Saints and Symbols

The young people will become acquainted with the saints of the Middle Ages.

The young people should be able to identify a saint as someone whose life reveals God's grace.

• Books or other printed material on saints
• Paper
• Markers or colored pencils

• Find in advance two or three examples of saints from the Middle Ages, portrayed with their symbols. (Example: The symbol of Saint Joan of Arc is a woman carrying a sword.)
• Show the young people your example and briefly explain why that symbol is used for the saint.
• Invite the young people to choose a saint from the Middle Ages, their patron saint, the patron saint of their parish, or a favorite saint.
• Direct the young people to use resource material to find information about their saint and his or her symbols.
• Have the young people draw these symbols.
• Invite volunteers to show their drawings. Have the rest of the group guess which saint is depicted by the symbols. Then have the young people explain what the symbols reveal about the saint.

Art/Space Smart, Word Smart

Invite the young people to notice the paintings, statues, and stained-glass windows in their parish churches to see if they can identify the saints by their symbols.