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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Florian Catholic Church

Studio Name: Schmitt (Conrad) Studios

City: Hamtramck

Window Shape: 3 (arched)

Subject/Title of Window: Descent of the Holy Spirit/Raising of Lazarus

Brief Description of Subject: Window description: Top lens contains a shield with a cross that has a cloth draped over it. The lens to the left contains a globus cruciger which symbolizes power over the world. Right lens contains a bible with a tongue of fire (Holy Spirit) above it -- with the gift of the Holy Spirit the Apostles will preach the Word of God. The next lens down depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit. Mary is at the center with the apostles flanking her; they are all seen with a tongue of fire on their head. John is seen to Mary's left (always pictured as a young beardless man) and to Mary's right is most likely Peter as he plays a prominent part in Acts 1 and Acts 2. Above them is the Holy Spirit (dove). Next lens down is Saint Conrad of Parzham with his attribute -- costumed as a Capuchin monk. Next lens down is depicted the "Raising of Lazarus". Jesus is seen with His left hand raised commanding Lazarus to come out. Lazarus is seen still in the burial pose and wrapped in strips of linen ---- the artist has removed the cloth that had covered his face. Above the scene is Martha and Mary Magdalene. In the hexagon below is divine light shining on a butterfly --- a symbol of resurrection since it goes through 3 stages --- caterpillar (life), cocoon (inside a grave), and finally emerges as a butterfly (life again -- resurrection). The left lens contains a caterpillar and the right lens a cocoon.

Background: There are 10 aisle windows by the Conrad Schmitt Studios, all ten have a saint in the middle lens. 8 were the most recently canonized saints, the other 2 were Polish saints. CONRAD Schmitt Studios only signed this one --the one that contains Saint CONRAD. Pentecost is a Jewish festival held 50 days after Passover which required all adult males to come to Jerusalem. Pentecost is the 3rd Glorious Mystery of the Rosary and is called "Descent of the Holy Spirit"; it is covered in Acts 2: 1-9 traditionally the people in Acts chapter 1 were deemed to have participated in the Descent of the Holy Spirit -- so it includes not only the 12 apostles (Mathias was elected to replace Judas Iscariot in Acts 1) but also the Virgin Mary and many disciples. With the designation of Pentecost as a Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, Mary almost always will be the center of attention either flanked or surrounded by the apostles. Paraphrasing Acts 2 -- They had gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost and were sitting in a room when they heard  the wind and tongues of fire came down and rested on their heads and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Saint Conrad O.F.M.Cap. (1818 -1894) was a member of the Order of Francis Minor Capuchin and worked in a friary in Bavaria. He was canonized in 1934. The "Raising of Lazarus" is covered in John 11: 1-44 paraphrasing -- Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary Magdalene and when he became very sick they sent for Jesus to come at once. Jesus waited a few days and when he finally arrived Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. Jesus told Martha that she would see her brother again. Martha thought he meant in the afterlife but Jesus went to the grave of Lazarus and said "Lazarus, come out.". Lazarus came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.


Inscriptions: S(ANC)TUS CONRADUS A' PARZHAM
Saint Conrad of Parzham
LAZARE VENI FORAS
Lazarus, come out!
Conrad Schmitt Studios Milwaukee Wisconsin


Height: 24'

Width: 4'

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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