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The stained glass windows help illustrate the need for the Divine light to penetrate the life of the Church. This light reflects the beauty and goodness of Christ and His Body, the Church. The ten lower windows are designed to present the plan of God for mankind, beginning with our being chosen in the spotless blood of the Lamb before the world began, and culminating in the reward and worship of heavenly life.
The origin and goal of human existence is depicted in WINDOWS 1 and 10. These windows were created by artists at the Willet Hauser Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This page explains WINDOW 1 and 10 in detail and provides views of WINDOWS 2 through 9. Clicking where indicated will take you to additional information of those windows, including close-up pictures of their panels.
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WINDOW 1: Looking from top to bottom, the first window shows that we are ransomed in the precious blood of Christ like that of a Lamb without blemish (cf 1 Peter 1:18-19). This Lamb of God was destined before the world began, but has been made manifest now for our sake (cf 1 Peter 1:20). It further reveals that Mary, the mother of Jesus, will have a significant role in Christ's victory over sin, suffering, Satan, and death. The main section of that same window illustrates in four successive panels the four transcendentals of goodness, truth, unity, and beauty, which profoundly attract every rational human being and are the necessary conditions that enable God's revelation to be freely accepted. These natural dispositions are reflected in scenes from the second chapter of Genesis and provide the framework for God's revelation in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition as represented in the lower section of the window. |
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1 Peter 1:18-20. "...you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you..."
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Genesis 1:31. "God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed--the sixth day."
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Genesis 2:16-17. "The LORD God gave man this order: ‘You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.'"
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Genesis 2:22-24. "The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: ‘This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called woman, for out of her man this one has been taken.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."
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Genesis 2:25. "The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame."
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2 Timothy 3:16-17. "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
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2 Thessalonians 2:15. "...brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours."
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WINDOW 10: The left and right sections of the window communicate the third and fourth pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church respectively. It shows the work of the Trinity in the moral life and in the life of prayer. Moving from the bottom panels to the top panels it reveals the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and in each Christian. The upper section symbolizes the heavenly reward given to those who fulfill the moral law, and on the right, incense and a harp illustrate the life of worship and praise that will be given to God by all who have persevered in prayer. |
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Revelations 22:1. "Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street."
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Acts 1:8. "...you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
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Romans 8:27. "...the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will."
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Matthew 25:40. "...the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
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John 15:16. "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."
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Luke 10:25-27. "There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?' He said in reply, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'"
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Luke 11:1-4. "He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.' He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.'"
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Seven windows depict the seven sacraments. The institution of each sacrament is displayed in the central portion of each window with the bottom left area depicting a scene from the Old Testament, which prefigures the institution of this sacrament. The lower right window expresses the living out of that same sacrament as presented in the New Testament. The upper portion of each of the seven windows illustrates the culmination and destination of each sacrament as revealed in the book of Revelation.
These windows were created by artists at Conrad Schmitt Studios in New Berlin, Wisconsin.
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