WINDOWS OF ST HENRY'S

The Windows of St Henry Catholic Church

Christ, our God, is the Savior of all mankind. To draw all men to Himself the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became man. Christ, the Redeemer in glory, is represented in the large faceted glass window above the main entrance. He is surrounded by men of every race, the fruits of His redemptive work, accomplished through the Church.

To bring men the fruits of His redemption Christ established His kingdom on earth, the Church. The history of His church is succinctly told in the nave windows which portray ten different General Councils in the history of the Church. These windows are particularly appropriate in this Conciliar age, while they do present highlights in the Church's continuous efforts to bring to men the Way, the Truth and the Life. The struggles involved in fulfilling her mission as teacher, ruler and sanctifier of men and summed up in the councils represented in these windows.

At the bottom of each window and to the right the ship - traditional symbol of the Church - is depicted. This furnishes continuity in the series, while at the same time serving as a shield to designate the Council which is the subject of the window. Thus we find, for instance E(cumenical) C(ouncil) I, Nicea 325, The accomplishment , one might call it or the proper summation of the Council is brought out adequately in the Latin phrase appearing on the window.

Our artist has done a remarkable job in telling the story of the Council in pictures. A wealth of detail is woven into the composite whole as it appears on each window. We invite you to visit these historic and unusual windows and read the meaning of the symbols of each by clicking on the pic!

The Series begins here on the right side of the Church closest to the baptismal font. This window tells the story of the condemnation of Arius by the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. In reply to Arius' false teaching that Christ was the first creature created by the Father, the Council defined the fact that the Son is "of one substance with the Father." (translation of Latin phrase.)

The union of Father and Son is represented as simply as possible in order to indicate that the union is one of substance, i.e. that the Son is God and of the same substance as the Father. The two heads, representing the Father and the Son, are joined and are placed in the symbols Alpha and Omega. These symbols, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, traditionally stand for God as the beginning and end of all, Who is eternal.

That Christ is one with the Father is also brought out by the union of the two hands. Christ as man was indeed crucified, but as God He is one with the Father. The nail does not pierce the hand of the Father for only Christ in His human nature was crucified.

The Holy Spirit is introduced into this picture because the Blessed Trinity is indivisible, though the emphasis here remains on the unity in substance of the Father and Son.

In a square below the medallion one finds the eagle symbol of the Evangelist St. John. One of the Evangelists appears on each of the first four windows because in Church History the First Four Councils have often been equivalated to the Four Gospels. St. John is particularly appropriate here as his gospel was written to prove that "Jesus is the Son of God."

In the lower panel we note a palace, representing the summer palace of Constantine, who instigated the Council, and in whose palace a Nicea in Bythinia it took place.
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The Bark of Peter stops at Ephesus, site of the Third Ecumenical Council in the year 431. Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, taught that in Christ there are two persons, and that consequently Mary is not the Mother of God, but of a human person only. DEI GENETRIX (Mother of God) in the strictest sense was the response of the Council.

The infant resting in the lap of Mary is indeed human and was crucified, but He is at the same time one in nature with the Father, divine. The two hands of the Father rest on Christ's Cross to illustrate the fact that it was His Son Who was crucified. Mary's hand likewise rests on the Cross to illustrate that it was her Son who was crucified. Thus is brought out the oneness of person in the two natures in Christ, emphasizing that Mary became the Mother of God by giving birth to the Son of God, Who assumed human nature of her in order to redeem us.

Mary and Jesus are represented together in the heart of a lily. This is done to portray the perpetual virginity of Mary in giving birth to Christ. All this mystery is, as it were, embraced by the Father through Whose goodness the mystery of the Divine Maternity was accomplished.

Certain lines of the design continue outward to form the dove. The Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Trinity, and through His power the Incarnation took place.

At this important Council Mary was called "the destroyer of all heresies." At this council, too, preceding heresies were definitely put to an end. Thus we note the sword destroying these heresies, which are represented in the form of a book. At the top we perceive half a church window and the eagle, symbolizing the fact that this Council was held in the church of ST. Mary and St. John at Ephesus.

