Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Sweetest Heart of Mary Church

Studio Name: Detroit Stained Glass Works, The

City: Detroit

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: Poland window

Brief Description of Subject: A political inspired window in the shape of a star. It features symbols of the Polish nation which Father Kolasinski used in hope of uniting his people. He hoped, at the same time, to minimize the sectional regionalism which the Partisionshad occasioned and which he found rampant among the immigrant Pioneer Detroit Polanders. In the center of the window is the Madonna and child, on the left is the Polish eagle, on the right is the Knight of Lithuania and at the base is St. Michael, representing white Russia. Together all this symbolizes Greater Poland.

Poland ceased to exist as a country in 1793. It had been swallowed up by its neighbors -- Russia,. Prussia, and Austria, It would not appear on maps until it became a country again as a result of the treaty of Versailles
which ended WW1.

Picture in center is based on banners from the "January Uprising" which started over forced conscription of Poles into the Russian Army in 1863. The uprising spilled over into Lithuania and parts of what is now Ukraine and Belarus.

Inscriptions: Boze Zbaw Polske. Translation: "GOD, deliver Poland" or more commonly "GOD, save Poland".

Inscription around picture of Jesus and Mary in Latin: Counter clockwise -- "Jesus + Maria". Clockwise: Regina + Poloniae + Ora + Pro + Nobis. Translates as a prayer "Queen of Poland pray for us". The Austrian occupied part of Poland was named "Galicia". Austrian officials changed the prayer to "Queen of Galicia and Lodomeria pray for us". The parishioners of the Sweetest Heart of Mary were almost entirely from Galicia, hence the importance of this prayer written as it should be to them.

Condition of Window: Restored, 1979

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.

If you have any questions, additions or corrections, or think you can provide better images and are willing to share them, please contact donald20@msu.edu