Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church

City: Detroit

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: Clerestory Window St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Cecilia

Brief Description of Subject: There are six such four lancet windows in the clerestory of the nave, each featuring saints in the center lancets and bookended by lancets designed to let light into the Church.
 
Pictured in the left lancet's medallion are a gold key, a silver key, and a cross. These refer to Matthew 16:9, Christ (cross) gives Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Traditional Christian iconography illuminates this with two keys --- a gold key for heaven, and a silver key for Earth. This lancet was donated by Steven Kosmicki.
 
Pictured in the center left lancet is St. Hedwig of Silesia (1174 - 1243). She was born into royalty, and at age 12 was married to Henry 1, who became the head of the Piast Dynasty. At her urging they built a Cistercian ABBEY IN THE TOWN OF TRZEBNICA. In 1232 she became the HIGH DUCHESS concert of Poland. Upon Henry's death, Hedwig moved into the abbey they had built, and as a LAY SISTER attended to the sick and the poor. St. Hedwig is pictured here as a Cistercian lay sister wearing a royal robe and crown. In her left hand she is holding a copy of the abbey in Trzebnica. This lancet was gifted in memory of Katherine Karkowski. 
 
Pictured in the center right lancet is St. Cecilia (3rd Century). She is celebrated as the patron saint of musicians and singers. This stems from a story recorded in the Golden Legend that at her marriage "While the MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS were playing, the virgin Cecilia sang in her heart to her only Lord." She is portrayed here with her left hand resting on a harp, and in the background sheet music on a stand. This lancet was donated by the family of K. Bankowski.
 
The medallion in the right lancet features a snake crawling up a tree. This comes from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden as found in Genesis 3, a serpent tempts Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from a forbidden tree. This lancet was donated by Barbara Zoltowski.

Inscriptions: Stefan Kosmicki In Memoriam
Katarzyna Karkowska
Rodzina K. Bankowskich
Barbara Zoltowski


Height: 6'

Width: 20'

Type of Glass and Technique: Opalescent Glass

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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