Stained Glass Windows

A total of 73 art glass windows of various styles decorate the church. In the figurative windows, individual pieces of hand-blown, well-fired, painted antique glass are set in deeply channeled leading. Traces of gold paint indicate that the lead cames were once highlighted with that color on the inside, an unusual technique.

Six small arched windows in each of the side aisles have a faceted jewel cross in the center. On the east side <LINK to marywindows.php>, the background is blue, harmonizing with the symbols of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the other windows on that side; on the west side <LINK to passionwindows.php> the background is red, echoing the windows with the passion symbols.

The small stained glass windows in the east aisle honor Mary with titles and symbols derived from scripture and interpreted in an allegorical manner by Bernard of Clairvaux in the Middle Ages.

In the west aisle, the windows contain traditional symbols of the passion of our Lord.

In the Ambulatory

The eleven small arched windows of the ambulatory are medieval in style. They are composed of intensely-colored faceted jewels of glass set in heavy carved lead.

Beneath the Mantle of Mary

Under the barrel vault of the nave, the community is overshadowed by the ancient prayer to the Blessed Virgin known as the Litany of Loreto.

The design in the barrel vault comprises thirty-five large squares, twenty of which are decorated with an interlocking scroll and floral ornament and the other fifteen with symbols and titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary taken from the Litany of Loreto. The Latin titles of Mary encircling the symbols are followed by the phrase ora pro nobis, pray for us.

The cross in these windows is repeated in the Stations of the Cross.
IMAGE: (cross window 1 - pg 59)
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Rose without thorns

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Gold crown with jewels

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White lily

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Ark of the covenant

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Heart pierced with seven swords

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Palm tree and cedars of Lebanon

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House of gold

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Dawn of salvation

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Enclosed garden

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Grapes, cup, and host

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Wheat

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Jeweled cross

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Flaming heart with a crown of thorns

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Three dice

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Pillar with whips, hammer, and nails

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Ladder with spear and sponge on reed

 

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Sancta Maria: Holy Mary

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Rosa Mystica: Mystical Rose

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Turris Davidica: Tower of David

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Turris Eburnea: Tower of Ivory

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Domus Aurea: House of Gold

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Janua Coeli: Gate of Heaven

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Stella Matutina: Morning Star

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Foederis Arca: Ark of the Covenant

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Vas Spirituale: Spiritual Vessel

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Vas Honorabile: Vessel of Honor

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Vas Insigne Devotionis: Singular Vessel of Devotion

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Sedes Sapientiae: Throne of Wisdom

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Speculum Justitiae: Mirror of Justice

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Mater Purissima: Mother Most Pure

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Regina Pacis: Queen of Peace