Faith Stories in Glass

St. Mary’s Church in Banff, Alberta, Canada

Faith

STORIES IN Glass

While traveling the world, this couple found their faith to be enriched by the universality and uniqueness of church windows.

Story and photography by Jay Joyce

While traveling through the Canadian Rockies several years ago, my wife and I attended Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Banff . As I looked around at the beautiful stained glass windows, I noticed something that seemed just a little out of place. In a window depicting the Nativity, instead of donkeys, cows, or sheep, stood a moose and an elk. Th e infant Jesus was resting upon shaft s of wheat like those grown in the surrounding province of Alberta. In the background, snowcapped peaks towered above evergreen trees and Banff ’s Bow River. Flying overhead was the Star of David.

Aft er Mass, having noticed our curiosity, a parishioner explained to us how the local elements depicted in the scene help to make the story more relevant to local parishioners. Th ey remind us that Christ was born for all of us, no matter where we call home. Th e Star of David memorializes a local Jewish man who, since there was no synagogue in Banff , would pray in the former St. Mary’s Church. He donated this window in memory of his family killed in the Holocaust. It’s a window we will never forget, and a story we oft en tell during the Christmas season.

We have been blessed to be able to travel all over the world and to visit churches and attend Mass in many places that most people will never get a chance to see. Whereas some people may choose to skip church services while they’re on vacation, we work hard to meet our Sunday obligation and to off er thanks for the opportunity to see this wonderful world. In return, we’ve oft en been rewarded with memorable worship experiences that add to the richness of our travels and our faith. Unique visions in stained glass have been a particular blessing and remain vivid in our minds.

THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE: PARIS

Stepping into the nave of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris for the fi rst time on a sunny day, as we did in the summer of 1972, is a jawdropping experience. Fift een windows, each over 50 feet high, depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments, recounting the history of the world through the time of King Louis IX—St. Louis—who commissioned the chapel during his 13th-century reign. Considered among the fi nest in the world, the windows of the Sainte-Chapelle, and thousands of others like them in churches throughout the world, served to tell the Bible stories and lives of the saints to those who could not read. A visit to the Sainte-Chapelle is rarely forgotten, and we have returned several times, most recently in 2019.

LEFT: Like many church windows, those in the SainteChapelle in Paris were meant to tell Bible stories for those who couldn’t read. RIGHT: Still under construction, the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona had windows designed and installed around 2000.

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA: BARCELONA

Similarly, the windows of the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, create another remarkable “Wow!” moment. For nearly 75 years after architect Antoni Gaudi’s death in 1926, his unfinished design for a magnificent cathedral stood as an open-air skeleton of a building in downtown Barcelona. At the turn of this century, a massive effort was undertaken to complete the project, and although construction on the building will continue through this decade, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church in 2010 and proclaimed it a basilica.

We visited the church for the first time in early 2001, while the building was still open to the outside, and it was remarkable to see its transformation when we returned in 2017. The windows themselves were only designed and installed beginning around 2000. Like many other churches, the windows recount biblical events, though in a very abstract manner. But it is not the individual windows themselves that are most memorable. Rather, the cohesive use of light and color that illuminates Gaudi’s vision of a temple creates an almost metaphysical experience in a tremendously spacious interior.

However, despite the artistry, grandeur, and awe-inspiring nature of these lofty naves with such imposing windows, often they are almost overwhelming and difficult to describe. In contrast, the specific windows we tend to remember from our travels are those similar to what we discovered in Banff— windows that not only reflect our collective faith, but also reflect the faith of the community around them. They introduce us to new cultures and shed light on ways of looking at the world and our faith that stretch and challenge our past experiences. Here are a few more examples.

SANTA MARIANITA: GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS

The stories of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for animals are widely known, and St. Francis is often depicted with forest animals surrounding him. In the Galápagos archipelago off the coast of Ecuador, the Franciscan parish of Santa Marianita in Puerto Ayora offers a different slant on St. Francis and God’s creatures. While a statue of the saint stands outside the church with a wolf beside him, the windows inside the church are beautiful scenes of the islands’ indigenous wildlife, studied and made famous by Charles Darwin.

The largest window shows a pelican feeding its young. Pelicans can be seen all over the wharves in Puerto Ayora eyeing the fishmongers and begging for some of their daily catch. In addition to being a common sight locally, images of pelicans similar to this window have been a symbol of Christ’s passion since around the 12th century. Other windows show dolphins, sharks, sea rays, and other birds and animals. A mural depicting a giant land tortoise illustrates the front of the church. While we spent a week cruising, swimming, and hiking among these creatures, seeing them in a church was an important reminder of God’s love for “all creatures great and small.”

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL: TAHITI

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete, Tahiti, a diocese consisting of 98 churches spread across 1,600 square miles of French Polynesia in the South Pacific. Lush with vegetation in a near-perfect climate, the islands truly convey the feeling of paradise.

