Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. Albertus Church

Studio Name: Detroit Stained Glass Works, The

City: Detroit

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

Subject/Title of Window: St. Adalbert of Prague

Brief Description of Subject: The Octofoil has suffered some damage. In the medallion are GRAPES which can symbolize many things, in this case it probably is associated with the Mass where wine is changed into the blood of Christ.

The figure is that of St. Adalbert of Prague (956 - 997) whose birth name was "Wojciech". He was much influenced by his mentor St. Adalbert of Magdeburg and took the name "Adalbert" as his confirmation name. In Slavic countries he is still known as "Wojciech" however outside of that, he is known by his confirmation name "Adalbert". He is considered the first Polish saint and is one of the Patron saints of Poland. He became a Bishop in 983. He is best known for his feeding of the poor and devoting much of his life trying to convert pagans to Christianity. He once sailed up the Vistula River to Gdansk where he converted many Prussians. This Church is named for him. In this window he is costumed as a BISHOP including MITER and CROZIER; he has a BOOK in his right hand symbolizing that he preached the Word od God.

Symbols in the left and right panels are:
Alpha and Omega -- God is the beginning and the end
Basket of bread -- St. Adalbert fed the poor
Erect cross in crown --- Christ the King
Top right symbol -- unidentified
Boat -- probably refers to Adalbert's trip up the Vistula rather than Noah's ark
Host with cross and divine light -- probably the Eucharist

To the left of the bread basket in the border is a Tau - Rho Cross which symbolizes the Crucifixion.

Height: ~17'

Width: 9'

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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