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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. John the Baptist Catholic Church

City: Ypsilanti

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1933

Subject/Title of Window: Resurrection/Three Marys at the Tomb/Risen Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene/Doubting Thomas

Brief Description of Subject: Each of the 10 aisle windows contain four roundels that picture events in the life of Christ, for a total of 40 scenes. These scenes are arranged, somewhat, in a chronological order starting with the Annunciation (nearest the sanctuary on the epistle) and ending with Christ the King (nearest the sanctuary on the Gospel side).

The roundels in this window from top to bottom:
Resurrection. The Bible does not cover the actual Resurrection scene, rather it begins with the discovery of the empty tomb. Thus, artists are given a wide latitude in how to portray the Resurrection, however there was a period of time when the Church discouraged depictions of Jesus hovering in the air, feet had to be on the ground as presented here. The presence of two angels at the tomb comes from the Old Testament where two cherubim angels were assigned to guard the ark of the covenant.
Three Marys at the Tomb (Mark 16:1 - 6). On the Sunday after his death, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Mary Salome, went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. When they arrived, they noticed the tomb was open and when they looked in, "they saw a young man sitting on the right side, covered with a white robe, and they were astonished. And he said to them, 'Do not be frightened. You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One. He has risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him,'" (CPDV).In art, Mary Magdalene, as here, is generally depicted with an uncovered head and long redish hair.
Risen Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:10 - 16). After Mary Magdalene saw the empty tomb she told the disciples of the news and they went and saw the empty tomb for themselves. They left, and Mary Magdalene was alone weeping, when she saw two angels, one was seated at the front on the tomb the other on the back. "They said to her 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they had taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have placed him.' When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there but did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her: 'Woman why are you weeping" Who are you seeking?' Considering it was a gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have moved him, tell me where you have placed him, and I will take him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' And turning she said to him, 'Rabboni!' (which means teacher)," (CPDV).
Doubting Thomas (John 20:24 - 29). "Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Twin, was not with them when Jesus arrived. Therefore, the other disciples said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I will see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the place of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe.' And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Jesus arrived, though the doors were closed, and he stood in their midst and said 'Peace to you.' Next he said to Thomas: 'Look at my hands, and place your finger here, and bring your hand close, and place it at my side. And do not chose to be unbelieving, but faithful.' Thomas responded and said to him, 'My Lord and my God.' Jesus said to him: 'You have seen me, Thomas, so you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed,'" (CPDV).

Inscriptions: Don and Jennie O'Brien


Condition of Window: Good

Height: 12'

Width: 46"

Type of Glass and Technique: Antique or Cathedral Glass, Lead Came, Vitreous Paint

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.

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