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. Mary's of Redford Church

City: Redford

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Subject/Title of Window: Foolish Virgin

Brief Description of Subject: In Matthew 24, Christ told the Apostles about the Last Judgment and they asked him "When will it come?" Jesus answers that question in Matthew 25 with the "Parable of the Ten Virgins."

"At That time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom (Christ). Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take oil with them. The wise however took oil jars along with their lamps." The bridegroom was late and arrived at night. The wise virgins were able to light their lamps and escort the bridegroom to the banquet (Heaven). The foolish had to buy oil and by that time the banquet had already started and were locked out. Jesus then makes clear the message "Watch ye, for you know not the day nor the hour."

The foolish virgin with her oil jar empty and her lamp unlit is pictured on one side of the main door while the wise virgin with her lit lamp and jar is on the other side. The placement of these windows by the main door is appropriate as a very popular subject for the tympanum over the main door in Medieval churches was the Last Judgment --- reminding those entering the church to be prepared for its coming.

Height: 45"

Width: 25"

Foolish Virgin, photo by Robert J. Scott
Foolish Virgin, photo by Robert J. Scott

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