Saints in the MakingAn art project for Norfolk schools in partnership with

Norwich Cathedral and the Diocese of Norwich

What exactly is a saint?

• Christians define a saint as:“someone who listens to God

and tries to do what he wants”

• A saint is a person who is worthy of honour, who does something extraordinary, exemplary, wonderful, often refusing material attachments or comforts.

What exactly is a saint? (continued)

A saint can be a range of people:•From the New Testament, such as St Peter•A historical and legendary saint, such as St George•Contemporary inspirational people who are ‘wonder workers’ responsible for a movement or organisation to help make the world a better place. Some are still living today, while others, such as Nelson Mandella have died.

How can your school representyour chosen saint through a work of art?

• You may be inspired to choose one of the 10 examples featured in this pack or to think of one of your own

• While choosing your saint, think about how that person resonates with the values which are important to your school

• Once you have decided, it is time to be as creative as you can. How are you going to express the essence of your saint through your sculpture?

• How will your saint make an impact in the cathedral cloister, among many others?

• Ideally, it needs to be between 5 and 6 feet tall, free standing and robust enough to withstand being exhibited for a week in a draughty cloister!

• Your saint needs to be transportable, so you can bring it to the cathedral.

Your chosen saint through a work of art

• Think out of the box. Can you use recycled materials? Different textures and textiles? Might your saint be a giant head, or a standing, sitting or reclining figure?

• The following images may trigger some ideas…

Your chosen saint through a work of art

Our top ten saints1. Saint Walstan – a Norfolk saint2. St Peter3. St Michael4. St Nicholas5. St Luke6. St Elizabeth of Hungary7. Edith Cavell – a Norfolk heroine8. Martin Luther King9. Nelson Mandela10.Mother Teresa

Saint Walstan – a Norfolk saint

• St Walston is often represented with a scythe in his hand and cattle near him. St Walstan’s day is celebrated every year in Bawburgh where a special service takes place on the nearest Sunday to 30 May, his feast date.

Gave his life to the poor, including farmers and farm animals

Saint Walstan – a Norfolk saint (continued)

• Born into a wealthy family in Norfolk over a thousand years ago. Although he left his parents’ home at the age of 12 to work as a farm labourer in Taverham.

• He gave his food and clothing to the poor and sometimes even his shoes.

• He spent much of his time praying for others less fortunate than himself.

• He dedicated his life to farming and the care of farm animals.

• Walston became the patron saint of farms, farmers, farmhands, ranchers and husbandrymen.

• He died on 30 May 1016 at work in a meadow, scything a hay crop. It is said that he had a vision of an angel before he died. His body was laid on a cart pulled by two white oxen as he had instructed and the cortege ended up at Bawburgh, where he was buried. At the three points along the journey where the oxen stopped, it is said that a spring arose. There is still a well today to be found at Bawburgh.

Saint Walstan – a Norfolk saint (continued)

St Peter (1 of the disciples of Jesus)

• Also known as Simon Peter, according to the New Testament.

• A fisherman, Jesus called him to be a fisher of people instead.

• Peter was always there, through bad times and good and saw the miracles that Jesus did.

A man who made mistakes and was forgiven. Jesus’ right hand man and leader of the Christian church after his death

• Peter remembered everything that happened with Jesus, so that later it could be written down for people to read about.

• He wasn’t perfect. He had a warm heart and a quick temper. He told Jesus that he was prepared to die for him, but within hours - when he was questioned by Jesus’ enemies - Peter denied that he even knew him. This was a terrible mistake, but Jesus forgave him because he was so sorry and Peter was one of the first people Jesus appeared to after he rose from the dead.

St Peter (continued)

• Jesus told Peter, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ He meant that Peter was to look after all those who loved Jesus, like a shepherd.

• He also said that Peter would hold the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which is why he is often represented holding two large keys.

• Peter learnt by his mistake and became a great leader, helping to spread the good news far and wide.

St Peter (continued)

St Michael

• St Michael the Archangel is often depicted treading on a dragon; carrying a banner, scales, and sword.

• It is said that Michael is always on the watch to defeat badness, wickedness and wrong doing on earth.

A healing angel, and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil

St Michael (continued)• According to the Book of Revelation in the New

Testament, the great archangel, Michael lived in heaven alongside another archangel, Lucifer, who wanted to take God’s throne for himself.

