One of the things I love about our church is the stained glass windows. When the church was initially built 25 years ago, it was built without any Stained Glass. I know that there was a transient thought that the people gave the color to the church, as the body of Christ, and that there is no need for stained glass.
Well, Thank God the church received an Irish Priest, Father Canny who said "Where is all the beautiful windows?" And it wasn't long and many of the windows were transformed.
Each window tells a story and allows entrance into a holy place, like this representation of Fatima.
It doesn't take long after setting your gaze on such beauty,
and while adding prayer, you can be engulfed in peaceful dialog with God.
These Holy images are our tools that help us give a physical presence to what is invisible. Are they completely necessary for prayer? No, But are they helpful? Yes!
These images (Our Lady of Guadalupe) help connect us with our ancestors, our heritage, our faith.
They represent just how big and vast our God is and how we belong to a
faith much larger that we usually consider (Our lady of Knock - Ireland)
Art has been a part of the catholic faith since the time of the apostles.
Most would agree that art is a beautiful gift from God
and not only inspires but brings with it such emotion and feeling.
Tradition is such a huge aspect of our faith, and stained glass windows represent an aspect of that tradition. When one disregards tradition thinking that it is outdated or unneeded in lieu of modernization or progress, they are dismissing a huge part of their own existence.
A single picture can tell a story that even if 1000 words
were written would not contain the details of the single image.
Thank God for Stained Glass Windows and Irish Priests with convictions!
1 comment:
What beautiful stained glass windows! Thank you so much for sharing them with us - too far away to visit your church personally.
God bless.
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