Two of the cathedral’s windows depict St. Thomas the Apostle and Mary. In the former, rather than showing a doubting Thomas confronting Christ in the upper room after the resurrection, the window shows St. Thomas in the Shadow of Doubt under a coconut palm, a tree found throughout the islands. In the latter window, Mary, Star of the Sea, with distinctive Polynesian features, holds a cross and seashell while standing in the heavens above a typical native canoe paddled by three Polynesian fishermen. In the middle of a great vacation experience, we were reminded that the stories of our faith really are catholic, which stems from the Greek word for “universal.”

ST. MONICA’S CATHEDRAL: CAIRNS

The city of Cairns—located on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia—is considered the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. In 1942, Australia expected to be invaded by the Japanese, and many residents had already evacuated the Cairns region. In the first week of May 1942, only five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Pacific Fleet confronted the Imperial Japanese

The Franciscan parish of Santa Marianita on the Galápagos Islands celebrates St. Francis’ love for all creatures by gracing their windows with sharks, dolphins, and sea rays rather than the typical woodland animals associated with the saint.

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Tahiti is the seat of the diocese that calls the South Pacific home, spreading across 1,600 square miles of French Polynesia and gathering 98 churches into its fold.

Fleet 500 miles off the coast of northeast Australia in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Across both sides, over 1,600 were killed, eight ships were destroyed, and over 130 aircraft were lost. Militarily, the battle was essentially a draw, but the damage infl icted upon the Imperial Navy by the United States and its allies stopped the Japanese advance, and Australia was saved from invasion.

Th e seat of the Catholic Diocese of Cairns is St. Monica’s War Memorial Cathedral, constructed in 1968. In 1995, commemorating 50 years of peace in the Pacifi c, the cathedral dedicated its Peace Windows, composed of nearly 900 square feet of stained glass across three panels surrounding the main entrance to the nave. Th e windows are full of symbolism, including the story of Noah, the Crucifi xion and Resurrection, and the triumph of peace over aggression, though at a huge sacrifi ce. Th e main panel over the doors shows the sea abundant with life, with a cross full of doves in the center. Around all three panels, the word peace appears in more than 20 languages, visible from both inside and outside the church.

Th e left side panel shows the wrecks of the Japanese carrier Shoho and the destroyer USS Sims. Th e right panel features a Japanese Aichi dive-bomber, the fi rst type of aircraft used to drop bombs on Pearl Harbor and later, Darwin, Australia. At the top of the window, the sunken carrier USS Lexington calls to mind the 216 crew members who lost their lives when the ship went to the bottom of the sea.

As a veteran, as well as the son and son-inlaw of three WWII veterans, I spent considerable time refl ecting on the story and losses recalled by this artistry in glass. I had simply been looking for a place to attend Mass on a Saturday aft ernoon while a long way from home. Instead, what I found was a powerful reminder of what Tom Brokaw named the “Greatest Generation.”

CHAPEL OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY: WEST POINT ACADEMY

I graduated from the United States Military Academy, and throughout my four years as a West Point cadet, I attended Mass regularly

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Tahiti features stained glass windows fi lled with Polynesian accents, including Mary holding a seashell and three fi shermen rowing a native canoe (left) and St. Thomas under a coconut palm (right).

Reflecting the losses inflicted during WWII, one of the three panels of the Peace Windows at St. Monica’s War Memorial Cathedral in Cairns, Australia, portrays sunken warships on both the Japanese and US sides. A second panel features a destroyed Japanese Aichi dive-bomber in the foreground with the USS Lexington sunk behind it. The word peace, in more than 20 languages, creates a border around the windows.

at the Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity on the academy grounds. Built in 1899 and modeled after St. Etheldreda’s Abbey Church in Essex, England, the chapel features 16 windows depicting the “warrior saints” and patrons of the military. Among others, these include St. Michael the Archangel, St. Joan of Arc, St. Martin of Tours, St. Barbara, and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. West Point’s motto is “Duty, Honor, Country.” However, when surrounded by these holy men and women looking down upon them, cadets can’t help striving to devote themselves to “Duty, Honor, Faith, Country.”

WE ARE CONNECTED

For centuries, in churches throughout the world, stained glass has been and continues to be an artist’s medium for teaching us the stories of our faith and reminding us of the glory of God’s heavenly kingdom through light and color. Our travels have allowed us to stand in awe in front of giant rose windows found in Catholic and Protestant churches alike, such as Notre Dame in Paris, Cologne Cathedral in Germany, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and St. John the Divine in New York City.

Nevertheless, the windows my wife and I recall most frequently with fond memories and emotion are those we’ve discovered in more intimate surroundings such as Banff, the Galápagos Islands, and Tahiti. Those shown here are only a sampling of the treasures uncovered so far, and we’re still on the lookout for more. These windows not only tell a story or add beauty to their surroundings but also remind us that we share our faith with Catholics throughout the world, in ways that are special and unique to each community in which they’re found.

Jay Joyce is an author and self-described globetrotter who resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Shirley. After graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point, he obtained master’s degrees in finance and psychology from Marywood University (Scranton, Pennsylvania).