Deepening Traditions 2011 09

							                                                       Deepening
                                                       Traditions
                                                                          20 September 2011

Dear St. Rose of Lima Parishioner,
        By now you have received Fr. Kelly’s letter about a new capital campaign; with this letter
I want to explain the work of the committee that took on the stained glass window project.
        While Fr. Kelly was on sabbatical, I began some preliminary work by contacting a
number of companies for their input and estimates. When Fr. Kelly returned, he, I and the
other members of the committee discussed our project in general and the designs we had seen
in our online research and visitation of other Churches. We interviewed representatives of
three excellent companies who design, fabricate and install stained glass windows. They con-
firmed our committee’s thinking: it was best to consider any plans for the two rose windows
(which have been gifted to us by a generous donor) in the context of a concept for all the
windows in which stained glass would be installed. At this point, the committee believes the
following windows would add to our Church and worship space if they had stained glass: the
rose (round) windows; the tall multi-part windows in the narthex (entry way) of the church;
the clerestory windows (small windows way up high) in the narthex; the clerestory windows in
the nave and sanctuary of the church (main area of the church and area of the altar). With
respect to the ground floor windows behind the congregation in the nave of the church, the
committee decided that they provide good natural lighting in the church and are not—at least
for this project—being considered for having stained glass put in them.
        The committee unanimously decided that of the companies we interviewed our project
would best be in the hands of Reinarts Stained Glass Studios of Winona, MN. The main rea-
sons that the committee chose them was that they use only the highest quality hand blown
glass for their projects. In addition, the workmanship evinced at the places members of the
committee visited and those familiar with their work surpassed what we saw of the other com-
panies’ work. Reinarts had a number of designs that were quite inspirational for the commit-
tee’s thinking about our project.1 Lastly, their warranty was far longer and more inclusive than
the other companies were willing to give.
        With that background, I turn now to a description of the overall concept for our stained
glass windows. First, the design of the rose window in the narthex of the church will evoke
creation. This window, picking up on the first biblical creation story (Gen 1:1–2:4a), will be-
speak God (the Father) creating—separating light/day and darkness/night, water and dry
earth.
        The design of the rose window above the crucifix in the sanctuary is dedicated to the
Holy Spirit. This HS window also ties in with the scene in Luke’s Gospel wherein Jesus
commends the Spirit, who came upon him after his baptism (Lk 3:22), to the Father (Lk
23:46). Given the various images for the HS in the Scriptures, the design of the window
creatively blends the images of a dove, wind and fire. (Representations of these windows can be
seen in the office window at the Church.)
        1
          See their website: http://www.reinarts.com/; one of the Churches for which they designed windows that most stuck
us can be visited at http://www.reinarts.com/st_raphael.htm (cover design for Stained Glass Quarterly, Summer 2007).
                                                                                               2
       Once the rose windows are installed—tentatively scheduled for Sept. 29-30—the
Trinity will be well symbolized in the church: the Father, Creator, in the narthex rose window;
the Son, Redeemer, on the cross; and the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, in the sanctuary rose window.
       When we are able to complete the stained glass windows project, the committee recom-
mends that the tall windows in the narthex continue the creation theme with a con-
trast/comparison with the creation of man and woman in the garden (Gen 2) in the window on
the left (east) to the wonderful landscapes here in NW IA in the window on the right. In this
window we will incorporate an image of the original St. Rose of Lima Church. Other forms of
life—birds, wildlife, agricultural animals—will be part of these scenes. Most important to us,
because it fits with the clerestory nave windows (see below) all the elements of creation used in
the sacraments will be depicted in one or both of these windows: water, wheat, olive trees, and
grapevines.
       The clerestory windows in the narthex will pick up on the colors from the other narthex
windows so as to provide color in the narthex of the church. The clerestory windows in the nave
of the church will likewise pick up on the colors from the Creation and Holy Spirit rose win-
dows so as to cast color throughout the church (making sure the bright direct sunlight is dif-
fused). In addition, however, these windows will also bring together the sacramental elements
from the narthex and the HS’s gifts so as to symbolize the seven sacraments on one side of the
nave and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit on the other (wisdom, understanding, counsel, for-
titude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord — Isaiah 11:2; Catechism, #1831).
       Please keep in prayer these projects that deepen our faith tradition and, as our
Deepening Traditions prayer says, “our legacy” for future generations. Prayerfully consider,
too, ways you can give of the gifts of time, talent and treasure with which you have been blessed
to be part of fulfilling Fr. Ed Murray’s original vision for our new Church.


                                                                         Fr. Timothy Friedrichsen