31 Day Saint-Sketch Challenge- Week 1
I’m eager to finally do something I’ve always wanted to do…
A 31(ish) Day Art Challenge. All Saints Day style
If you’ve known me for a while, you might know that I’m a little bit of a nerd when it comes to the saints. So much so that in high school, when everyone was pressuring me to consider future careers, the only profession I wanted to consider was “saint historian” (not sure of that is actually a profession, but any job that would allow me to spend my days reading about the saints sounded like a job for me.)
Though I did not become saint historian, my family does now owns 5 books FULL of saint stories so that not a day passes where I don’t have a saint to read about to the kids.
Maybe there’s still hope for me to become a saint historian after all.
Anyway, with All Saints Day approaching, I figured this would be a great opportunity to combine my passion for art and the saints to see if I can sketch 31 original sketches before November 1.
HERE’S THE DETAILS:
I will be sketching 1- 2 saints per day
All 5x7 charcoal sketches.
All original.
All quickly done as I sip my morning coffee or as I fall asleep at night.
All imperfect.
But all full of symbolism.
And all telling brief stories of the men and women before us who lived holy lives, adventurous lives, joyful lives, despite pain, ridicule, sickness, sorrow, and grief. Saints who overcame all odds and chose to HOPE instead of despair. To LOVE instead of hate.
Men and women who imitated Christ. Who brought Christ to us. Who still intercede for us on our own journeys to sainthood.
The majority of these original charcoal sketches will be for sale on my website for just $75 this All Saints Day (November 1). Though you may claim any one you like at any time.
Enjoy the saints from Week 1 below!
Day 1 of my 31-Day Saint Sketch Challenge.
Saint Therese of Lisieux was just 4 years old when her mother, Zelie passed away from breast cancer. I often think about how formative those first 4 years of little Therese’s life must have been with her mother. We see in Saint Therese’s writings the grief she held in her heart at her mother’s passing. And simultaneously, we see in Saint Zelie’s writings the deep love she had for her children. Playing the day away with her kiddos so-much-so that she had to stay up half the night to make up for the work she failed to do during the day (Zelie had a lace-making business).
That’s the kind of mom I want to be to my own 4 year old daughter. Vocation first. Motherhood before art.
Saint Therese’s parents, Louis and Zelie Martin were the first married couple to be canonized as saints in the Catholic Church. And look what became of that holy union! Their daughter, formerly a child who could throw quite the tantrum….became a simple little nun with a big heart. She is now one of the FOUR female doctors of the church…we have her parents to thank for that.
What a testimony this is that the way we live our lives as parents MATTERS, the way we live out our faith with our kids MATTERS. Maybe we as parents mess up. Maybe our kids fall away from the faith. Maybe, maybe, maybe (I don’t know, I’m still knee deep in the trenches, my friends).
But what I do HOPE is this: we teach our kids about Our Lord not because we know they will stay close to Him. We teach our kids about the Lord, so they know Who to turn back to and where to find Him when they start seeking Him again.
And don’t forget to ask the Martin family to pray for you in the process. Today is Saint Therese of Lisieux’s feast day after all!
Day 2: Saint Peregrine Laziosi
I love me a good conversion story…
Saint Peregrine was originally part of a group of anti-papal rebels in Forli, Italy. When the pope sent Saint Philip Benizi to go preach in Forli, Peregrine was so overcome with anger that he struck Philip to the ground with a blow to the face. Peregrine’s heart was immediately changed, for in that moment he realized that his actions were in no way noble when striking a man who only preached love.
He immediately started to seek council (and forgiveness) from Saint Philip Benizi. Eventually, Peregrine took the black habit of the Servites (after having received a vision of Our Lady handing him the habit) and became a well known preacher and confessor.
But there is one thing about Saint Peregrine’s story that strikes me…people loved going to Saint Peregrine for confession, and yet He himself seemed to carry around so much guilt from his past. It almost seems like he struggled to forgive himself. As an act of penance for his rebellious youth, Peregrine chose to stand….all the time. He would only sit down when necessary.
Consequentially, Saint Peregrine ended up getting cancer of the foot. And the night before his leg was to be amputated, Saint Peregrine literally dragged himself to a chapel to pray until he fell asleep. And there he lay, dreaming that Christ himself touched his leg. When he awoke, the cancer was miraculously gone and his formerly bandaged leg was healed.
In this sketch, I wanted to depict Saint Peregrine walking out of the chapel—a stark difference to how he had dragged himself into the chapel just hours before. His bandages flying off to show how he had been healed. And if you look closely, little leaves are growing out of the small trees next to the door to represent new birth…new life. The same new life we see when seeking forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation. We know Our Lord is merciful and eager to forgive…but sometimes the biggest hurdle is us forgiving ourselves.
Saint Peregrine Laziosi, patron saint of cancer…pray for us!
Day 3: Saint Hildegard of Bingen
I don’t even know where to begin with this fiery saint! In all honesty, I'm incredibly intimidated to write anything about her because she did SO much in her life. You would need to read an entire book about this woman of MANY talents, but in summary:
*Doctor of the Church (1 of the 4 women Doctors)
*Abbess
*Visionary
*Writer (One of her most well-known books is called "Scivias" and includes details about her visions, which were both prophetic and apocalyptic)
*Poet
*Artist
*Knowledgeable Herbalist
*Baker (You can find her original cookie recipe online!)
