Cards 50-59: Joan of Arc - Mark - Voices of the Saints
Cards 50-59: Joan of Arc - Mark - Voices of the Saints
Cards 20-29: Bonaventura - Cosmas & Damian
Cards 30-39: Cyrus - Francis of Paola
Cards 40-49: Francis Xavier - Joachim
Cards 50-59: Joan of Arc - Mark
Cards 60-69: Margaret Alaoque - Peter
Cards 70-78 : Philip Benizi - Zita
Voices of the Saints: Keyword Guide
Transversal Theology: Technical Glossary
50. Saint Joanna D’ Arc V. (15th-cent. France)
Hagiography
Feast: May 30
Saint Joan of Arc: One of five children born to Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romee. Shepherdess. Mystic. From age 13 she received visions from Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Michael the Archangel.
In the early 15th century, England, controlled most of what is modern France. Joan’s visions told her to find the true king of France and help him reclaim his throne. She resisted for more than three years, but finally went to Charles VII and told him of her visions. Carrying a banner that read “Jesus, Mary”, she led troops from one battle to another. She was severely wounded, but her victories brought Charles VII to the throne. Captured by the Burgundians during the defense of Compiegne, she was put on trial by an ecclesiastical court and was executed as a heretic.
Patronage
captives
France
imprisoned people
martyrs
opposition of Church authorities
people ridiculed for their piety
prisoners
rape victims
soldiers
Archetypology
Saint Joan of Arc represents one who successfully presents a complete reversal of expectation. She is a woman who presents as a man. She is a shepherd who leads an army and destined a monarchy. She is a successful soldier who died a martyr’s death. She represents courage, conviction, and faith in one’s direction.
Visual Symbology
In this image, Saint Joan of Arc stands next to a gold crucifix and a candle. On the wall about are fleur de lis a symbol of the French monarchy. She stands with one hand on the surface where the cross sits. In her other hand, she clasps a sword by the blade. She is dressed in Armor and her hair is unbound and flows down her back. At the base of the image is a sprig of three lilies. Many more recent images Saint Joan of Arcs shy away from her carrying a sword, but this image definitely portrays her as a warrior. Though her face is passive and calm, the fist around her sword speaks power and the ability to control the destiny of one’s self and others.
Application
When one meets Saint Joan of Arc one can look for the unexpected. She presents the constant paradox and thus the paradoxes of life are ready for acceptance and use by the querent. In reverse Saint Joan of Arc brings the querent to a situation of candor in appearance and an obviousness of presence. Saint Joan of Arc in reverse could also represent the triumph of cruelty or petty politics.
51. Saint Joannes Bapt. Praec. (1st-cent. Israel-Palestine)
Hagiography
Feast: June 24 (birth) / August 29 (death)
Saint John the Baptist: Cousin of Jesus Christ. Son of Zachary, a priest of the order of Abia whose job in the temple was to burn incense; and of Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron. As Zachary was ministering in the Temple, an angel brought him news that Elizabeth would bear a child filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of his birth. Zachary doubted and was struck dumb until John’s birth.
Prophet. John began his ministry around age 27, wearing a leather belt and a tunic of camel hair, living off locusts and wild honey, and preaching a message of repentance to the people of Jerusalem. He converted many and prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. He Baptized Christ, after which he stepped away and told his disciples to follow Jesus.
Imprisoned by King Herod. He died a victim of the vengeance of a jealous woman; he was beheaded, and his head brought to her on a platter. Saint Jerome says Herodias kept the head for a long time after, occasionally stabbing the tongue with his dagger because of what John had said in life.
