For the Austrian psychologist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, finding the “meaning of life” was something specific to each person, not something general or abstract. Yet, young adults today have become so alienated from themselves and their communities, and so out of practice at listening that they find it incredibly difficult to discover what they are made to do.

Clearly, something about this young woman’s life has fascinated people for hundreds of years. And she is exactly the saint needed in our times, for her courage, her confidence, and her fidelity. Joan inspires for her bravery, her faith, and her mission-driven life, but also because she was able to convince royalty, soldiers, and commoners of her cause, which she knew to be something outside of herself. She demonstrates total surrender and sacrifice’ commitment to a cause and to God, above all else.

For Joan, leading the soldiers into triumph was God‘s victory; her victory was simply listening to God. Her sainthood was born of her total surrender. And in sacrificing herself for her mission, she was truly free. One of the quotes most often attributed to her, emblazoned on stickers stuck to water bottles and laptop covers, is “I am not afraid; I was born to do this!”

Whenever the term “a sacrifice of praise” comes up, I usually skip past it, unsure exactly what it means. But studying Joan’s life in art, in literature, in music, in film, I begin to see what it means. It is a sacrifice to praise God when one is belittled, tortured, betrayed, and ultimately led to death. To praise God when everyone and everything has turned against you? To praise him for your demise? For your humiliation and defeat? It’s unthinkable. It is extraordinary. It derives its strength from courage and confidence, from listening, from knowing that the meaning of life is the meaning of each life, given a unique purpose. That kind of sacrifice could save us.