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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: First Presbyterian Church

Studio Name: Connick (Charles J.), Ltd.

City: Pontiac

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

Date of Window: 1960

Subject/Title of Window: Initials of Jesus Christ/Celtic Cross/Anchor Cross

Brief Description of Subject: As viewed from the outside, the space for this aisle window extends quite a bit lower. For viewers inside the Church, a balcony obscures vision of the middle part. This window occupies the upper space and is called "Monogram for Jesus Christ/Celtic Cross/Anchor Cross. The window in the lower space is titled "Parable of the Talents."

Each of the three lancet contains a medallion with a Christian symbol:
Left lancet --- Capital Greek letter iota (I) superimposed in chi (X). The early Christian communities were mainly in the eastern part of the Roman Empire where the lingua franca was Greek. Thus most of the early Church writings and symbols are in Greek. The Greek words for "Jesus Christ" transliterated into the Roman Alphabet are "IHSOYS XPISTOS." The first letters of those words "I" and "X" form a monogram for Jesus Christ.
Middle lancet --- Celtic Cross. Believed to have originated in Ireland, it is a cross where the stem is longer than the arms with a circle around the crossing of the arm and stem.The meaning of this circle is not known with certainty. The most popular explanations are: a) a halo or ring symbolizing eternal life through Jesus b) repurposed symbol for the sun god so that it would be more attractive to Irish pagans c) practical solution for stabilizing the arms as they would then be less likely to break in crosses made of wood or stone.
Right lancet --- Anchor Cross. This symbolizes the hope of eternal life with God through Jesus. Hebrews 6:29 - 20 NRSV, "We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizdek." The "shrine behind the curtain" refers to the "Holy of Holies" in the Temple, which lay behind a curtain. It was a place were God would appear and only the High Priest was allowed to enter, and then but once a year.

Connick Associates notes that "the colorful field provides a rich pattern in support of this theme, with symbols of white lily of purity in smaller medallions above and below."

Inscriptions: In Memory of Anna Boyd


Height: 10'

Width: 6'10"

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