Patronage
against convulsions
against epilepsy
against hail
against hailstorms
against spasms
baptism
bird dealers
converts
convulsive children
Cutters
epileptics
farriers
French Canadians
innkeepers
lambs
monastic life
motorways
printers
Tailors
Archetypology
Saint John the Baptist is the only card in the deck with the note “Praec” meaning “precursor”. He is one who seems to willingly buy into the “second son” typology as a first son. In the Bible, when a man has two sons, it is to be expected that the younger will somehow triumph over the older spiritually or morally and become the one whom the reader looks to in the scriptures as “important”. The first is the one who has all the advantages he takes for granted, whereas the second struggles and that struggle allows him to overcome. In this case, from Luke’s Gospel, we have a first and second cousin. John represents the prophetic tradition of Israel and how it leads to recognizing the Messiah. For a wider application, it is any spirituality that is good, but incomplete. All traditions and spiritualities can lead one to pure truth, no matter how incomplete they may be. Additionally, any individual probably only possesses incomplete understanding. Thus Saint John the Baptist represents that good path toward completion.
Visual Symbology
On the card Saint John the Baptist is seen standing in a desertous landscape with mountains in the distance. This landscape is the path to the spiritual summit still to be attained. Saint John the Baptist stands in the middle of the card clothes in a well tailored camel’s hair robe with a cloak draped over and pinned at the shoulder. He cradles a cross in his left elbow with a banner that reads, “ECCE AGNUS DEI” or “behold the Lamb of God”. He holds a shell in his left hand with which he baptized Jesus, bringing him into public life. With his right hand, he points to the heavens where an image of a lamb is manifest also carrying a bannered cross. This images evoke one living for and leading to another, the prophet who points to the prophesied.
Application
When the querent sees Saint John the Baptist they should take stock of their current spiritual practices and seek to expand and develop them further toward the truth. This general sense can be more particularly applied to a transition from a spirituality of withdrawal to a spirituality of engagement. Is my spirituality my own? Or do I live it in community and as an extension to the world? In reverse, this card indicates a spiritual stagnation. One may be in an acceptable place spiritually, but one is too comfortable there and could benefit from a push beyond. With a reversal, be on the lookout for figures who could help one move forward in your life. It could also signify a spiritual regression to a lower spiritual state of being.
52. Saint Joannes Bosco Conf. (19th-cent Italy)
Hagiography
Feast: January 31st
Son of Venerable Margaret Bosco. John’s father died when the boy was two years old; and as soon as he was old enough to do odd jobs John did so to help support his family. Bosco would go to circuses, fairs, and carnivals, practice the tricks that he saw magicians perform, and then put on one-boy shows. After his performance, while he still had an audience of boys, he would repeat the homily he had heard earlier that day in church.
He worked as a tailor, baker, shoemaker, and carpenter while attending college and seminary. Ordained. Teacher. He worked constantly with young people, finding places where they could meet, play, and pray, teaching catechism to orphans and apprentices. Chaplain in a hospice for girls. Wrote short treatises aimed at explaining the faith to children, and then taught children how to print them. Founded the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), priests who work with and educate boys, under the protection of Our Lady. Founded the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians and Union of Cooperator Salesians.
Patronage
apprentices
boys
editors
laborers
magicians
school children
students
young people
Archetypology
Don Bosco typifies teaching a man to fish. He was one who identified how the industrial revolution was leaving children behind and applied all his creative energy to helping give these vulnerables an avenue. He was a dynamic engager of the faith who used every facet of life to bring children in his care to a better state of being. The watch word for Don Bosco is “educator” but not in an institutional sense. Think instead of the teacher who teaches to the person not to the class, or if to the class, teaches to “that class of children” not a by a prescribed curriculum.
Visual Symbology
This card is starkly plain for such a colorful personality. Don Bosco is seen dressed in his black priestly garb capped with a biretta. His hands are gently folded just over his belly and he looks straight at the observer with compassion and careful judgment. If anything this image is “realistic” compared to the other images in the deck. There is no artistic symbolism. The background is vacant. It is an image of Don Bosco, that is all. This may be representative of the fact that Don Bosco takes things as they are. However a student presents, whatever they need, that is what he tried to supply.
Application
To meet Don Bosco in a reading is to meet the need to take one’s community into account and supply for the needs of those people. This is particularly true of aid the instills self reliance. The methodology is joy and personal engagement. In reverse, Don Bosco may be implying a standardized approach to a problem or relationship. Or it could imply that one is too invested in a “band-aid” approach to helping people.
