Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Mary Catholic Church

City: Royal Oak

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

Subject/Title of Window: Fleur-de-Lis and Star of the Sea

Brief Description of Subject: This two lancet window is located in the stairwell leading up to the balcony. It features a fleur-de-lis and a star shining its light on the sea below.

The fleur-de-lis (a stylized lily) is the symbol of royalty and is used to refer to the Virgin Mary as the "Queen of Heaven."

The star shining its light down on the sea illustrates Mary's title as "Star of the Sea." This title originated from a copying error. Her Hebrew name means "drop of the sea." In Latin, St. Jerome translated this as "Stilla Maris," which in the 5th Century was miscopied as "Stella Maris" --- "Star of the Sea."

The appropriateness of this title by St. Thomas Aquinas (13th Century), "The name Mary, which is interpreted as 'star of the sea,' befits her; sailors are guided by the stars, so also Christians are guided by Mary unto glory." 

Height: 94"

Width: 46"

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