Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Holy Name Church

Studio Name: Detroit Stained Glass Works, The

City: Birmingham

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Date of Window: 1955

Subject/Title of Window: St. Augustine of Hippo

Brief Description of Subject: This is one of six aisle windows that portray Doctors of the Church.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430) is one of the four Great Latin Fathers. He spent his early life enamored with Greek philosophy. Soon after moving to Milan, the diocese of St. Ambrose, he heard a voice telling him to open a letter of St. Paul and read it. At random he chose Romans 13:13 - 14, "Let us conduct ourselves properly ... not in promiscuity and licentiousness ... but put on the Lord Jesus Christ." That text moved him, and he was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. He was ordained a priest in 391, and became the Bishop of Hippo in 395. Arguably he is the most important writer of Christian philosophy. His most influential books include Confessions, On the Trinity, and City of God.

His attributes seen here are:

Dressed in a red cope over a white tunic, and symbols of a bishop --- crosier and mitre.

At the top, a white circle with tongues of fire inscribed with a Hebrew word for God (Yahweh), all set in a triangle. A triangle inscribed with "Yahweh" is usually associated with God the Father in the Trinity.

At the bottom, a model of a Church. This refers to Augustine's writings in his book "City of God '' where he envisions the Church as a city of God which is concerned with the spiritual as opposed to an earthly city that is concerned with the political. That book was written in response to the belief that Christianity was the cause of the problems in the Roman Empire.

This window was designed by Margaret Bouchez Cavanaugh when she worked at the Detroit Stained Glass Works.

Condition of Window: Good

Height: 112"

Width: 34"

Type of Glass and Technique: Antique or Cathedral Glass

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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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