53. Saint Joannes Nepomucenus M. Conf. (14th-cent. Chech Republic)
Hagiography
Feast: March 20
Saint John Nepomucene: While a child, he was cured by the prayers of his parents; they then consecrated him to God. Priest. Known as a great preacher who converted thousands. Vicar-general of Prague (in the modern Czech Republic). Counselor and advocate of the poor in the court of King Wenceslaus IV. He refused several bishoprics. Confessor to the queen, he taught her to bear the cross of her ill-tempered husband the king. Imprisoned for refusing to disclose the queen‘s confession to the king. When he continued to honor the seal of the confessional, he was ordered executed. Many bridges in Europe bear his likeness as their protector.
Patronage
against calumnies
against floods
against indiscretions
against slander
bridge builders
bridges
confessors
for discretion
for good confession
running water
silence
Archetypology
Obviously, Saint John Nepomucene represents the keeper of confidences and secrets. This implies secrets that should be kept, and by the keeping, they help people or give them time to develop into a better situation. More generally Saint John Nepomucene can represent the need to hold one’s tongue and keep silent. In this case, it may not be a secret, but a patience or a restraint.
Visual Symbology
In the image, Saint John Nepomucene stands robed in priestly vestments. His outer garment appears coarse and brown, but the folds reveal an inner lining that seems pink and soft implying an inner hiddenness. He is holding a cross and a palm in his left hand. He holds his right hand to his jaw with his index finger over his lips signifying the ability to hold one’s speech when required. He wears a biretta and his halo is circled with five stars.
Application
When one meets Saint John Nepomucene one is obviously urged to some form of silence. One could consider a secret that someone needs to be retained, or one needs to be more hesitant in using one’s words rashly. In reverse Saint John Nepomucene implies that damaging information is adrift. Or that the querent may have information that needs to be relayed to the proper person.
54. Saint Joseph B.V.M. (1st-cent. B.C. Israel-Palestine)
Hagiography
Feast: March 19 (May 1 Saint Joseph the Worker)
Saint Joseph: Descendant of the house of David. Layman. Builder by trade; traditionally a carpenter, but may have been a stone worker. Earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. Visionary who was visited by angels. Noted for his willingness to immediately get up and do what God told him to do.
Patronage
against doubt
against hesitation
accountants
attornies
barristers
bursars
cabinetmakers
carpenters
cemetery workers
children
civil engineers
confectioners
craftsmen
dying people
educators
emigrants
exiles
expectant mothers
families
fathers
furniture makers
Gravediggers
happy death
holy death
house hunters
immigrants
interior souls
joiners
laborers
lawyers
married people
orphans
people in doubt
pioneers
pregnant women
social justice
solicitors
teachers
travelers
unborn children
wheelwrights
workers
working people
Archetypology
Saint Joseph represents the paternal teacher as the quiet man who teaches by example. He is the silent worker who’s heart is filled with goodness and by his action, we see that he is caring. Like such father figures he is underrated and underappreciated, but he does not mind this and may even seek it as a form of humble example. He is a B.M.V. card, but his relation to the virgin is a protector who allows her to fulfill her role rather than assume a typically assertive authority and lord his power over his wife.
Visual Symbology
In the image, Saint Joseph is seated in a room in front of a window looking out over a lush landscape. In his left hand, he holds a book in his lap. The Christ Child stands next to him pointing at the book with his left and to the heavens with his right, but Saint Joseph is not looking at the book. Rather his eyes are locked on the child. His right hand touches his heart speaking a lesson beyond cerebral knowledge. Next to him is a bag of carpentry tools, an axe and a large saw. It is by example of labor and love that this father teaches, and his teaching can create an environment that cultivates divine cooperation.
