• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Monsignor Joseph L. Luca, pastor of St. Louis, Clarksville, says he feels “happy and honored” that the parish has the windows from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. (Owen Sweeney III/CR Staff)

Basilica windows sparkle in new home

December 21, 2006
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Arts & Culture, Baltimore Basilica, Local News, News

On a recent sunny afternoon, the stained glass windows at St. Louis in Clarksville sparkled with a radiance few could have imagined when they stood in their original home at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.

Illuminated by the mid-day sun, brilliant shades of cobalt blue, deep purples and fiery reds seemed to leap from the glass and command a visitor’s gaze.

The nine major windows, eight of which are 14 feet tall, were removed from the basilica and installed inside the new St. Louis church, which Cardinal William H. Keeler dedicated in April.

The stained glass windows were replaced at the basilica with plain ones when the historic church was restored to the vision of Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Archbishop John Carroll. Both had sought a worship space flooded with natural light symbolic of religious freedom.

Monsignor Joseph Luca, St. Louis pastor, said he couldn’t be more pleased that Cardinal Keeler agreed to permanently loan the windows to his parish.

The new church was designed around the windows, he said, which gives them the best possible display.

“I think it’s been a win-win for everyone,” said Monsignor Luca, noting that the windows had previously been “forced into a space (at the basilica) in an architectural design that did not intend stained glass windows.”

The basilica now “just sparkles and shines” without them, he said, while St. Louis benefits from showing their artistry in a literal new light.

“The windows are very ornate and are artistically very busy,” said Monsignor Luca. “By having the plain walls (at St. Louis) to contrast with them, it really allows them to stand out and allows the windows to tell the story they intended to tell.”

Each window includes an upper section depicting events of the Old Testament, a middle section depicting events in the life of Christ and a lower section with events in the history of the Church in America.

They are displayed in pairs, with semi-gothic arches placed above them.

Four new rose windows in the style of the basilica windows were created by William Miles of Artisan Glass Studios of Baltimore for the church transepts.

Eighteen smaller basilica windows also decorate the narthex, and two additional pair of basilica-style windows have been commissioned – one showing scenes from the life of St. Louis and the other highlighting the history of the parish.

The original windows were designed by Conrad Schmidt Studios and added to the basilica in the 1940s.

David Walsh, a St. Louis parishioner whose family had donated a stained glass window to the basilica in memory of his great-great grandfather, Joseph Nelligan, said he couldn’t be happier with the look of the windows in their new home.

“They’re gorgeous,” he said. “Especially in the late afternoon, when the sun is really working its magic, they’re just spectacular.”

Monsignor Luca said it is appropriate for the windows to be at St. Louis. His parish was the home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and a cousin of Archbishop Carroll.

St. Louis parishioners are equally thrilled, according to the pastor, and when 100 priests attended the church’s dedication, virtually all of them raved about the relocated windows.

“Many of them had emotional connections to the basilica because they were ordained there or were seminarians who were accustomed to going to the basilica for weekly prayer,” he said. “So I thought that was the highest compliment of all.”

Mark Potter, executive director of the Basilica Historic Trust, said he was among those who were hesitant about removing the windows from the basilica. But after seeing how the widows sparkle at St. Louis and how the restored basilica is bathed in natural light from the restored skylights and the plain glass windows, he said it was “absolutely the right thing to do.”

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Copyright © 2006 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

George P. Matysek Jr.

George Matysek, a member of the Catholic Review staff since 1997, has served as managing editor since September 2021. He previously served as a writer, senior correspondent, assistant managing editor and digital editor of the Catholic Review and the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

In his current role, he oversees news coverage of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is a host of Catholic Review Radio.

George has won more than 100 national and regional journalism and broadcasting awards from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, the Catholic Press Association, the Associated Church Press and National Right to Life. He has reported from Guyana, Guatemala, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

A native Baltimorean, George is a proud graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School in Essex. He holds a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a master's degree from UMBC.

George, his wife and five children live in Rodgers Forge. He is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024
  • Movie Review: ’65’
  • Sister Mary Kathleen Marie Saffa dies at 86

| Latest Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

| Latest World News |

Church calls for ‘international protection of holy sites’ after attack on church at Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem

Papal message to focus on people’s right not to migrate

Medically changing person’s sex characteristics to those of opposite sex ‘not morally justified,’ say bishops

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Church calls for ‘international protection of holy sites’ after attack on church at Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem
  • Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94
  • Papal message to focus on people’s right not to migrate
  • Medically changing person’s sex characteristics to those of opposite sex ‘not morally justified,’ say bishops
  • Pope Francis is praised in U.N. talks for efforts to combat anti-Muslim prejudice
  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm
  • Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says
  • Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED