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Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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Window

Building Name: St. John Armenian Church

Studio Name: Loire (Gabriel) Studios

City: Southfield

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1966

Subject/Title of Window: Saint Gregory the Illuminator

Brief Description of Subject: The architects description of the 16 dome windows:
"The sixteen windows radiating from the central disk at the top of the dome portray saints important to the Armenian Church --- thirteen apostles [includes Saint Paul] and three Armenian saints. SAINT GREGORY the Illuminator, evangelist of the Armenians and Patron Saint of the Armenian Church, is placed in the window just above the altar. It is flanked by the inseparable twosome, SAINT SAHAG AND SAINT MESROB, founders of Armenian literature. The first of these two was responsible for the translation of the Holy Bible, and the latter was the originator of the Armenian alphabet."
In this window, Saint Gregory is depicted with attributes of a hammer pickaxe and the Holy Etchmiadzin Cathedral --- center of the Armenian Apostolic Church.  
These attributes stem from a vision that Saint Gregory had of Christ descending from heaven with a golden hammer and pointing to a spot in Armenia. Saint Gregory's interpretation was that Christ wanted a church built on this spot. That church, the original Holy Etchmiadzin Cathedral, was completed on this spot in 303. 

Height: 8'

Width: 2'

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

Gregory the Illuminator
Gregory the Illuminator
Gregory the Illuminator outside
Gregory the Illuminator outside

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