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Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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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: Annunciation

Brief Description of Subject: The window has been repurposed and now resides at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Troy.
 
The Annunciation is the first of the "Joyous Mysteries of the Rosary". Paraphrasing Luke 1:26 - 38. The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary and greets her with "Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee". Gabriel gives her the joyous news that if she accepts, she will conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit and her son is to be called Jesus. Also her cousin Elizabeth will have a child (John the Baptist) even though she is beyond her child bearing years. Mary accepts saying "Behold I am the handmaiden of the Lord. May it happen as you said".
 
Description of Window: At the top is a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus -- alluding to the donor of this window. Archangel Gabriel, deliverer of important messages from God, has announced to Mary that she is to conceive a child. She has accepted the word of God and the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the dove (Luke 3:22), is hovering above her which is taken as the moment of conception by the Holy Spirit. The lily plant next to her both denotes the season as spring and symbolizes that she is a virgin. An open book next to Mary refers to the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 "A young woman is with child and she will bear a son.

Inscriptions: Ofiarowalo Bractwo Serca Jezus. Translates as "Donated by the Confraternity of Heart of Jesus". They were pressed for room on the window. If they had room, they would have written "Ofiarowalo Bractwo Najsietszego Serca Jezus" which translates to "Donated by the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus"

Annunciation
Annunciation
Annunciation Window photo by Dave Daniszewski
Annunciation Window photo by Dave Daniszewski

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