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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel

Studio Name: Emil Frei Associates, Inc.

City: Livonia

Window Shape: 5 (gothic arched, 2 vertical sections)

Subject/Title of Window: Titles of the Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto #1

Brief Description of Subject: This two lancet aisle window is located on the epistle side of the public seating section of the Chapel. All aisle windows and transept windows have the same basic pattern, two lancet windows, the top symbol in each lancet sets the topic for that lancet, and the four symbols below are each encased in a geometrical shape surrounded by grisaille glass. The border and filler color used, like the geometric shape, is unique to the section of the Chapel they are located in --- the public section uses an ovalish shape and the color of amber.
 
The Litany of Loreto was a prayer approved by Pope Sixtus in 1587. Originally there was to be no additions. However after a time subsequent Popes approved additions.
 
Left Lancet symbols starting at the top.
 
Crown and lily symbol indicates the four symbols below apply to Mary.
 
Mother of Divine Grace --- Pictured is a white lily (the Blessed Virgin Mary) as a water fountain. The suitability of this symbol is described in the 1750 book "The Illustrated Litany of Loreto '' by Franz Xavier Dornn and illuminated by Klauber Studio. Translated in 1878 from Latin by Thomas Canon Pope. "Mary as the mother of Divine Grace, is here correctly represented as a fountain whose water is gushing ... for it is she who, in the Angelical Salutation, is styled Gratiae plena --- full of grace, and in a qualified sense, she can assert herself: "In me gratia omnis --- in me is all grace." Equally, as the sea abounds in waters. so Mary who derives her name, Mari, from the sea, abounds in grace."
 
Gate of Heaven --- The words come from Jacob's dream as found in Genesis 28:16 -17, In a dream he saw angels climbing up and down a stairway to heaven, and at the top was the Lord. "And when Jacob awakened out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place ... This is no other but the house of God and the gate of heaven." Mary as the "Gate of Heaven" comes from St. Ambrose and St. Augustine's interpretation of Ezekiel 44:1 - 3 --- "And he brought me back to the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut. And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it will not be opened, and no man shall pass through it because the Lord God of Israel, hath entered it, and it shall be shut." Their interpretation was this gate was a type for the Virgin Mary --- Mary was the gate through which Jesus entered the world and then that gate was shut, Mary remained a virgin.
 
Queen of Virgins --- This title is pictured here with a crown (queen) and a lily (symbol of virginity). The origin of this title is not known with certainty. Some believe it might be from Apocryphal writings.  
 
Comforteress of the Afflicted --- This title comes from the Augustinians. St. Monica was deeply afflicted by the loss of her husband and the waywardness of her son St. Augustine. She sought solace from the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary comforted her and gave her a cincture. Pictured here is the disc of the moon. The relevance of this symbol as explained on the University of Dayton's All About Mary page. It is from an explanation of why the Klauber brothers in their 1750 book, The Illustrated Litany of Loreto, featured a disk of the moon on their illustration of Mary as Comfortress of the Afflicted: "The contrast between Mary's constancy, fidelity and unwavering faith and the changing status of the waxing and waning moon heightens Mary's reliability as consoler and comforter. In antiquity, the moon was guide and protector of charioteers."
 
Right Lancet symbols starting at the top.
 
Crown and Lily symbol indicates the four symbols below apply to Mary.
 
Mystical Rose --- pictured is a thornless rose. This title for the Blessed Virgin Mary as "Mystical Rose" has much to do with the writings of St. Ambrose on the Immaculate Conception as explained in the 2020 article by Laura S. Lieber, professor of Religious Studies at Duke University: According to Ambrose of Milan, the Church Father who lived in the fourth century, ... roses first grew in the Garden of Eden, and those first roses were entirely without thorns. Only after Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were expelled from the Garden did these blossoms acquire their prickly defenses [Genesis 3:17-18]. Rose blossoms, with their beauty and aroma, serve as enduring reminders of Paradise, even as roses' thorns remind us that paradise has been lost. According to St. Ambrose, the Virgin Mary is the "the rose without thorns": born free of Original Sin, she was free of the thorns --- the sins --- that had pricked humankind since Eve ate from the apple."
 
House of Gold --- In the Old Testament the "House of Gold" refers to the temple Solomon built. In 1 Kings 6:21 - 22, "Solomon covered the inside of the temple with gold ... He also overlaid with gold that altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary." This is the place God resided. This is a type for Mary as Mary's womb is the house where Jesus resided for nine months.
 
Seat of Wisdom --- According to Cardinal John Newman: "Mary has this title in her Litany, because the Son of God, who is called in Scriptures the Word and Wisdom of God, once dwelt in her, and then, after His birth, was carried in her arms and seated in her lap in His first years. Thus, being as it were, the human throne [chair] of Him who reigns in heaven, she is called the "Seat of Wisdom."
 
Tower of David--- This title comes from the Virgin Mary as an Old Testament type for the description of the woman in Song of Songs 4:4, "Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields of warriors." There are many explanations as to why this is a type for Mary. Three examples, as found at the University of Dayton's site, would be:  Mary gives protection to all those who seek refuge against temptation and danger (Albertus Magnus), Mary's womb gave life and protection to Jesus (Richard of St. Laurent), and the white tower is a symbol of her undefiled virginity (Salzer 12:21).
 
The date is unknown, but this window was in place in 1944.

Height: 11'

Width: 6'

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