Application
To meet Saint Joseph in a reading is to bring the querent to an awareness of the quiet but effective people in their lives that have helped them, yet remain unnoticed. It could also be a call to be a humble worker who doesn’t seek the spotlight. In reverse, the card may urge the querent to give loud credit where credit is due and praise publicly people who one would otherwise forget. Or it may signify the querent has the braggadociousness of a blowhard or the presence of one in the querents life.
55. Saint Julia V. M. (4th-cent. Tunisia)
Hagiography
Feast: May 22
Saint Julia of Corsica: Born to the Carthaginian Christian nobility. Captured by invading Vandals in 616, and sold into slavery to a pagan Syrian merchant named Eusebius. When the slave ship landed at Cape Corso, Corsica, a pagan festival was in progress, and Julia was ordered to join in; some versions indicate that participation would have won her freedom. When she refused, her hair was torn out of her head, and she was martyred by crucifixion.
Patronage
torture victims
Archetypology
Like Joan of Arc, Saint Julia of Corsica represents the unexpected. Her story runs the narrative of the typical “virgin martyr” all the way until the end when her hair is ripped off and she is crucified. If the reader will picture this, what one sees is a crucifix, upon which hangs a short haired or bald figure with a nude female body. Her story presents the image of Christ in a way that is completely jarring. We are accustomed to a long haired masculine body on a cross. Saint Julia of Corsica represents the way of salvation and enlightenment that is absolutely familiar yet simultaneously absolutely foreign and makes one take a second look.
Visual Symbology
The image on the card does not show Saint Julia of Corsica’s actual death. Rather she stands in front of the cross and clasps her hands, which bear the stigmata, over her heart. She cradles the palm branch of martyrdom in her left arm. Her hair is long and flowing down behind her back. Her calm demeanor and soft halo bring the observer to a sense of suffering accomplished and the victory of glorification won. Perched on the cross is the dove representing the Holy Spirit, spreading his wings over her and showering her with grace and love. Behind her is a garden of lilies of purity and white roses of pure love which stretch out to a harbor where the fateful ship that brought her to Corsica is docked and abandoned.
Application
To meet Saint Julia in contemplative prediction is to draw the querent toward the most unexpected images of spiritual enlightenment. Christianity itself already has such an unexpected image, a tortured man. Now that image, whose shock value has suffered inflationary loss, is redoubled by the alter Christi of Saint Julia. The querent is being asked to look at the familiar in jarring ways and reframe their standard take on life. In reverse, Saint Julia may indicate an acquiescence to traditional roles or the presence of misogyny, especially against feminine spiritual achievement.
56. Saint Laurentius M. (3rd-cent. Spain)
Hagiography
Feast: August 10
Saint Lawerence of Rome: Third-century archdeacon of Rome, distributor of alms, and “keeper of the treasures of the church” in a time when Christianity was outlawed. Pope Saint Sixtus II and six deacons were beheaded, leaving Lawrence as the ranking Church official in Rome.
While in prison awaiting execution Sixtus reassured Lawrence that he was not being left behind; they would be reunited in four days. Lawrence saw this time as an opportunity to disperse the material wealth of the church before the Roman authorities could lay their hands on it. Lawrence was commanded to appear for his execution and to bring along the treasure with which he had been entrusted by the pope. When he arrived, the archdeacon was accompanied by a multitude of Rome‘s crippled, blind, sick, and indigent. He announced that these were the true treasures of the Church. Martyr.
Lawrence’s care for the poor, the ill, and the neglected have led to his patronage of them. His work to save the material wealth of the Church, including its documents, brought librarians and those in related fields to see him as a patron, and to ask for his intercession. And his incredible strength and courage when being grilled to death led to his patronage of cooks and those who work in or supply things to the kitchen.
