The tragic tale of Claire Ferchaud and the Great War / Raymond Jonas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jonas, Raymond, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ferchaud, Claire, 1896-1972.

Ferchaud, Claire.

World War, 1914-1918--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

World War, 1914-1918.

Catholic Church.

Sacred Heart, Devotion to--France--History of doctrines--20th century.

Sacred Heart, Devotion to.

France.

Physical Description:

xiv, 217 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2005]

Summary:

This is the moving and improbable story of Claire Ferchaud, a young French shepherdess who had visions of Jesus and gained national fame as a modern-day Joan of Arc at the height of World War I. Claire experienced her first vision after a childhood trauma in which her mother locked her in a closet to break her stubborn willfulness. She developed her visionary gifts with the aid of spiritual directors and, by the age of twenty, she had come to believe that Jesus wanted France consecrated to the Sacred Heart. Claire believed that if France undertook this devotion, symbolized by adding the image of the Sacred Heart to the French flag, it would enjoy rapid victory in the war. From her modest origins to her spectacular ascent, Claire's life and times are deftly related with literary verve and insight in a book that gives a rare view of the French countryside during the Great War.

Contents:

The Great War in the European imagination

Miracle or "miracle?"

Carnal vision and saintly ambition

Spiritual patronage and a mission to save France

Silent eruptions : Claire and her public

In the footsteps of Joan

A kind of apotheosis : Claire goes to Paris

The Sacred Heart and the Union Sacrée : Claire's story goes public

Consecration by proxy

The unraveling

The unmaking of a saint

Prologue as epilogue : the story of Jonas.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-210) and index.

ISBN:

0520242971

0520242998

OCLC:

54882012