Thursday, April 9, 2020 –
Weird fact: I…LOVE…MAUNDY THURSDAY! I love that it is the start of the Triduum, which by the way is #1 on the Table of Liturgical Days. I love that Christ gave us the Eucharist and the Priesthood on this day.
Andrew and I love Holy Thursday so much we bought a series of stained- glass windows—a triptych —for our Church…seriously. Yeah, we are that enamored with this day!
There are always amazing homilies today, so I will leave the history, theology, and awesomeness to our Priests. Instead, I will talk about our beautiful and crazy-huge windows. A special thank you to Fr. H for letting me go particularly nuts with these windows and for Beyer Studio, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for turning our dream into a gorgeous reality.
Each pane depicts a different major event from this day: the Institution of the Eucharist; the Mandatum; and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. A little more on each window:
The Mandatum (Foot Washing):
While this event comes after the Last Supper, we asked for it to be the left side window so that the focus could remain on the Institution of the Eucharist. This window depicts Christ washing the feet of Peter with the other Apostles in the background.
Just below the main image is the Christian symbol of a griffin, a mythical creature that was half eagle and half lion. Historically, griffins were used to suggest the two-fold nature of Christ. The eagle recalls His Divine Nature and the lion recalls His humanity. The dedication for this window is, “Ora Pro Ecclesia Militante” (Pray for the Church Militant).
The Institution of the Eucharist (Last Supper):
The focal point of the triptych is Christ and His Apostles at the Last Supper. I particularly love how Rachel at Beyer Studio chose to contrast John reclining on Christ’s shoulder at the top vs. Judas Iscariot looking away and clutching the bag of money at the bottom.
Above the main image is the emblem of a pelican feeding her young. The pelican is the symbol of self-sacrifice. Legend says that a mother pelican would wound herself, striking her breast, in order to feed her young. The Christian image in the lower left is the Host and Chalice. We dedicated this window, “Ora Pro Sacerdotibus Nostris” (Pray for our Priests).
The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane:
The final event we depicted was Christ’s Agony in the garden. Taken from Luke 22: 42-46, it shows Christ fervently praying, the angel ministering to Him, and Peter, John, and James sleeping.
Saying: “Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them: Why sleep you? arise, pray, lest you enter into temptation. (Luke 22: 42-46, Douay-Rheims 1899)
For the Christian symbol, the Paschal Lamb above the main image reflects Christ’s victory over the grave and foretells the coming events of Easter Sunday. The dedication of this window reads, “Ora Pro Ecclesia Paenitente” (Pray for the Church Penitent).
Side note: I’m still lobbying for a window depicting the harrowing of hell, but our Church has run out of windows to purchase, and Andrew says I’m not allowed to go soliciting random Churches for permission to buy stained glass windows. Harumph!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