• Lucifer gathered together a small following and Michael was chosen by God to defeat him.

• Lucifer had become an evil dragon and Michael and his angels defeated him and cast him out of heaven down to earth.

• The feast of St Michael is celebrated on Michaelmas Day on 29 September.

St Nicholas

• Many stories and legends have been told about St Nicholas throughout the ages.

• The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration; St Nicholas day on 6 December.

Known as a friend and protector to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. The true story of Santa Claus begins with St Nicholas.

St Nicholas (continued)

• He was born in the 3rd century in a village which is now in Turkey.

• His wealthy parents brought him up to be a Christian and they died when he was still young.

• He gave up all his inheritance to help the needy, sick and suffering and became a Bishop.

• He was persecuted for his Christian faith by the Roman Emperor and put in prison. When he came out, he performed a great many good deeds for many people.

St Nicholas (continued)

• One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value - a dowry.

• The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry.

• This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery.

St Nicholas (continued)

• Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home, providing the needed dowries.

• The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry.

• This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas, the gift giver.

St Nicholas (continued)

• Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas.

• Children today often have oranges and gold chocolate coins in their stockings.

• St Nicholas died on December AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church.

St Luke (Luke the Evangelist)

• St Luke stands for hope, forgiveness and compassion for the poor; often represented with an ox or a calf because they are the symbols of sacrifice – the sacrifice Christians believe Jesus made for all the world.

A Greek doctor and one of the four evangelist authors who wrote the Gospels of Jesus Christ, as well as the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament

St Luke (continued)• Luke the doctor was called to treat St Paul who

was travelling round the Mediterranean to tell people about Jesus. After healing him, he travelled with him on the road as his loyal friend and wrote an account of the extraordinary things he saw happen to Paul and his companions.

• Luke also wrote his Gospel about the life of Jesus. His Gospel features a great deal about the poor and social justice, as well as the women in Jesus’ life and God’s forgiveness and mercy.

St Elizabeth of Hungary

• Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary.

• At the age of 14 she married King Louis IV in Germany and had three children.

• She died in 1231 at the age of 24.

A woman born into a rich family who married a King but gave her short life to the sick and poor

St Elizabeth of Hungary (continued)

• Although she had a privileged life, she supported the poor and sick, including spinning wool for their clothing and giving away a great deal of her money, state robes and ornaments.

• She built a hospital with 28 beds and daily tended to the inmates.

• Her life changed forever when her husband died of a fever at a Crusade. She was forced by her brother in law to move away to a castle without her children.

St Elizabeth of Hungary (continued)

• At the castle she lived like a nun and built a second hospital to care for the poor and sick.

• Elizabeth is best known for the miracle of the roses. She was taking a basket of bread to the poor, when a hunting party asked her to reveal what was hidden under her cloak, thinking that she was stealing treasure from the castle.

• In that moment, the cloak fell open and a vision of white and red roses could be seen, which proved that God’s protecting hand was at work. She is often depicted holding a basket of bread.

Edith Cavell – a Norfolk heroine

• Edith Louisa Cavell was born in Swardeston on 4 December 1865, the daughter of a clergyman.

• Edith loved nature and surrounded herself with plants and animals, which she enjoyed drawing and painting.

A British nurse during the First World War who saved the lives of soldiers in Brussels from all sides and was shot for ‘assisting men to the enemy.’

Edith Cavell (continued)• Edith began her adult life as a governess in

Brussels, then came home to nurse her father and decided to train as a nurse.

• After nursing in England, she went out to Brussels and was put in charge of a pioneer training school for nurses in 1907 and later provided nurses for several hospitals and schools.

• She often returned to visit her mother in Norwich, but when war was declared in 1914, she went back to Brussels and cared for the wounded of all nationalities in a Red Cross hospital.

Edith Cavell (continued)

• When two English soldiers became stranded, she cared for them and helped them to escape to Holland through an underground network of helpers.

• A year later, she had helped over 200 British soldiers to get away from the German enemy in this way. Edith knew that she was taking a big risk, harbouring allied soldiers and she was found out, arrested, interrogated and imprisoned in a cell.

Edith Cavell (continued)

• Edith was accused of ‘successfully conducting the enemy of the allied soldiers to the German people and was to be shot the following day.

• She had a very strong faith in God. She prayed with an English chaplain the night before her death and took the Sacrament.

