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CNS PHOTO | CHARLES PLATIAU, REUTERS
France is marking the 600th anniversary of the birth of St. Joan of Arc.
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January 23, 2012
French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised his country's patron, St. Joan of Arc, for helping "forge the national conscience.
For the Church, Joan is a saint.
For the republic, she's the incarnation of the finest French virtues, including a patriotism that consists of loving one's homeland without resenting others," the president said Jan. 6 after attending Mass at Domremy to mark the 600th anniversary of her birth.
Celebrations throughout the year will include Masses, conferences and theatre productions, as well as a national pilgrimage in February. St. Joan, a 19-year-old peasant girl, was burned at the stake in Rouen in 1431 after rallying a French army against English invaders and lifting the siege of Orleans.
The national heroine is widely credited with altering the course of the 1337-1453 Hundred Years War and strengthening French nationhood.
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