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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: Descent of the Holy Spirit/Crowning of Thorns/Nativity

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

The "Descent of the Holy Spirit is the 3rd Glorious Mystery and is covered in Acts 2. The followers of Christ had assembled in a room for the celebration of the Jewish festival of Pentecost when tongues of fire descended on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. With the designation of the "Descent of the Holy Spirit" as a Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Virgin Mary will almost always be, as here, the center of attention either flanked or surrounded by the apostles. The book that the Virgin Mary is holding has a monogram on its cover. This monogram can form all the letters from the word "Maria" or "Miriam" --- names for Mary in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament.

The "Crowning of Thorns" is the 3rd Sorrowful Mystery and is covered in all four Gospels. Mark 15:16-20 "They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' Again and again they struck him on the head with staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, the paid homage to him."

The "Nativity" is the 3rd Joyous Mystery of the Rosary. Today we would expect to see a more motherly depiction for the "Nativity". This particular rendition was common in the Medieval Period. The Virgin Mary lying in a modern (for that time period) bed, Joseph at the foot of the bed, and Jesus lying on a crib that is designed to look like an altar to symbolize that he will be sacrificed for our sins.

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

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

Inscriptions: In Memory of Mary A Killian by her daughters Margaret, Noemi, Frances


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