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

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Window

Building Name: St. Mary's of Redford Church

City: Redford

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: Jacob's Dream at Bethel

Brief Description of Subject: This narthex window, located in the stairway leading up to the choir loft, depicts "Jacob's Dream at Bethel" which is covered in Genesis 28:10-15. The Latin word for "ladder" is the same as the word for "stairway". Thus in translating from the Vulgate to English, what Jacob saw in his dream can be called either "Jacob's Ladder" or "Stairway to Heaven".

Jacob, who with the help of his mother (Rebecca), had tricked his father (Isaac) into making him the heir rather than his older twin Esau. To escape the expected wrath of Esau, he set out for Haran. When night came he lay down to sleep and "He had a dream in which he saw a STAIRWAY RESTING ON EARTH, WITH ITS TOP REACHING TO HEAVEN, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON IT. THERE ABOVE IT STOOD THE LORD, and he said: 'I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying'."

Height: 49"

Width: 19"

Jacob's Dream at Bethel
Jacob's Dream at Bethel
Jacob's Dream at Bethel, close-up
Jacob's Dream at Bethel, close-up

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