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Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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Window

Building Name: St. John's Episcopal Church

Studio Name: Gorham Company

City: Detroit

Window Shape: 5 (gothic arched, 2 vertical sections)

Date of Window: 1917

Subject/Title of Window: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

Brief Description of Subject: The grisaille glass in the upper part of the window is original to the window, and at one time, extended to the bottom. In their book "Detroit Historic Places of Worship," Collum, Krueger, and Kostuch, thought the maker was Friederichs and Staffin (Detroit Stained Glass Works). In the canopy, the roundel features an open Bible --- symbol of the Word of God.

The original grisaille glass in the lower portion of this window was replaced in 1917 by the scene of the "Presentation of Christ in the Temple."

Simeon holding the Christ Child with Mary and Joseph looking on, comes directly from Luke's description of an event that took place at Mary's Purification and Jesus' Presentation.

By Jewish law, a woman is unclean after childbirth and must be purified. If the child is a first born male, he must at this time be redeemed from God, as God claims this child as payment for the Passover. This ceremony takes place in the Temple forty days after birth. The payment for the Purification is a lamb or, if the parents can't afford it, two doves can be substituted. The payment for the Presentation is five shekels. When the First Family came to the Temple at the stipulated time, a man named Simeon was there. He had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When he saw the infant Jesus, he took him in his arms and proclaimed what is known as the "Canticle of Simeon:
"Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Luke 2:29 - 32 KJV

The window was donated by the Leonard Family.

Inscriptions: LORD NOW LETTEST THOU THY SERVANT DEPART IN PEACE ACORDING TO THY WORD
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MARY T. LEONARD † 1916


Condition of Window: good

Height: ~18'

Width: 4'

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple canopy
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple canopy
Grisaille glass by Friederichs and Staffin
Grisaille glass by Friederichs and Staffin
Inscription
Inscription
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple by Gorham Company
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple by Gorham Company

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