we receive them phenomenologically. I’ll walk you through how to get started!

St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse join us now on the journey!

Welcome to a new season! Why season four and what is it about?

Up to this point my discussions have been quite conceptual, and there is a reason for that. However, I sense that the time is right to begin making this phenomenological journey on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan and St. Thérèse more concrete. I want to ask them to join us now. Rather than speaking about them and their influence on us, why not speak more with them? In this episode, I am introducing stories from their lives that you can contemplate to begin your own “descriptive phenomenology.” Season four will build on this modality of expression.

Receiving St. Joan through the heart and mind of St. Thérèse.

In this episode we escape from the Dark Forest of despair and suffering through the devotion and prayers of my family and the help of the saints. Encouraged by my wife to attend a six day silent retreat in the Poconos, I found myself before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary where I was healed - mind, body, and soul. A couple of years later, I came across the following poem written by St. Thérèse in honor of St. Joan:

That was the moment I received the “unreflective certainty” regarding the role St. Joan was to play in my life. St. Thérèse’s Kingdom was before me as a mystery, partially hidden. My journey was toward that Kingdom. St. Joan was to be my guide.

When my way of understanding the world interfaced with St. Thérèse's - her way endured while mine collapsed.

We are in the Dark Forest. We entered through a disconnect between our worldly reasoning and that of St. Thérèse. Through the “Thérèsian affect” we understood without knowing. We turned our being toward her. We empathized. However, we did not know what constituted this “understanding,” “meaning,”and “being-toward.”

Now we are deeper in the Dark Forest, experiencing immense spiritual, emotional, and physical suffering as the result. The “unreflective certainty” at the moment of conversion endures, while in our old mindset - we collapse. The Dark Forest is scary, and we encounter this “enduring meaning” by directly facing our own temporal death.

There is a way out. It will require help from friends. We need to leave the Dark Forest reconstituted in order to join St. Joan of Arc on her mission to the Kingdom. Next episode!

What St. Thérèse is saying is true - I just don't know what she is saying.

We are entering the Dark Forest! In this episode we take our first steps after my conversion to the Catholic Church on the Feast Day of St. Thérèse in the year 1984. I came to understand that what Thérèse was saying was true - I just did not know what it was that she was saying!

I call this phenomenological experience the “Thérèsian affect.”

Reflecting on the past, particularly through journaling, is a way to remove the cover, the hiddenness, from our inauthentic being in the world and reveal our true authentic selves. I am walking the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with you by reflecting on my past as it phenomenologically appears to me. I invite you to do the same. Step out of the mindless, day-today and enter into a reflection.

Thérèse established a new mindset in me. I had been given new life in the Church - the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary - through the “Thérèsian affect.” However, my intellect and sense of meaning and being in the world was still framed in the old inauthenticity of mindless everydayness. I suffered immensely for many years.

The Virgin Mary, my conversion, and reading St. Thérèse. 

This episode takes us back to the beginning of the phenomenological journey on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan and St. Thérèse! In the last episode, I introduced you to the moment in the year 2008 when I was inspired through contemplation to respond to Our Lady’s insistence that “if I had something I felt I needed to say, I should probably start saying it.” However, to understand that moment we must now turn to the very beginning in the year 1984. This was the year of my conversion to the Catholic Church and my introduction to St. Thérèse.

I understood St. Thérèse before I came to know St. Thérèse. I understood her message before I came to know what it was. The principle that understanding is the foundation for the phenomenological knowing of my world, both temporal and spiritual, became my new constitution of being through the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Thérèse. I understood that all along, but it took me decades to know it.

Next episode - we enter the Dark Forest! Be prepared!

Let's walk together with St. Joan and St. Thérèse on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed to the kingdom in the distance.

We are moving more deeply into the phenomenological journey with St. Joan and St. Thérèse on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed to the mystical Kingdom in the distance. In season three I would like to go back to the beginning and have you join me as we journey across the meadows and rivers following St. Joan and St. Thérèse. The goal of this season is to see if together we can draw out some universal principles that would unite us as one family while each has our own journey and perspective. We are trying to bring the Father’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in Heaven.” We are beginning our personal fairy tales - tales that tell truth! I hope you will join me, and the rest of us, on the adventure.

The emerging universals on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan and St. Thérèse.

Thus far I have given you a descriptive phenomenology of the journey on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. We have arrived at “mystical France” on the shores of Provence with St. Mary Magdalene. My hope is that this journey has given you inspiration to contemplate the meaning this might have in your life. My belief is that in this descriptive, hermeneutical process there is a set of universal principles - those that can be distilled from my perspective. One such principle is that of the Divine Order. We can use the metaphor of standing on a hilltop overlooking a magnificent panorama we have never before seen. Everything is in order, and the gestalt image is transcendent. The journey to mystical France is a search for those universal principles leading to that gestalt image.

Metaphysics and phenomenology with St. Joan of Arc and St. Mary Magdalene.

We begin this episode with St. Mary Magdalene on the shores of Provence. How did we get here? And why did St. Joan of Arc lead us here? I discuss the meaning of the “divine glance” (St. Thérèse) or “unreflective certainty” (St. Edith Stein) in my experiential encounter with St. Joan of Arc in 2008. Importantly, we integrate into the model two important philosophical elements - metaphysics and phenomenology. We come to understand the meaning of “France” and Mary Magdalene’s spiritual role in living the Our Father. “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

A short chronology of the philosophical development of the Royaume France Model.

