Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Madonna University Welcome Center

City: Livonia

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: St. Francis of Assisi

Brief Description of Subject: St. Francis (1181 - 1226) renounced all material possessions and was directed by Christ to repair a small abandoned Benedictine Chapel called St. Mary of the Angels --- better known as "Portiuncula" (little portion). He lived in the Chapel and was joined by many followers. In 1209 he founded the "Order of Friars Minor" a.k.a. "Franciscans." In 1224 he received the stigmata from Christ in the form of a seraph. Just two years after his death, Pope Gregory IX declared him a saint.
 
The sides and canopy provide an architectural setting for this window. Of the six portraiture windows covered, three use the same architecture as this window, and three use a different one.
 
St. Francis is pictured here with tonsured hair, and costumed as a Franciscan Friar --- hooded brown robe with a knotted rope cincture. His left and right hands are supporting a book with a leather cover (hard to see as it blends in with the brown garment). His stigmata is visible on his hands and feet. In the background to the right is the Portiuncula, and to the left is the Rocca Maggiora, a fortress located in Assisi.
 
The book St. Francis is holding is known as the St. Francis Missal. In 1208 Francis and two of his followers were pondering founding an order and looked for guidance. They would employ the Medieval practice called "sortes sanctorum" (holy lottery) that calls for randomly selecting three pages for a sacred text, one for each member of the Trinity. They went to St. Nicolo of Assisi and randomly selected three pages from the Missal on the altar. The passages selected were:
 
Matthew 16:24, "If anyone come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Mark 10:21, "Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me."
Luke 9:3, Take nothing for the journey --- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.
 
Following this guidance in 1209 Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor as a mendicant order. The Missal still exists and is on display at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. It is considered a holy relic as it was touched by St. Francis.
 
Note the window needs to restore the piece of glass near the top of the cincture.
 
At this time it is not known what the predella of the windows from the closed church looked like. The one used here is viewed separately from the window and contains the inscription.

Inscriptions: SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI


Height: Lancet with predella: Height: 8 ft --- Lancet with predella 9 ft.

Width: Width 3 ft. Predella: Width: 29 in (is shorter as in the closed church windows the predella was designed to allow air circulation.)

The MSGC is a constantly evolving database. Not all the data that has been collected by volunteers has been sorted and entered. Not every building has been completely documented.

All images in the Index are either born-digital photographs of windows or buildings or are scans of slides, prints, or other published sources. These images have been provided by volunteers and the quality of the material varies widely.

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