Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: St. John Cantius Catholic Church (closed 2007)

Studio Name: Detroit Stained Glass Works, The

City: Detroit

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

Subject/Title of Window: Descent of the Holy Spirit

Brief Description of Subject: Background: The "Descent of the Holy Spirit" is the third of the "Glorious Mysteries of The Rosary" and is described most completely in Acts2:1-32.
Loosely summarized, Mary, Apostles, and many relatives and followers, about 120 in all, were in an upper room in Jerusalem celebrating the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after Passover, when a great wind blew and the Holy Spirit descended on them in the form of tongues of fire. A large crowd that had heard the wind gathered outside. Peter then went out and spoke to them quoting the prophet Joel's words (Joel 2:28-32) that predicted that "the Holy Spirit would pour out on all people .... and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord would be saved". Peter said that Joel's prophecy was now fulfilled. Since Joel plays such a key part, the artist has either brought him back to life or, by isolating him in the right vertical section of the window, suggesting he is there in spirit.
 
Description of Window: Top of window has a depiction of St. Joseph reflecting the donor of the window. The scene below shows the Holy Spirit descending from heaven in the form of a dove (Luke 3:22). All the figures have a tongue of fire on their heads -- the tongues represent the Holy Spirit. Peter is seated just below the dove. He is holding a bookmarked book of the scriptures and looking at the prophet Joel. Joel, dressed in the color of the Holy Spirit --red, is holding a book of scriptures and is looking up at the Holy Spirit (dove) that has come just as he had predicted. Mary, in her heavenly garb, is praying and looking at scriptures.

Inscriptions: Inscription: Ofiarowalo Bractwo Sw.(ietego) Jozefa. Translation from Polish: Donated by the Confraternity of Saint Joseph.

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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