I hope you are staying healthy – physically, mentally and spiritually – during these ongoing stressful times as we all try to weather the coronavirus pandemic. I’m delighted that so many of our parishioners are watching the live streamed Masses; it’s a very important way for us to stay together as a faith community. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had a number of parishioners ask about some of the details of our church that they hadn’t noticed before but now see on the live streamed Masses. They have asked about the blue diamond with a golden scale that appears to the left of the cantor, lector or celebrant at the ambo and the blue diamond with a strange spear-like golden object behind the celebrant when he is at the small podium in front of the presider’s chair. And, now that they see close-up shots of the stained glass windows on either side of the daily Mass chapel, people have asked about the images that appear on these windows and their significance. Allow me to explain.
The two diamonds are half of a set of emblems that are located above the three confessionals and the new alcove for our organ console; as you recall, that had been a confessional until recently. All four of them are emblems associated with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The scale is symbolic of the judgment that occurs during the sacrament of reconciliation. In the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, we read:
You people say, “Our crimes and our sins weigh us down; we are rotting away because of them. How can we survive?” Answer them: As I live – oracle of the Lord God – I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. (Ez 33:10-11)
Admitting our sins, we are encouraged to know that God’s justice is tempered by his mercy and love for us.
The spear-like object above the organ console is actually a scepter – the scepter of justice. In Psalm 45, we read: “Your throne, O God, stands forever; your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.”
There are two more symbols that you won’t see on the live streamed Masses because of their location but they are interesting, as well. Above Msgr. Carroll’s confessional, we find a book; that’s the Book of Life where all of those destined to go to heaven have their names written.
And, above the Visitors confessional, a blue orb holds a golden depiction of a girdle. As a sign of penitence, the ancient Israelites would put on a sackcloth girdle. In the fourth chapter of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, the prophet calls wayward Israel to “gird yourself in sackcloth; mourn and wail. …Cleanse your heart of evil, that you may be saved.” As they wore the sackcloth, they would pray for God’s mercy and forgiveness.
And, in the Book of Revelation, we read of St. John’s vision of “a figure like a Son of man, dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a golden girdle.” Of course, this figure is the risen Lord who, as announces to St. John, “I am the Living One, I was dead and now I am to live forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the netherworld.” (Jn 1:13, 18).
These emblems were among some of the items placed in our present church – dedicated in 1966 – that came from our original church, built in 1896. And, although these emblems are found today – very fittingly – above the confessionals, they were originally placed at the four ends of the crucifix above the altar in the sanctuary of the old church. Speaking of items taken from our original church, the two silver sanctuary lamps that you see hanging near our tabernacle come from the old church, too. They were imported from Italy in the 1930’s when the sanctuary was renovated. Henry Clifford, a parishioner who was the curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at that time, coordinated the importation of these sanctuary lamps.
Some parishioners have also asked about the stained glass windows that are on either side of the altar in the daily Mass chapel; they are very prominent during the live streamed Masses. These two panels are filled with Eucharistic imagery. The window to the left of the altar recalls the ancient prophecies of the Eucharist and the window on the right the fulfillment of the prophecies. At the very bottom of the left window, the rising sun appears and casts its rays throughout the entire window until it sets in the upper panel. This calls to mind the prophecy of Malachi 1:11: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations, and there is offered in every place a clean oblation.” That oblation is Jesus, the Eucharistic victim – the paschal lamb, as we speak of him during this Easter season.
Several Eucharistic images are presented between the rising of the sun and its setting. The crown, the olive branch, the cup of wine and the two loaves of bread recall Melchizedek’s offering that is recorded in the Book of Genesis 14:18. Of course, we read in the Letter to the Hebrews that Melchizedek and his offering foreshadowed Jesus Christ and his offering – bread and wine, which became his Body and Blood.
Above these images about Melchizedek, we see a variety of images that evoke the Exodus: stars, planets, blue and gold tents, a sheaf of wheat, white flakes and birds. It was during the Exodus that God rained down manna – that is, bread from heaven – along with quail. These events also prefigured the Eucharist. So do the seven green pillars topped with a red-tile roof that we see; they are of the house that Wisdom built where she spread her table, as represented by the loaves and jugs of wine and water (cf. Proverbs 9:1-6). And, at the very top of this panel to the right of the setting sun, we see the “hand of God” which is the source of all of these blessings that prefigure the Eucharist.
As I mentioned above, the stained glass panel on the right of the tabernacle is filled with images that depict the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the Eucharist. The lowest panel presents Bethlehem – complete with its star – where Jesus was born; as you know, “Bethlehem” means “House of Bread.” The deep purple color evokes the cave where the infant Jesus was born while the golden area represents the manger where Mary placed her newborn son, the true “bread come down from heaven,” as we hear Jesus declare of himself in the Gospel of John 6:41.
Above the Bethlehem scene, we see vines and branches and are reminded that Jesus declared: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). And, above this, we find a table bearing bread and wine with our Lord, represented by a large purple circle, surrounded by the apostles, represented by twelve red circles. We also find a cluster of grapes from which wine is made and a dove, symbolic of the Holy Spirit, along with a golden “Z”; it stands for the Greek word “Zoe,” which means life – the supernatural life we receive in the Eucharist.
And, in the background throughout this panel, we see a large scarlet red cross, the cross on which our Lord hung; in the window in the choir loft, you see that the cross is green since it becomes the tree of life for all who partake of the Eucharistic feast. We also see pilgrim staffs (they look like candles) that speak of the Eucharist as the food that nourishes us on our journey to heaven.
Like the rest of our windows throughout our beautiful church, these stained glass windows are filled with symbolism that provide ample food for contemplation. I invite you to reflect on them, both during the live streamed Masses and any other time you come to church. And, consider the symbolism of the emblems above the confessionals when you next come to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation; they offer true encouragement!