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One of the most beautiful moments of Pope Leo’s visit to France was the spectacular presentation at the Stade de France, where some of the great saints of French Christianity seemed to come alive before the Pope and tens of thousands of young people.
What a remarkable gallery of witnesses France has given the Church.
There was St. Martin of Tours, the Roman soldier who cut his cloak in two to share it with a freezing beggar—and later recognized Christ in the poor man he had helped.
St. Geneviève, the young woman who became the spiritual protector of Paris and encouraged its frightened inhabitants not to abandon their city when it was threatened by invasion.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian monk and theologian who became one of the most influential spiritual voices of medieval Europe.
St. Louis IX, King of France, who sought to combine political leadership with prayer, justice and service to the poor.
And of course St. Joan of Arc—Jeanne d’Arc—the teenage peasant girl who believed God had entrusted her with a mission for France, helped turn the course of the Hundred Years’ War, and was burned at the stake at only nineteen. Centuries later she would be canonized and remembered as one of France’s most extraordinary saints.
Then there are the saints of more recent times: St. Vincent de Paul, apostle of organized charity and service to the poor; St. John Vianney, the humble Curé of Ars who spent countless hours reconciling people with God; St. Bernadette Soubirous, the poor girl of Lourdes to whom Our Lady appeared at Massabielle; and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who never became famous through great public achievements but taught the world her “little way”—doing ordinary things with extraordinary love.
Watching their stories recreated before Pope Leo and thousands of young people was a powerful reminder that the saints were not born as statues. They were real human beings who lived in particular moments of history, faced difficult choices, listened for what God was asking of them, and responded.
Perhaps that was the real message of the spectacle: France does not honor its saints simply by remembering its Christian past. Their stories become meaningful when a new generation begins to ask:
What is God asking of us in our own time?