In this episode I discuss the chronology of my philosophical development as I journeyed from the heart of St. Joan of Arc to St. Mary Magdalene on the shores of Provence. Mary Magdalene emerged as the embodied “gestalt” of the Royaume France model which is absorbed into the Platonic (and Aristotelian) metaphysics of the Church. Follow along as I briefly walk you through that development from a single phenomenon to its emerging meaning.

From empathic devotion to St. Joan of Arc to St. Mary Magdalene's mystical France.

In this episode I discuss the next major phase in my phenomenology of the French Royal Heart of St. Joan of Arc - the substructure of St. Mary Magdalene’s mystical France. My noematic field of meaning was shifting through my empathic devotion to St. Joan of Arc. I knew something real, something with substance, was underneath it all. One day the image of “France” imposed itself on my heart and in my intellect. Not long after I began to learn about the tradition of St. Mary Magdalene in France. Through categorical intuitions mystical France began to emerge in my model.

Connecting the phenomenon of St. Joan of Arc to its mystical meaning.

In this episode I expand on what I mean by “walking the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed” with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse. From the previous episode, we now understand the characteristics of clarity of mind, agility of thought, and purity of heart. Pushing onward we seek to know St. Joan and St. Thérèse “as they know each other in Heaven” by imbuing ourselves in their life stories. As we do, self-evident truths become apparent; we now can compare our horizon of meaning with what we perceive is St. Joan of Arc’s horizon. Using the influence of St. Edith Stein’s phenomenology, we build a bridge of understanding between the natural phenomenon of St. Joan and its mystical meaning.

Led by St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse through clarity of mind, agility of thought, and pureness of heart.

In this episode I move forward on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse by describing the “how” of the journey. As though my celestial sisters were leading me toward a Kingdom, I contemplated how it was that this was happening. Emerging in the guiding light of St. Edith Stein’s philosophy and her reconciliation of medieval Thomism with phenomenology were three characteristics - clarity of mind, agility of thought, and pureness of heart. These formed the foundation of the method working in me.

How Edith Stein opened the path for my phenomenological journey with St. Joan and St. Thérèse.

Welcome to season two! In this episode I introduce you to the influence of Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, in the development of the phenomenology of the combined hearts of St. Joan and St. Thérèse. Season two will discuss the “divine glance” of St. Joan of Arc introduced in season one through the methodology known as phenomenology in the framework of Edith Stein’s work in the field. This is our journey with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse!

Angst turns to enchantment, anxiety to awe. In this episode I take you through the resulting transformation resulting from our phenomenological journey with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed. As we cross the meadows, rivers, and snow-capped mountains with our saintly sisters, our existential angst turns to enchantment and our anxiety to awe. We come to understand that we are in a story! The Kingdom is in the distance. Our journey in “story” to the Kingdom is a transformative experience.

In this episode I explain the discipline and process of the journey with St. Joan. It begins with the three questions mentioned in previous podcasts:

What does it mean that something is meaningful? (Ontological)

What does the meaning we have received mean? (Phenomenological)

What is the meaning of the meaning? (Teleological)

Answering these questions requires a process and discipline to bring what is “undisclosed” into the “clearing” where perceive the final form of the gestalt. Our journey with St. Joan of Arc to the Kingdom in the distance - the gestalt - is about purposeful progress! We traverse pleasant meadows yet also climb rugged snowcapped mountains. To travel the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed with St. Joan, we need a method.

In this episode I give the listener some much needed context around why I am presenting these podcasts on my journey with St. Joan of Arc. You will hear a quick overview of my story with an emphasis on the difference between two life-altering experiences - my conversion to the Church and my experience many years later with St. Joan through the hermeneutics of St. Thérèse’s poetry and plays. In both cases I had a confrontation with Truth. The first resulted in an affirmation of the Faith. The second resulted in the journey I am describing. I hope it inspires you and gives you some helpful insights.

What we receive intuitively is “meaning”; however, the substance of this meaning is not self-evident. This episode moves into the deeper realms of our spiritual journey to the Kingdom with St. Joan of Arc and St. Thérèse of Lisieux on the Trail of the Dogmatic Creed. This juncture along the Trail begs contemplation of three important questions. Our point of departure was the “divine glance.”

The first movement is that of grace through Divine Providence. In the language of Edith Stein, we refer to this as the “divine glance,” or an “unreflective certainty.” The Holy Spirit through the Immaculate Heart of Mary enlightens our consciousness in an instant. What we receive intuitively is “meaning”; however, the substance of this meaning is not self-evident. We recognize it only as “meaning.”

The divine glance, experienced as receiving “meaning without understanding,” can be likened to the Cloud of Unknowing; though, it is not clear to us that the two are different descriptions of the same phenomenon. Nevertheless, the Divine Glance presents three challenges we must address to advance a metaphysics of subjective devotion that is compatible with objective Aristotelian scholasticism in the Thomist tradition. These are: what does it mean that something is meaningful? What does the meaning we have received mean, i.e., what is it? What is the meaning of the meaning, i.e., why did we receive this meaning? The first is ontological in nature, the second is phenomenological, and the third is teleological.

To be continued in future podcasts!

How does Joan see the world and how does her view differ from our own? After our descriptive journaling on the life of St Joan of Arc, we notice that a “horizon of meaning” is emerging from our contemplative reflections and spiritual reading. What do we do next? In this episode I discuss how using the phenomenology of Edith Stein along with her work on empathy, we can begin to sense what Joan’s own horizon of meaning might look like and how that might differ from our own. Visit my Substack at https://www.doveandrose.com