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Reprinted from
the Inaugural Program
Dedicating the
Current Church Structure, 1955
There are no statues
in our new church. The forty-foot high ceiling would dwarf any but
the most heroic-sized statuary. All sacred imagery is
incorporated in the walls of the church, chiefly in the windows of
stained glass. These windows were designed by a young
American artist, Milcho Silianoff, and executed by the Pittsburgh
Stained Glass Studios. In the words of the artist, "These
windows are intended to reflect the essence of Christianity, the
eternal, universal truths as they were exemplified in the lives of
these figures, who were veritable pillars of great spiritual
strength. In a sense they are a protest against the
pervading spirit of materialism today."
The five windows in
the sanctuary portray the complete Holy Family; Jesus, Mary and
Joseph, and the parents of Our Lady, St. Joachim and St. Anne.
The central figure is Our Savior, with the cross through the
center of the panel as the focal point of Christianity. Our
Blessed Mother is shown to His right, in a prayerful, humble
attitude. The lilies symbolize her purity. St. Joseph, on
Our Lord's left, holds a carpenter's square and a staff, which
miraculously has bloomed with lilies at its end. St. Joachim
holds the basket of doves which were used as a sacrifice in the
temple. St. Anne is pictured teaching her privileged
daughter, who was to become the Mother of God.
In the nave of the church, beginning on the right, we find St.
Pius X, with his papal arms, and three of his famed writings: "Acerbe
Nimis", on the teaching of Christine Doctrine; "II Fermo Proposito",
on Catholic Action; and "Instaurare Omnia in Christo"- the aim of
his pontificate was to restore all things to Christ. Next we find
St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles. The two keys recall
Christ's commission to the Head of His Church. The inverted cross
to his right is the symbol of Peter's crucifixion. The
bottom panel shows the church built upon a rock.
St. Andrew follows,
in the listing of the Apostles. Legend tells us he died
while preaching in Greece, on a cross shaped like the X depicted
behind him. The two fishes at the bottom of the window
recall his original occupation, which he left to become a fisher
of men. The older St. James comes next. The three
escalloped shells are symbols of his journeys, and the sword the
weapon of his martyrdom. St. John the Evangelist was the
only Apostle who died a natural death. But he was thrown
into boiling oil, and saved only by a miracle. The symbol of
the eagle is used to characterize the gospel he wrote, which soars
high onto heaven in its theological majesty. St. Philip,
another Apostle, is shown with a cross and two loaves of bread,
recalling his words when Our Lord fed the multitude. He
suffered a violent and cruel death after doing missionary work in
Galatia and Phrygia. St. Bartholomew is the last of the
Apostles shown on the right side of the church. The symbol
of human skin and the cross refer to his death by flaying and
crucifixion. After he was crucified, his head was cut off.
St. Mark, though not an Apostle, wrote the second of the gospels.
He is shown at his desk, writing that gospel. The symbol of
the lion is associated with St. Mark, since he opens his gospel
with a description of St. John the Baptist, the "voice of one
crying in the wilderness."
St. Francis of Assisi is given a place of honor in our windows,
since he is the patron of the Sisters who teach in our school.
He is shown surrounded by animals and vegetation, which is
symbolic of his great love for God's creatures. The bottom
panel shows a cross with three marks of the Stigmata which he
received. The last window on the right side of the nave is
that of St. Edward, the great and just king of England, who built
Westminster Abbey, symbolized at his left. He is also the
patron of the pastor, who was charged with the building of this
church.
Crossing over to the left side of the nave, we come to the window
of St. Paul, the fiery Apostle of the Gentiles. He is shown
with the sword of the spirit in one hand, and the Word of God in
the other. The quill and ink on the book in the bottom panel
symbolize the great Epistles of St. Paul. St. Luke, another
Evangelist, comes next. From the earliest Christian times, he has
been given the symbol of the Ox, shown here, because of his full
account of the sacrificial death of Our Lord. We return to
the list of original Apostles with the window of St. Thomas. The
carpenter's square recalls the fact that he erected a church with
his own hands at Malipor, in East India. He is the patron saint of
builders. The bottom panel depicts' Christ showing his wounds to
the doubting Thomas, after His resurrection. St. Thomas was killed
by a pagan priest, who impaled him on a spear. St. Matthew was
both Apostle and Evangelist. A desk is shown in the background
with scrolls symbolic of his writings. An angel, also a messenger
of God, is shown in the bottom panel. The younger St. James is
shown next, with a symbol of Jerusalem, where he labored, and of
which city he was the first Bishop. St. James was clubbed to
death. St. Jude, the patron of desperate cases, follows.
He did missionary work in Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia, hence the
symbol of the ship, to indicate his travels. St. Simon was
the companion of St. Jude on many of his missionary tours. They share a common
feast day in the calendar of the church. In the bottom
panel, St. Simon is symbolized by a fish lying on a book, to show
his success as a fisher of men through the power of God's Word.
St. Matthias is the Apostle chosen to take the place of Judas.
The axe and the book tell the story of his martyrdom while
preaching the Gospel of Christ in Judea.
At the side entrance
near the oratory, we find the window of Our Lord Blessing the
Children, chosen for this place because of its nearness to the
room where our smaller children will be on Sundays.
The three oratory
windows show the Cross and Crown of Faith, the Anchor and Rope of
Hope, and the Heart of Charity-the three great virtues of
Christianity, which lie at the root of Catholic teaching performed
by our Sisters. In the choir, we find three musical symbols
identified with sacred music; the Lyre of the Old Testament, the
Organ, and the Viola. In the bottom panels are shown three
Gregorian Melodies of the phrase "Cor Jesu Sacratissimum" - Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the sacristies we find the symbol
of the priesthood in the Stole; the symbol of the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass in the Cup, Grapes and Wheat; and the symbol of the
Altar Boys in the Cruets and Bell.
Returning to the
front of the church, or narthex, there is the Baptism of Our Lord
by St. John the Baptist, in the Baptistry. In the opposite area on
the left, are the two founders of the Holy Ghost Fathers'
Congregation, Father Claude Poullart des Places, and Father
Francis M. P. Libermann, both men of great missionary zeal. In the
bottom panel of both windows the coat-of-arms of the, Holy Ghost
Fathers is portrayed, to pay honor to the priests of the Order
that has served the parish from its foundation. Father Des Places
was a French lawyer who became a priest and founded the Holy Ghost
Order in 1703, to work primarily for the people of Africa.
Father Libermann was a converted Jew, who founded the Congregation
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1848, which was joined to the
Holy Ghost Order by decree of Rome. The arms of the Order
therefore bear the symbols of the Holy Ghost, in the form of a
dove, and the Crowned Heart of Mary.
Finally, in a
commanding position high above the narthex, is the heroic figure
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Patron of our parish, shown in a
twenty-five foot window.
May these saintly figures serve to incite us to imitate their
virtues, and by so doing, bring us closer to Almighty God. |
