A girl who was accused of a crime she was innocent of was burned to death. A man twice sentenced to death by the ruthless Roman Emperor. An apostle who was beheaded on the whim of a vengeful queen. A Franciscan friar who sacrificed his life to save others in a Nazi concentration camp…
Although their backgrounds, circumstances, and backgrounds of courage are vastly different, these saints share a powerful bond of their unwavering dedication and sacrifice that resonates through the ages.
The focus now is on Fox Nation’s latest captivating documentary series, “The Saints.” — brought to streaming services by none other than legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese — they stand as a testament to faith unyielding to persecution and courage undiminished by threat.
“A 14-year-old girl hears a voice. It is the voice of a saint, the word of God. “I tell him to go,” Scorsese, the series' “creative godfather,” said, looking back on the first episode.
If the story of this 14-year-old who cemented his role in history probably sounds familiar, that's because it is.
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Director Martin Scorsese held a panel discussion with consultants Mary Karr, Father James Martin, writers Paul Ely and Father Edward Beck after an exclusive screening of FOX Nation's new series Saints.
She is better known as Joan of Arc. She was a tenacious leader who believed she was chosen by the power of God to save France from ruin. However, her downfall came when she became known as a menace and was falsely accused of heresy and witchcraft by Catholic clergymen sympathetic to Joan of Arc. Cause of English.
“She will be held politically accountable, captured, tried, convicted, and burned at the stake. Then a dove will rise out of the fire.” [as she draws her last breath]…” continued the famous filmmaker.
Director Scorsese tells Fox Nation viewers: Joan's entire body was burned to ashes, except for her heart, which miraculously remained intact and filled with blood.
At least, that's the story according to witnesses.
For her, sainthood took nearly 500 years, and in 1920 she was canonized as the patron saint of soldiers by the very church that sentenced her to death.
Director Martin Scorsese says Fox Nation's new series 'Saints' was the story he always wanted to tell.
“Saints” series The film, which begins with the primal and moving story of Joan of Arc and is currently streaming on Fox Nation, had its world premiere Thursday at the Whitby Hotel in New York City. The exclusive screening included a panel discussion hosted by Scorsese himself.
“I never believed it would be possible,” Scorsese told the live audience, explaining that the project was first conceived seven years ago but that he had wanted to make it “forever.” did.
“I grew up downtown, living in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, contemplating and meditating on images of saints and various saints, and wondering about their stories,” Scorsese explained. “What is a saint? Is it something superhuman? Can they accomplish something easier than us because we are humans? I realized, 'No.' ” he added. “The point is teeth they are humans. ”
Scorsese, who won the Academy Award for Best Director for his 2006 masterpiece The Departed, is no stranger to exploring themes of faith in films like The Silence and The Last Temptation of Christ. He joked that he was “banned by everyone.” The filmmaker said he was especially forced to do so. Bringing history's bravest saints to life This is because each of them had a question: “How can people live lives filled with compassion and love?''
Executive producer Martin Scorsese is the “creative godfather” of this docudrama series that explores eight of history's most famous saints. (Laura Carrione/FOX)
Another saint who embodies such compassion and love is An episode about Polish monk Macmillian Kolbe was also screened in Whitby on Thursday.
His work transports viewers back to 1940s Europe with more contemporary stories. There, during World War II and the Holocaust, Kolbe makes the ultimate sacrifice at Auschwitz, volunteering to die in the place of a stranger with a family…and meets a cruel end.
Kolbe was believed by some to share anti-Semitic stereotypes at the height of the war, when, as the film shows, he died next to Jewish prisoners of war after being tortured. “Converted by mankind.” In a gesture, he called himself “brother.”
Patron Saint of Prisoners — and Journalist — would be canonized in 1982. The man whose life he had saved was also present.
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Martin Scorsese speaks during a master class at Cinema Massimo in Turin, Italy, on October 8, 2024. (Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
“I think [stories of the saints] “People started by just telling the stories of men and women who were extraordinary human beings who did extraordinary things, stood up against injustice and brutality, and risked their lives to help others,” Scorsese said. Ta.
filmmaker He told the live audience: How important he feels it is for the new generations to come to shine a spotlight on these very saints and bring fragments of the past into the present and future.
“Perhaps the fact that saints exist, were saints, and are saints is something that is lost to our new generation, because we are not living with them. So we thought this was a good attempt to try to understand what faith really is.”
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Scorsese said Christianity, and faith in general, is a path to love, salvation and acceptance. (Godon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Even many years after their death, the legacy of the saints lives on, serving as a bridge between humanity and something greater.
“I got the impression that a lot of people are trying to find something other than religion… Some people put their energy into politics or the judiciary. For many people, it’s meditation or mindfulness… In general. “I know there's a fear of religion and intimacy with religion,” Scorsese continued. “So the message is…we have seen radical love, radical redemption, and radical acceptance, because these things are always revelatory…to do so. [love others, etc.] You have to expose yourself. ”
“Failure, embarrassment, rejection… all these things you have to constantly risk, but it gives you a broader, deeper way of looking at things.”
“Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” will premiere in two parts, with the first four episodes scheduled to be released on Sunday, November 17th, with the final episode scheduled to conclude in April and May 2025, spanning the sacred season.
8 episodes Scorsese and his team explore the lives of Joan of Arc, John the Baptist, Sebastian, Maximilian Kolbe, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Beckett, Mary Magdalene, and Moses the Black, and Scorsese and his team explore 2,000 Traveling through more than a year of history, we focus on these extraordinary figures. Their acts of extreme kindness, selflessness, and sacrifice.
To watch “The Saints” every week, go to Subscribe to Fox Nation Start streaming the series today. Fox Nation is offering a 3-month free trial using promo code “SAINTS.”
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