*Musician
*Composer (you can actually listen to some of the music she composed…Look it up!).
*Protested against heresies, and bravely confronted those who supported antipopes
*She also made up her own language just for fun...
*Oh, and my favorite...she created one of the first musical plays
I love Saint Hildegard specifically because she took great care to not let any talent go to waste. And when she did use them, she did so for the greater Glory of God and the betterment of his beautiful Church here on earth.
Since I can't quite find the words today, I'll let Pope Benedict XVI take it from here:
“Let us always invoke the Holy Spirit, so that he may inspire in the Church holy and courageous women like Saint Hildegard of Bingen who, developing the gifts they have received from God, make their own special and valuable contribution to the spiritual development of our communities and of the Church in our time.”
Saint Hildegard of Bingen, patron saint of musicians, writers, (and I'm sure so much more!), pray for us!
Day 4: Saint Francis of Assisi resting alongside the Wolf of Gubbio.
Okay, so the story never actually tells about Saint Francis taking a nap next to his new friend, but I've had this image in my head for a while and was excited to finally bring it to life. If you don't know this particular story...read on!
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A huge wolf had been terrorizing the town of Gubbio, killing both livestock and people. Any effort the villagers made to fight back against this wolf failed. Knowing that Saint Francis of Assisi had a special way with animals, the villagers implored him to try to stop the wolf.
Agreeing, Saint Francis travelled to their town, and was immediately met by an angry wolf charging directly at him, mouth wide open in attack. Saint Francis calmly made the sign of the cross and spoke to the wolf, “Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone.” (Little Flowers of Saint Francis)
The wolf immediately stopped charging, closed his mouth, and approached Saint Francis "as meekly as a lamb."
Saint Francis struck a deal with the wolf and the townspeople of Gubbio: The townspeople were to feed brother wolf regularly so he no longer experienced such extreme hunger, and the wolf would no longer attack the village.
For two years, such peace and harmony was known in the town of Gubbio. The villagers grew to love the wolf, and mourned his death greatly when he died of old age.
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There's so many different angles to look at this story. I've heard some people say the wolf symbolizes us, and Saint Francis represents the Good Shepherd. Christ must break through our hardened hearts and selfish tendencies so we can experience his peace in all it's fullness.
Simultaneously, I've heard others say, the town of Gubbio represents Eden, and the wolf represents original sin. The story of reconciliation between town and wolf, represents how Christ came to bring peace and reconciliation between God, man, and the entire world!
I personally like to think of myself as the wolf with all my growlish tendencies. Christ isn't scared of me when sees me at my ugliest. Rather, he approaches me peacefully, and reminds me that I'm not a wolf...but rather a sweet little puppy dog in his eyes. And he bids me to "rest" alongside him for a bit.
Regardless of the angle you look at this story, we see in the life of yet another saint the recurring themes of PEACE and FORGIVENESS.
Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, pray for us!
Day 5: Saint Lucy
Saint Lucy was one of many early Christian martyrs tortured/killed during the Diocletianic Persecution. Details regarding her life/works/death vary throughout the world, but the ones below seem to remain fairly consistent:
Saint Lucy is often depicted with a wreath of candles around her head. Lucy (Lucia) means “light” which is quite fitting considering that Saint Lucy was known to have taken food/blankets to persecuted Christians in hiding while wearing candles upon her head. This allowed her to carry as much as possible in her arms, while still lighting the way as she traveled through the dark catacombs.
In stark contrast to the seasonal wreath with candles and red festive berries, we often see many artworks of Saint Lucy which tend to focus more on her martyrdom:
Lucy made a vow of virginity, and when her betrothed caught wind of her being a Christian, she was sentenced to death. When soldiers came to take Lucy away, they couldn’t budge her…not even with a team of oxen. Thus, came a series of attempted torture, the most famous of which included the gauging out of her eyes.
Some say that despite the loss of her eyes, by the grace of God, she could still see clear as day. Others say, that after her death, her eyes were miraculously found perfectly in place once more.
Finally, Lucy was executed by a sword to the throat. It’s pretty interesting, because when I was originally sketching this piece, I wasn’t sure where to place her left hand. So I placed it upon her neck…not even considering that sword-to-throat death.
I chose to place her red sash of martyrdom across her eyes like a blindfold, just to try something a bit different than typically seen in most artworks of Saint Lucy.
Saint Lucy, patron saint of the blind, pray for us!
Day 6: Saint Josephine Bakhita
"If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and religious today."
A day behind...and not my best work, but the story of Saint Josephine Bakhita, despite all it's horrors and tragedies, tells a story of hope.
Despite being kidnapped at the age of six, sold into slavery, tortured, and wounded by her owners for years, Josephine Bakhita had a strong "knowing" throughout it all that someone somewhere out there deeply loved her.
And when she stared at a crucifix for the first time, she knew just who that was.
By the grace of God, Josephine Bakhita was finally freed at the age of 20 and became a Canossian sister in Venice. When someone asked Josephine what she would do if she ever met her captors again, she responded with a message of hope we should all take to heart.
She would kiss their hands...and thank them.
Their actions were not excusable, and I'm sure the trauma wrought by years of torture was not easily overcome on Josephine's part.
Yet, she chose to focus on the beautiful side of her story: How Our Lord can redeem even the most ugliest of circumstances and turn them into masterpieces that only speak of His Love.
Saint Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of human trafficking, pray for us!