• She was brave and calm to the last and said, “Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”

Edith Cavell (continued)

• She was shot by two firing squads in the early hours of 12 October 1915. Her death caused a huge outcry in Britain.

• She was hurriedly buried in the rifle range, but after the war in 1919, the remains of her body were brought by ship to Dover and her coffin was escorted to Westminster Abbey for the first part of the burial service. Her coffin was then put on a special train to Norwich and processed to the cathedral where she was buried outside in a quiet spot called Life’s Green.

Martin Luther King

• Martin was so inspirational, wise and humane, that he was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He wanted to help poor people of all races and see an end to wars.

A black American clergyman and a leading figure who preached the cause of non-violent protests for equality and the same rights for all

Martin Luther King (continued)

• Born in 1929, Martin understood that black American people at that time did not have the same rights as white people and were not equal before the law.

• People were getting angry and rebelling and Martin saw that this would only lead to bloodshed, so he decided to preach the cause without violence. “I have a dream,” he said, “That all men some day will be brothers.”

Martin Luther King (continued)

• Black people listened to him and followed him, as well as white people and the American government voted to end some of the worst abuses the ethnic minority had been suffering.“I have decided to stick with love,” he said.

“Hate is too great a burden to bear.”• Sadly, he was not popular with more militant

people and he was shot on a hotel balcony in December 1967.

Nelson Mandela – the most famous prisoner in the world

• Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 at a time when black people had little say in how South Africa was run.

The first black president of South Africa, Mandela spent 27 years in prison and is famous for his long fight against a bad government and racial prejudice. He became a hero to people all over theworld

Nelson Mandela (continued)

• In 1918 the government was whites-only. Most black people were poor and they worked as servants on farms, and in factories and gold mines.

• In 1942 Mandela became a lawyer. He set up the first black law firm, so poor people could come to him for help.

• In 1944 he joined the African National Congress (ANC), who wanted black South Africans to have the same human rights as whites.

Nelson Mandela (continued)• In 1948 the South African government made

new laws to keep white and black people apart. The new system was called 'apartheid'. Many white people, as well as black people, spoke out against apartheid. Mandela hoped that peaceful protests could get rid of apartheid, without fighting.

• Speaking out was a very dangerous thing to do. When the ANC was banned in 1960, Mandela became a leader of a secret army. He had to hide and use disguises, but was hunted down by the police.

Nelson Mandela (continued)

• In 1965 Mandela was arrested and imprisoned for life for sabotage. He spent 18 years on Robben Island where he had to do hard labour. He was then moved to another prison.

• In 1990 Mandela was set free by the new President FW de Clerk. Mandela called on all South Africans to work together in peace.

• In 1991 he became leader of the ANC.• In the 1994 elections, all black people in

South Africa were able to vote for the first time.

Nelson Mandela (continued)

• The ANC won the 1994 election and Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president.

• Mandela was welcomed around the world as a great statesman (world leader) and was given many honours, including a shared Nobel Peace prize with FW de Klerk in 1993.

• In 1999 Mandela retired as President and from 2004, he gave up politics to enjoy a quiet life with his family. He died on 5 December 2013 following a lung disease.

Mother Teresa

• Born in Albania on 26 August 1910 and named Anjeze, she knew that she wanted to commit herself to a religious life at the age of 12 and left home aged 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary.

A Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary who cared for the poor, hungry, homeless and sick for over 50 years

Mother Teresa (continued)• She took her vows at the age of 21 and chose the

name Teresa after the patron saint of missionaries.

• She taught in a convent school for nearly 20 years, but felt that God was calling her to work with the poorest of the poor so she created a new religious community in Calcutta and set up the Missionaries of Charity.

• In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and asked that the money usually spent on the prize giving ceremony was spent on the poor in India instead.

Mother Teresa (continued)• By 1997 more than 4000 sisters were running

orphanages, AIDS hospices, leprosy hospices and charity centres worldwide.

• Although some criticized her for her strong views on contraception and abortion, she was widely admired for her charitable works and her life-long devotion to the sick and poor was astonishing.

• She died on 5 September 1997 and was given a state funeral by the Indian government in gratitude to her services to the poor and all religions of India.

Mother Teresa (continued)

• She was later know as Mother Teresa.• In 2007 the Missionaries of Charity

numbered approximately 450 brothers and 5,000 sisters worldwide, operating 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries.

Good luck with your project