St. Joan d'Arc was beatified by Pope Pius X before a crowed of 30,000 in St. Peter's Square.
She was a Welsh nun of the early Church, having died in about the year 460.
She is the patron saint of lovers, having lived as a hermit on Ynys Llanddwyn off the west coast of Anglesey, where she built a church. Becoming a hermit was common amongst the extremely devout of the early Church, although it's more common associated with North Africa. She apparently had been very sought after by a young suitor whom she could not marry, and in her isolation prayed that God look after all true lovers.
Her day is widely celebrated in Wales. off the west coast of Anglesey, where she built a church. Becoming a hermit was common amongst the extremely devout of the early Church, although it's more common associated with North Africa. She apparently had been very sought after by a young suitor whom she could not marry, and in her isolation prayed that God look after all true lovers.
Her day is widely celebrated in Wales.
Franz Jägerstätter, 36, Austrian farmer and conscientious objector, was executed by the Germans.
Born into poverty and illegitimacy, he was the son of a farmer and chambermaid who could not afford to marry. He was initially raised by his grandmother, the pious Elisabeth Huber. His father was killed in World War One and his mother latter married Heinrich Jägerstätter, who adopted him and who gave him his farm upon his marriage.
Irreligious in his youth, he underwent a sudden religious conversion after fathering an illegitimate child and spending a period of time in community exile, during which he worked for several years in iron mines. Upon returning he became profoundly religions and in turn married a deeply religious spouse. Upon the German invasion of Austria he openly opposed the Nazis and while he did serve in the German Army in 1940 he refused to take the Hitler oath. Called back into service in 1943 he refused combat duty, although he did offer to serve as a medic, which was ignored. He was ultimately died and executed on this day.
He was beatified in 2007.
The US signed a military assistance treaty with Ethiopia.
