FREDERICK – A capacity congregation filled St. John the Evangelist Church here Sept. 10 to mark not only the 260th anniversary of the oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but to celebrate the blessing of newly installed stained-glass windows depicting scenes from Scripture.
Glenna Crutchley, who has been a member of the parish since she was in seventh grade in the 1950s, said the church has always been beautiful, but the new windows “are much brighter. I wish the sun could have been shining today” to show off the details. The 82-year-old retired nurse said, “It’s absolutely beautiful. I just had to come today.”
Before blessing the windows in the church, which itself dates to 1837, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori prayed that as light shines through the images, so too it will show the many gifts of God’s grace.
The parish church once had stained-glass windows that eventually needed repair and were replaced in the 1970s with simple yellow window panes. The “new” windows came from St. Mary Church in Swoyersville, Pa., which closed in 2012. The windows, each of which measures 15 feet by 6 feet, were created in 1947, designed by Jacob Renner, who was trained in Munich, Germany.
Since the windows don’t exactly fit the existing openings at St. John’s, each window has a pale border around it that allows in light.
The windows feature each of the Gospel writers, as well as the Ascension and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Nativity, the Resurrection and Pentecost. The windows alongside the main altar depict Mary, Queen of Heaven, and Christ the King.
In his homily at the Mass, Archbishop Lori said the windows respect the architectural harmony, design and color palette of the church. “But that is not all. They reflect a deeper harmony, a deeper sense of that beauty and integrity which bring us together as a family of faith, which gather us as the church,” he said. “These windows reflect the light of Christ in his mysteries.”
He said the lives of the members of the congregation – as individuals and as a community – must “reflect the truth, goodness, beauty and love shining on the face of Christ. And when darkness falls, in the night of sin and error, the light of Christ must shine outward from this church onto a darkened world, not just from this church structure but indeed in and through ourselves. As a family faith, we are to be light amid the confusion, indeed, a light brightly visible.”
The archbishop said, “Throughout the course of the liturgical year, these mysteries are re-presented to us so that we can encounter Christ in a living way and enter into what he did to save us. These very mysteries are proclaimed in the Gospels, so it is most appropriate that the windows include the symbols of the evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
Michelle Holcomb, a member of the Army National Guard, attended the Mass in her military uniform, along with other soldiers from her unit. A parishioner of St. John’s “since the windows were yellow,” she said she makes sure she finds time to attend Mass even on the weekends when she is “on drill” – monthly training exercises – and brings others with her. She also said she likes to attend the Saturday vigil Mass in Spanish, to improve her language skills while she worships.
She said she loves to listen to Archbishop Lori speak. The windows are “a great improvement, there was a great homily, and the music was wonderful.”
She also especially appreciated the Communion meditation song, “Ave Maria, Dolce Maria,” composed by Luciano Pavarotti and sung by seminarian Stephen Kirby, who is serving his pastoral year at the pastorate. Kirby said he learned the song in about a month.
Holcomb said one of her fellow soldiers noted that the stained-glass art is not something to be worshiped, but that it helps tell a story.
“Some people are visual learners,” Holcomb said. These windows “help open up communication and deepen the understanding of our faith.”
Arcade Bandeke, another parishioner, said, “Every window has a message within. The drawings, the shapes are very inspiring.
“If you focus on one window and meditate, you can learn many things,” he said.
The cost of the project was approximately $750,000 – less expensive than commissioning new windows. The parish raised the funds without a capital campaign, said Father John Williamson, pastor of the pastorate of St. John and St. Joseph on Carrollton Manor in Buckeystown. The effort was supported by a video and appeals from the pulpit. He expressed his gratitude to the parishioners for responding “to help beautify this already beautiful church.”
Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org
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