Carnivalesque Cathedral: Ode to St. Albans

St. Albans, a town that dates back to Roman times, is a little ways northwest of London.

Here is Penelope next to St. Alban's Cathedral. Just a typical cathedral. A typical cathedral with big cathedral walls, pretty cathedral stained glass windows--just like all those other cathedrals we've already toured in Europe.

Upon entering St. Alban's Cathedral the strong of aroma of incense fills your nose, and a holy light from the heavens streams in the windows. Doesn't that make you want to burst into a "Hallelujah" chorus?

And then as my eyes adjust to the dim light and start to scan the huge space before me, something brightly colored catches my attention.

A very and bright and lively nave screen. A Carnival celebration of saints--or St. Alban's version of saints!

Apparently the original nave statues were removed (read "stolen") by Henry VIII, and the children of the parish in conjunction with carnival artists made these replacements. St. Albans is in the middle with the flag. Can you guess the identities of the others? (Scroll down for the answers.) Here's a cool BBC piece about them:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/12/22/divine_art_stalbans_screen_feature.shtml

Penelope enjoyed her visit to St. Albans.



Here are the answers:

Numbers 5-11 are in the picture. #5 Ianani Luwum, #6 Martin Luther King, Jr., #7 Elizabeth of Russia, #8 St. Alban, #9 Amphibalus, #10 Manche Masemola, #11 Oscar Romero. In the second picture is #12 Sundar Singh and #13 Dietrich Bonhoeffer.