Patronage
against fire
against lumbago
archives
archivists
armories
armorers
brewers
butchers
chefs
Comedians
comediennes
comics
confectioners
cooks
cutlers
deacons
glaziers
laundry workers
librarians
Libraries
paupers
poor people
restauranteurs
schoolchildren
seminarians
stained glass workers
students
tanners
vine growers
vintners
Winemakers
Archetypology
Saint Lawerence of Rome represents a person who recognizes human worth over the worth of material goods. Jesus asserted that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. In modern times that could be reapplied, the economy is made for man, not man for the economy. Saint Lawerence typifies this statement when he sells the temporal good of the church, gives the money to the poor and then presents the poor as the true wealth. The result is a culture that “commodifies” him and treats him like a piece of meat to be grilled. He is a symbol of humanity is an objectifying world, a human who treats people like humans.
Visual Symbology
In the image one sees Saint Lawerence dressed in minor clerical robes. He is young and simply haloed. In his left hand, he holds a lectionary (symbolic of his ordination) and the palm of martyrdom. In his right hand, he holds a large gridiron, the instrument of his death.
Application
To encounter Saint Lawrence is to bring forth the need for a recognition of humanity, especially in those commodified. It urges the querent to analyze their casual interactions, cashiers, service industry workers, telemarketers etc. and look for the human behind the economic function. In reverse, Saint Lawerence signifies that the querent himself may be to invested in himself as a commodity, and may be trying to sell himself rather than make deeper connections.
57. Saint Luke Ev. (1st-cent. Turkey)
Hagiography
Feast: October 18
Saint Luke the Evangelist: Born to pagan Greek parents, and possibly a slave. One of the earliest converts to Christianity. Physician, studying in Antioch and Tarsus. Probably traveled as a ship’s doctor; many charitable societies of physicians are named for him. Legend has that he was also a painter who may have done portraits of Jesus and Mary, but none have ever been correctly or definitively attributed to him; this story and the inspiration his Gospel has always given artists led to his patronage of them. He met Saint Paul the Apostle at Troas, and evangelized Greece and Rome with him, being there for the shipwreck and other perils of the voyage to Rome, and stayed in Rome for Paul‘s two years in prison. Wrote the Gospel According to Luke, much of which was based on the teachings and writings of Paul, interviews with early Christians, and his own experiences. Wrote a history of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles.
Patronage
artists
bachelors
bookbinders
brewers
butchers
doctors
glassmakers
glassworkers
glaziers
gold workers
goldsmiths
lacemakers
lace workers
notaries
painters
physicians
sculptors
stained glass workers
surgeons
unmarried men
Archetypology
As an evangelist, Saint Luke represents the general spread of the good news of salvation, but particularly the dramatic application of and spread of the gospel to all peoples. By his portrayal of Jesus as friend of the oppressed and his portrayal of early church history in Acts of the Apostles, one gets the sense that God’s love over-pours to all people and touches them in ways recognizable to and familiar to their given culture. Saint Luke is the typification of this outpouring.
Visual Symbology
One sees Saint Luke holding his gospel in his left hand and a quill in his right ready to set pen to paper. Behind him is an ox, the animal traditionally attributed to him from the book of revelations. The ox is a symbol of sacrifice which, though used by the Hebrews as well, generally signifies sacrificial ritual of the Gentiles. The symbology reminds the observer of the enculturation and appropriation of Christianity by the Gentile world.
Application
Meeting Saint Luke in a reading means meditating on a wider application of the effect one may expect to have. This card seeks to push the querent beyond the expected success to an unimagined goal that dynamically takes on a life of its own. In reverse the card may be advising to stay within one’s smaller community in a “charity begins at home” model. It could also represent poor appropriation or enculturation, where an original message was corrupted, or a resistance to needed change.
58. Saint Lucia V. M. (4th-cent. Italy)
Hagiography
Feast: December 13
Saint Lucy of Syracuse: Rich, young Christian of Greek ancestry. Raised in a pious family, she vowed her life to Christ. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother arranged a marriage for her. For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold. To change the mother‘s mind about the girl‘s new faith, Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha, and her mother‘s long hemorrhagic illness was cured. Her mother agreed with Lucy’s desire to live for God, and Lucy became known as a patron of those with maladies like her mother‘s.
Her rejected pagan bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian to the governor of Sicily. The governor sentenced her to forced prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire; they went out. She prophesied against her persecutors and was executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger.
Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her connection with eyes, the blind, eye trouble, etc.
Patronage
against blindness
against dysentery
against epidemics
against eye disease
against eye problems
against hemorraghes
against sore eyes
against sore throats
against throat infections
against fire
against poverty
against spiritual blindness
blind people
martyrs
peasants
penitent prostitutes
poor people
sick children
authors
Cutlers
eyesfarmers
glass blowers
glass makers
glaziers
gondoliers
laborers
lamp lighters
lawyers
maid servants
notaries
Ophthalmologists
opticians
porters
printers
saddlers
sailors
salesmen
seamstresses
stained glass workers
tailors
upholsterers
weavers
Writers
Archetypology
Saint Lucy is most often associated with sight beyond sight. That is obviously present in the restoration of her sight during her martyrdom, but can even be drawn from her ability to see her vocation and see the path to get it done. Her association with Saint Agatha and how her story unfolds could also place her as a symbol of companionship in the experience of patriarchal oppression and a powerful resistance against the desires of cruel men.
Visual Symbology
In this image Saint Lucy strikes a typical pose, holding the palm of martyrdom in her left hand. She grasps her signature dish holding two eyes in her right hand signifying all things associated with sight. This could be things seen beyond sight or the vision of patriarchal oppression as noted above.
Application
When one meets Saint Lucy in a reading one should pay special attention to the hidden being revealed or sight restored. This is especially true in recognizing allies against oppressive power structures. In reverse, Saint Lucy could indicate a willful blindness to cruelty or wrongdoing. She could also indicate a lack of direction or vision in general.
59. Saint Marcus Ev. (1st-cent. Israel-Palestine)
Hagiography
Feast: April 25
Saint Mark the Evangelist: Believed to be the young man who ran away when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52), and the “John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:25). Disciple of Saint Peter the Apostle who traveled with him to Rome, and was referred to as “my son Mark” by the first Pope. Traveled with his cousin Saint Barnabas, and with Saint Paul through Cyprus. Evangelized in Alexandria, Egypt, established the Church there, served as its first bishop, and founded the first famous Christian school. Author of the earliest canonical Gospel.
Patronage
against impenitence
against insect bites
against scrofulous diseases
against struma
struma patients
attorneys
barristers
Captives
imprisoned people
glaziers
lawyers
lions
notaries
prisoners
stained glass workers
Archetypology
As an evangelist, Saint Mark focuses in on the suffering of Christ and the hiddenness of his glory. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus is most adamant that no one discusses who he is or his miracle until after his passion and the original gospel seems to have left off the resurrection account completely. Saint Mark typifies looking suffering in the face as part of life and seeking to make sense of it in and of itself. Mark is also a signifier of the active Christ as opposed to the teacher. Mark's gospel uses the least amount of verbal teaching, instead of relying on a pattern of dynamic healing and action balanced by periods of withdrawal and prayer.
Visual Symbology
The image Saint Mark reflectively looks to the distance as he holds a book and quill, seeming to pause in his writing. Behind him is a cherub in the form of a lion (Mark’s traditional symbol from the book of revelations). The lion is a symbol of strength, but in our analysis so far, from Daniel to Saint Dominica, to Ignatius of Antioch, the lion has been a symbol of the strength of a self assured, dangerous, and hostile culture. Given the overarching theme of Mark’s gospel, it seems the lion symbolizes the threat and suffering Jesus came to address as Mark records it. As an evangelizer Saint Mark could also symbolize the taming of that hostile culture if the gospel takes root.
Application
When Saint Mark appears it is time to reflect on one’s relationship to suffering and action in the world. Is one acting according to one’s perceived mission regardless of reward or accolade? Does one have a relationship with the suffering in their life that sees it as a tool toward their own fulfillment, a redemptive suffering? In reverse Saint Mark offers a chance to reflect on the rest periods of the Gospel cycle, has the querent taken enough time to reflect and contemplatively pray or “be”. Or the card could indicate an avoidance of necessary suffering.
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