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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. Elizabeth of Hungary

Brief Description of Subject: 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. Elizabethof Hungary (1207 - 1231) was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. At age 14 she was married off to Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. Throughout her life she was devoted to caring for the sick and poor. She founded a hospital in honor of St. Francis. In 1228 she became a member of the 3rd Order of St. Francis Secular and is its Patron Saint.
 
Elizabeth is best known for the "Miracle of the Roses," which is pictured here. She was secretly taking bread to the poor when she was confronted by her brother-in-law who thought she was stealing from the treasury and demanded to see what was hidden under her cloak. When she opened her cloak the bread had miraculously changed into roses.
 
On her head is the Crown of Thorns instead of her princess' crown. The story behind this attribute is best explained by Benedict XVI in speaking about her to a crowd in Peter's Square:
 
"With her profound sensitivity, Elizabeth saw contradictions between the faith professed and Christian practice. She could not compromise. Once, on entering a church on the feast of the Feast of the Assumption, she took off her crown, laid it before the Crucifix and, covering her face, lay prostrate on the ground. When her mother-in-law reprimanded her for this gesture, Elizabeth answered: 'How can I, a wretched creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?' "
 
At this time it is not known what the predellas of the windows from the closed church looked like. The one here is viewed separately from the window and contains the inscription.

Inscriptions: SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY


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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