Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.

MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. John's Episcopal Church

Studio Name: Willet Hauser Architectural Glass

City: Royal Oak

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Date of Window: 1945

Subject/Title of Window: Joseph Father of Jesus

Brief Description of Subject: This window was designed for this parish's Gothic styled church which opened in 1926. Subsequently the congregation needed a larger space and replaced this Church with a modern styled church which opened in 1957, taking the stained glass windows to the new church. This window is now located on the second level of the Gospel side transept.

This is the "St. Joseph, Father of Jesus Window," and is bordered with geometric patterns as well as pictures of animals, boats, angels, buildings, et al.

The top level depicts an angel holding a shield with attributes of St. Joseph --- a carpenters square for his profession and a lily symbolizing his purity.

Below this, is scene with an angel appearing to Joseph lying on a bed, and the inscription, "Jesus." This comes from the story found in Matthew 1:20 - 21. Joseph was pledged to the Virgin Mary but found her with child and, being a righteous man, planned to divorce her privately to avoid disgracing her in public. "But after he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 'JESUS', '" (NIV).

The figure of Joseph is pictured holding a lily --- in the context of the scene above, this symbolizes complete trust in God (Matthew 6:28).

According to Church records, this window is a tribute to William O. Batt, Church School Treasurer for 25 years and Mildred Batt, faithful Choir Mother. It was a gift from the Church School and dedicated June 3, 1945.

Inscriptions: Jesus
St. Joseph
William Batt for twenty five years Church School Treasurer
and to Mildred Batt faithful Choir Mother.


Condition of Window: Good

Type of Glass and Technique: Lead Came

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