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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Studio Name: Willet Hauser Architectural Glass

City: Detroit

Window Shape: 6 (gothic arched, more than 2 vertical sections)

Subject/Title of Window: The Institution of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Brief Description of Subject: At the top of all of the apse windows are beautiful angels holding a scroll and shields at their feet. The inscriptions prefigure that the Messiah would suffer and die for us. Panel one: Psalm 60:20-21 "I LOOKED FOR SOME TO PITY BUT THERE WAS NONE .... They gave me gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink". Panel 2 Psalm 69:20 "YET IT PLEASED THE LORD TO BRUISE HIM; he hath put him to grief .... Christ by offering up himself will give life to his Church and cause them to live forever." Panel 3 Luke 2:35 "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE THINE OWN HEART (soul)." Panel 4 Isaiah 53:4 "SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS, and carried our sorrows .... but he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by his bruises we are healed." The shields at the feet of the angels contain Christian symbols, some of which contain instruments of the Passion (Arma Christi), others seen here include three tents (transfiguration), a chalice with a snake crawling out of it (John the Evangelist). The angel in the second panel has the Hebrew letters for "Yahweh" inside a triangle -- symbol for the Trinity, and the angel in the third panel wears a medallion containing a tau-rho cross (Jesus on the cross). At the bottom of the scene there are symbols inside the arches. The outer arches contain decorative symbols while the inner arches contain a chalice (Holy Grail) and a sword piercing a heart (Luke 2:35).

The institution of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the Last Supper is found in all four of the Gospels but only in the Gospel of John is it mentioned that Judas Iscariot had the purse and Jesus told him to buy what was needed for the festival (Passover) and give the rest to the poor. Judas then left with the bag of money. (John 13:26-30)

The bottom portion of the window contains saints which include Athanasius, Louis IX, Henry II, Pope Gregory and Cardinal Borromeo.

From the Guide to the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Copyright 1958, Archdiocese of Detroit.
The chronological sequence of Christ’s last hours is here broken to give central emphasis to the Holy Eucharist in whose honor the church is dedicated and which is celebrated daily on the altar beneath. The chief figure is Christ sitting at a table with His apostles in the upper room where they had assembled for the Last Supper. St. John leans upon His breast. Our Lord holds the chalice in one hand and the host in the other while about His head and shoulders gleams a light symbolic of His divinity. In the panel to the extreme left Judas can be seen sneaking out of the gathering with a money bag clutched tightly in his hand. In the other panels are grouped the rest of the apostles listening intently to Our Lord's prophecy of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Hovering above these lancets are angels with sheilds that symbolize the different instruments of the Passion of Christ.

The Latin text beneath this window carries the words of Jesus to the unbelieving Thomas: "Blessed are they who have not seen and believed." In the smaller panels beneath this and the other four windows of the apse, march a triumphant procession of saints of the early church--martyrs, confessors, popes, bishops, priests, virigins--all with their faces twoard the source of their joy and holiness as He sits at the table with His chosen few.

Inscriptions: BEATI QUI NON VIDERUNT ET CREDIDERUM (John 20:29)


Height: 25'

Width: 8.5'

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