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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Lumen Ecclesiae Chapel, Siena Heights University

Artist Name: Sister Joanne O'Connor, OP

City: Adrian

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Date of Window: 1958

Subject/Title of Window: The Annunciation

Brief Description of Subject: From "The Michigan Catholic," January 1,1959.
"In pictorial content the stained glass window honors the Blessed Mother under some of her beautiful and symbolic titles. The principal theme, the Annunciation, fills the largest area and depicts the angel Gabriel appearing to the kneeling Virgin. Hovering above, the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove is surrounded by light that spreads downward to embrace Mary and the angel. On either side of this center section and separated by mullions are smaller panels containing symbols of Mary taken mainly from the office and litany in her honor." These include the following titles, which were taken from a monograph in the Siena Heights University Archives, author unknown.

Morning Star
As the morning star glows in the east as a herald of the dawn, so Mary shines for us as the forerunner of the Sun of Justice.

Crown
The crown of glory indicates the Queenship of Mary over heaven and earth.

Tower of David
This tower built by King David in the Holy City of Jerusalem, symbolizing Mary as an impregnable tower of protection in our conflict with the powers of hell.

Mirror of Justice
In scripture language justice denotes faithful observance of God's law, perfection of life. Because Mary reflected God's will in a most perfect manner, she is called the Mirror of Justice.

Mystical Rose
"I was salted" ... "like a rose-plant in Jericho." The rose is considered the queen of flowers so it is fitting that the Queen of all Saints be likened to the rose. She is called the Mystical Rose because she encloses spiritual mysteries within herself.

House of Gold
This symbol expresses the inestimable value of Mary's soul considered itself. She was made as it were as a House of Gold, overlaid with gold within and without like the Holy of Holies, not for her own sake but because she was destined to be the very House of God in a manner far transcending that of the Temple of Solomon.

Seven Sorrows
The heart pierced by seven swords symbolizes the intensity of Mary's sorrow over the sufferings of her Son. Each sword represents an event in Christ's life from the prophesy of Simeon to His entombment.

Spiritual Vessel, Vessel of Honor, Singular Vessel of Devotion
As spouse of the Holy Spirit, filled with His presence and His wonderful gifts, Mary is the Spiritual Vessel; as Mother of the Incarnate Word of God, she becomes the Vessel of Honor. Because Mary possessed devotion in supereminent degree through her unconditional self-surrender to the Father, she is called the Singular Vessel of Devotion.

Rod of Jesse
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him." Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His human nature, was a descendent of the patriarch Jesse, the father of David. This prophesy of Isaiah is used to remind us her Son's royal lineage.

Mary's Monogram
In old stained glass and in elaborately decorated ancient manuscripts one often finds the monogram of the Blessed Virgin. It will be noted that the five letters forming the name MARIA are woven together.

Palm Tree
"Like a palm tree in Cades was I exalted." The palm tree symbolizes peace. It recalls to mind the silent wonder of the Virgin as she pondered over the heavenly tidings made known to her by the Angel Gabriel.

The Moon and Twelve Stars
In the Apocalypse St. John describes his vision of a woman clothed with the sun, the moon at her feet and a crown of twelve stars about her head. The interpreters of Sacred Scripture have accepted this as a description of the Blessed Virgin, the moon and the stars have become her established symbols. The moon is also a fitting symbol of Mary because she is the chief reflector of the Sun of Righteousness.

Height: 24'

Width: 19'

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.

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