Stained Glass banner image

Featured Window

Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.




Window

Building Name: St. James Episcopal Church

Studio Name: Lamb (J. and R.) Co.

City: Birmingham

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Subject/Title of Window: One Was a Priest - St. David of Wales

Brief Description of Subject: This aisle window is located in the Children's Chapel. All windows in the Chapel were designed to relate to children and provide a learning experience for them.
 
This is the second of three windows that together complete a couplet from the children's song "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God," composed by Lesbia Scott. The inscription "One Was a Priest" is the second part of the first verse of the couplet in the second stanza of that song. The Church selected St. David as an example of a saintly soldier.
 
St. David (c.500 - 589) was a bishop, and is the Patron Saint of Wales. He is known for his preaching and the founding of many religious communities in Wales and Brittany. One time while preaching, the earth miraculously rose up under him, and a white dove perched on his shoulder. Once, before a battle, St. David had the Welsh warriors put a leek in their hats so they could distinguish friend from foe. The leek has since become a symbol of Wales, and is worn on hats for St. David's Day.
 
For this window, the artist has pictured St. David as a bishop, holding a crozier, and giving a blessing. A white dove is perched on his shoulder, and the ground around him has risen up. At his feet is a Welsh harp, a symbol of Wales. On the shield in the predella is a leek. To the left of the inscription "Priest," is a Celtic Cross which is of religious importance to Welsh culture.

Inscriptions: One Was A Priest
Saint David


Condition of Window: Excellent

Height: 5'

Width: 39"

Type of Glass and Technique: Antique or Cathedral Glass

One Was a Priest - St. David of Wales
One Was a Priest - St. David of Wales

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