Below the design is a small square with the symbol of the evangelist St. Luke, i.e. the ox. Of the four Gospels, St. Luke's gives the most extensive account of the Incarnation, birth and childhood of Jesus, learned probably from Our Blessed Lady herself.

At the extreme lower portion of this window we find a censer, a torch and some flowers, symbolizing the joy and exultation of the people when this Council vindicated the honor of Mary by defining that she is truly the Mother of God (DEI GENETRIX).
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As the Bark of Peter moves on we note that the Second Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople in the year 381 condemning the error of Macedonius, the Council defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit because He is God, is to be adored even as the Father (simul adoratur).

In the design of this window three interlaced circles like three haloes represent the Blessed Trinity. Because the primary concern was the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the circle representing Him is the largest.

The divinity of the Holy Spirit is suggested by the wings of the dove overshadowing Our Lady, making fruitful her virginity. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit enveloping the Church in the form of seven flames indicate the continuous operation of the same spirit to illuminate and sanctify the Church, while serving as the principle of its unity. This is likewise a divine operation.

One sees only half of the faces of Mary, Mother of the Church, and the Crucified Jesus, origin of the Church's life, in small detail because the artist intends to emphasize the image of the Holy Spirit. The eye of the Father again recalls that the Trinity is indivisible.

There is a certain unity in symbolism and signification between this window and the first. The First Council at Constantinople was in a sense an extension of the Council of Nicea. Together the Councils affirm the Churches teaching concerning the Blessed Trinity. We are all familiar with the Creed of Nice Constantinople.

We again perceive the image of the evangelist, this time the lion, symbol of St. Mark. This is particularly appropriate because ST. Mark begins his Gospel with an account of the manifestation of the Spirit at the beginning of Our Lord's public life.

In the lower frame, the three swords represent the three sons of Constantine; Constantine II, Constantius and Constans, who gought among themselves over the authority of this Council. The papal Cross indicates the triumph of the Pope, who at the inception of this Council was not even consulted. It became ecumenical through his approval.
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In his eagerness to uphold the divinity of Christ, Eutyches, a cleric of Constantinople, denied His humanity. Eutyches said the human nature in Christ was absorbed into the divine. Against this false teaching that in Christ ther is but one nature (monophysitism) the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451 defined that Christ is perfect God and perfect man (perfectus Deus; perfectus homo)

Note the ingenuity of the artist in portraying this truth concerning Christ. The right side of the figure of Christ shows the arm nailed to the Cross, the head thorn crowned, the human nature passible. The left side of the figure show the are raised in a gesture of supreme majesty and loving authority, the head adorned with a kingly-crown. Thus in the same Person are two natures, without change, without commixture, yet henceforth inseparably united.

The Father holds His hand on the "divine nature" side of Christ to indicate the divinity of Christ. The Holy Spirit, one of the indivisible Trinity, is pictured above the head of Christ in the form of a dove, with the halo interlaced with the haloes of the Father and the Son.

Below to the left and to the side of the Father's hand, there is a fist representing the vandalism of the "Robber Synod of Ephesus." This was a meeting of Bishops called by Dioscorus, a friend of Eutyches, which defended him and was labeled "robber synod" by Pope Leo.

At the base of the design is the pennant representing the famous "dogmatic epistle" of the Pope (Leo the Great) which the Council of Chalcedon. It is placed over a shield to call attention to the force exerted by the Pope over Monophysitism. Another symbol of this power is the sword cutting through the pennant labeled "Monophysitism."

The little box portrays the symbol of St. Matthew, i.e. a man. It is particularly appropriate here since St. Matthew begins his Gospel with the human genealogy of Christ, "the son of David, the son of Abraham," recalling that the Emmanuel (God with us) had a perfect human nature.

