Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: First United Methodist Church

Studio Name: Beaux Art Studio

Artist Name: Francois Grenier

City: Farmington

Window Shape: 6 (gothic arched, more than 2 vertical sections)

Date of Window: 1922

Subject/Title of Window: Sheaf of Wheat

Brief Description of Subject: All of the aisle windows consist of three lancets which were designed to let light into the Church. Each contains a shield with a Christian symbol.

The sheaf of wheat is a metaphor for those deemed worthy at the Last Judgment --- the souls of the righteous are figuratively harvested and will be reborn (given eternal life). This metaphor is used in many passages in the New Testament --- Two examples:

Parable of the field of wheat and weeds is about the Last Judgment as told by Jesus in Matthew 12:24 - 30. A man plants wheat in his field and an evil person comes and sows weeds. At harvest time the reapers will gather the weeds and burn them but the wheat will be gathered up and put into his barn.

At harvest time, the Jews were required to take the first sheaf harvested and give it to the priests, who would then wave it to God as an offering. This "wave-sheaf" became known as the "first fruits." In James 1:18 NIV "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a king of first fruits of all he created."

Height: 88"

Width: 96"

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