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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Mary's of Redford Church

Studio Name: Connick (Charles J.), Ltd.

City: Redford

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1926

Subject/Title of Window: Resurrection/Agony in the Garden/Annunciation

Brief Description of Subject: This is the first in a series of 5 windows depicting Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

The "Resurrection" is the first of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The actual story is not covered in the Bible, it only starts with the discovery of the empty tomb, thus artists are given a wide latitude in their depiction of the event. Here the risen Christ is seen with his feet above the ground flanked by adoring angels and guards cowering in fear.

The "Agony in the Garden" is the first of the Sorrowful Mysteries. It is covered in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The stories are basically the same but differ in some minor details. As here, artists combine parts from each. Brief synopsis of combined story with quotes from Luke 22:39-46: Jesus, accompanied by the Apostles Peter, James the Greater, and John, comes to pray at the Garden of Gethsemane. He tells them "not to enter into temptation" and withdraws from them a short distance and being in agony he begins to pray 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.' Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." When he rejoined the Apostles he "found them sleeping in sorrow."

The "Annunciation" is the first of the Joyous Mysteries. Brief synopsis: The angel Gabriel is sent by God to tell the Virgin Mary that by the power of the Holy Spirit she will conceive a son that will be the Messiah. In this window, Mary is seen kneeling (humility) by an open book with the inscription "Luke 1:26" which refers to the stories starting point in the Bible. Gabriel is seen holding lilies (purity) and a scroll inscribed with its greeting to Mary "Ave Maria Gratia Plena" --- Hail Mary full of grace. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove descending in shining rays of light, is making the word incarnate. Urn on floor is inscribed with a monogram of the name "Maria" and filled with lilies -- a symbol for the "Annunciation."

Outside the medallion are found Christian symbols encased in a roundel, square or triangle. The border is a floral pattern made up of lilies and roses --- flowers associated with the Virgin Mary.

The makers signatures appears at the bottom right of the window.

Inscriptions: In the Memory of Alfred David
By his wife Mrs. Anna David


Height: ~150"

Width: 45"

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