Below the box are symbols of the three most important personages connected with the Council: the tiara and staff of Pope Leo the Great, the mitre of Bishop Flavian with a knife behind to signify that he died after being beaten at the "robber synod," and finally the crown of Marcian, the Emperor.
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We move to the Seventh Ecumenical Council held at Nicea in 787 under Pope Adrian I. Against the Iconoclasts, or image breakers of that day, the Council proclaimed that sacred images are to be venerated (sanctas imagines esse venerandas.)

Pagans, Jews and even some Christians had objected to the Christian practice of venerating images, calling it idolartry. The emperor Leo III and his son Constantine Copronymus ordered the destruction of images of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and the Saints. When Irene became regent for her son, Constantine VII, she asked the Pope to call an Ecumenical Council to condemn Iconoclasm (image breaking.)

The design shows an image, broken and repaired, i.e. broken by the Iconoclasts and repaired by the Council. The synodal letters of the Pope, again the guide for the Council's action, engulf the symbols of iconoclasm, namely the hammer, club and fire, to destroy them.

Since Princess Irene initiated the Council, the sword with her crown forms background for the scene. Her sword is the center bar of a scale. The Council restored justice, proclaiming the proper use of images. On the right balance of the scale is the surviving Church, symbolized by the tiara and crosier of the Pope, which is victorius over Iconoclasm, represented on the left balance by the crown (of Leo and Copronymus), the sword and skull.

The inclined mitre below represents the Bishops who actually fell into heresy by signing with Copronymus the edict condemning as idolatry the honoring of images.

As we move to the windows on the west side of the Church, we take cognizance of the fact that succeeding Councils were all held in the West, i.e.in Europe. We meet first.
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The Twelfth Ecumenical Council, known as the Fourth Lateran Council, held at Rome under Pope Innocent III in 1215. The Latin phrase, taken from one of the Council decrees, "spiritualem et corporalem condidit creaturam" (He created spiritual and corporeal beings), points to an important definition of the Council.

The Albigensian heresy, then flourishing, taught that there were two gods: the good God Who created the spiritual world and was manifested in the New Testament and the bad god who created material things and was manifested in the Old Testament.

Everything corporeal was bad and was created by the bad god.

Our window design represents the Blessed Trinity (the one true God) as creating the spiritual (represented by the flames) and the material (plants, animals, human bodies.) The hand of the father is shown descending and creating the world. The world is represented in the form of a heart to underline the love of God in creating. God's loving design in creating interinvolves the spiritual with the crucifixion of Christ, by which man became partaker of the supernatural life of the spirit.

The Council ordained the once-a -year Confession and Communion for Catholics. Thus there is depicted the Hand of Christ raised in absolution. The hand is placed in a host and chalice to indicate Holy Communion, and to bring out again how wonderfully God uses material things for the welfare of the spirit in man.

In the upper part of the design, the crusades to recover the Holy Land-which received impetus from this Council- are represented by a flaming banner and swords.

At the bottom of the window we see St. Francis of Assisi. His rule was approved by Pope Innocent III at this Council, and St. Francis is, as all know, an outstanding example of the appreciation of God's material creation (animals, birds, flowers etc.)
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The Sixteenth Ecumenical Council was held at Constance in 1414. In the latter half of the fourteenth century the Great Western Schism had broken upon the Christian world. In the early fifteenth century there were three claimants to the papacy, and most Christians were confused as to who was the rightful Pope. The matter was settled by this Council, which became ecumenical when approved by Pope Benedict XII.

The design here shows three mitres, representing the three claimants to the Papacy. The three swords are meant to portray the difficulties they caused before resigning. The mitres are placed in waves of water, because after the violent tempest aroused in the church by the schism, the popes are as it were drowned in this violence. The Church, the boat in the design, appears after the storm more glorious and stronger than ever and undergoes a radical reformation under the one universal shepherd elected at this Council, Pope Martin V (tiara at top.) The brilliant sunrise represents the triumph and renovation of the Church.

At the bottom of the window is a fire and stake, symbolizing the extermination by this Council of the heresies of John Huss and John Wycliff.

The unity of the Church remained unimpaired, but was saved, as it were, by this Council. Hence the "Unus Dominus; una fides" (one Lord; one faith.)
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