Year 9 Religion Project Chatre

St Agnes Rooty Hill

During the middle ages, the building of Chatre Cathedral in France saw a unique equilibrium arise in a society that had walls between the classes.

In order to build a throne of earth for Mary Kings and Queens, alongside peasants, shared the physical labour of building the great cathedral and its artworks. One legend states that when a mule struggled to carry the stone, several nobles and peasants shared the burden of the weight – a beautiful example of all of Creation sharing a common Gospel filled purpose.

In order to demonstrate the power of such stories, and to highlight the ‘visual’ methods of evangelization that were born out of the middle ages, students from 9A1 and 9B4 Religious Education created two large mosaics to highlight two significant figures that they have studied in the unit ‘Christianity in the Middle Ages’.

The first mosaic features Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicea, which saw the writing of the Nicene Creed. This profession of faith is a document of binding beliefs between all Christians. It is also from Emperor Constantine that we have received the Chi Roh ‘P’ and ‘X’ that features on our school crest. It is the monogram of Jesus in ancient Greek.

St Agnes Rooty Hill

The second image is of St Francis preaching to the birds and is the moment where St Francis’ commitment to ecology and witnessing God present in all Creation becomes a core focus for him, and for all Franciscans.

The students are to be commended on the extraordinary efforts and the commitment they invested.

In addition to this, students researched a significant figure from a list of individuals who contributed to and changed the course of Christianity’s development. This research was analysed and converted into an oral presentation. Part of their research involved dressing as the chosen individual and speaking from within that person’s persona.

Some of the figures included St Hildergard von Bingen, St Francis of Assisi, King Henry VIII, St Clare, St Helena, Emperor Constantine and Martin Luther.

Year 9 are to be congratulated on the level of academia in which they engaged their research and the spirited way in which they performed in front of their peers.