Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Mary's of Redford Church

Artist Name: Walter G. Ball

City: Redford

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: Eli/Sacrifices of Cain and Abel/Isaiah

Brief Description of Subject: One of a series of four windows, each consisting of three medallions, in the sanctuary showing the roots of the Mass in the Old Testament.

The Catholic Mass consists of two parts:

A) The Liturgy of the Word -- which consists of readings (words of God) from the Bible. The bottom medallion will illustrate this with an Old Testament prophet -- one chosen to speak for God.

B) The Liturgy of the Eucharist -- bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Jesus and offered to God for the forgiveness of our sins. This is made clear in the Eucharistic prayer, referring to the "Holy Bread of eternal Life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation", the priest prays "Be pleased to look upon them, as you were pleased to ACCEPT THE GIFTS OF YOUR SERVANT ABEL the just, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of your high priest Melchizedak." The middle medallion will illustrate this with sacrifices from the Old Testament.

The Catholic Mass is performed by a priest as were the religious ceremonies in the Old Testament. The top medallion will depict an Old Testament priest.

The bottom medallion of this window depicts the prophet Isaiah. His name is inscribed on a banner that he is holding. He is enclosed in a 12 sided geometric figure which symbolizes the 12 tribes of Israel.

The middle medallion pictures the sacrifices of Cain and Abel and is covered in Gen.4:2-4. Abel's sacrifice of a lamb was accepted by God while Cain's offering of fruits from the land was rejected.

The top medallion is inscribed with the name "Eli". Eli was the high priest of Shiloh. He is enclosed in a 12 sided figure which symbolizes the 12 tribes of Israel.

The border of this window is made up of a floral pattern of stylized flowers.

Inscriptions: The Frazier Roy Memorial


Height: 10'

Width: 3'

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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.

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