Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. John Lutheran Church

Studio Name: City Glass Specialty Inc.

City: Rochester

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

Date of Window: 1982

Subject/Title of Window: The Incarnation

Brief Description of Subject: This three lancet transept window is titled "The Incarnation" --- ``The Word was God ... and the Word became flesh" (John 1:14).
 
At the top of the center lancet is the great Epiphany star representing the coming of light. At the top of the side lancets are angels proclaiming Christ's Holy birth. The Holy Family is portrayed with the Magi (three crowns). These two scenes are from the gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew.
 
Below the scenes are symbols that point to the Incarnation:
 
Four Lit Advent Candles --- The candles are lit one at a time on the four Sundays preceding the Incarnation. The first is the Prophecy Candle (a.k.a. the Isaiah Candle) symbolizing "hope." The second is the Bethlehem Candle symbolizing "love." The third is the Shepherd's Candle symbolizing "joy." The fourth is the Angels' Candle symbolizing "peace."
 
The Burning Bush --- Christian theology includes the idea of "types" --- Christ appears in other forms in the Old Testament." In Exodus 3:2 an "Angel of the Lord" appears to Moses in a burning bush. This "Angel of the Lord" was seen by many of the Early Church Fathers as the Pre-Incarnate Christ.
 
Messianic Rose --- This symbol of the Messiah comes from Isaiah's prophecy of the "Kingdom of Righteousness" found in Isaiah Chapters 32 through 35 --- "A king will reign in righteousness ... the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them [the redeemed]; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like a rose."
 
Two flowers associated with the Incarnation are seen in the ventilators:
 
Poinsettia --- This flower is native to South America and was brought to the United States in the 19th Century. The leaf pattern of the red flower is somewhat star-shaped and symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem, while the red has come to symbolize the blood of Christ shed at the Crucifixion.
 
Common Daisy --- Before Christianity this flower was a symbol of "innocence."  As a Christian symbol it continued that association and came to symbolize the innocence of the Christ Child.

Height: 22’

Width: 10’

Type of Glass and Technique: Slab or Faceted Glass (Dalle de Verre)

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