The South Clerestory Windows: The Liturgy of the Mass

2. The Liturgy of the Word

            In the former window, we prepared ourselves for Mass through the use of the four types of prayer.  In this window, God, by means of the inspired writers, speaks and instructs us.  The ideas flow from top to bottom.

            At the top we see the hand of God pouring out the graces of inspiration on the writers of Sacred Scripture as symbolized by the pen and scrolls.  The lamp of wisdom, pictured below and to the left, emphasizes the illumination of the Holy Spirit that guided the human authors of the Bible.

            The remainder of the window shows how the Word of God is given to the faithful at Mass through he Old and New Testament readings, the Gospel and homily.  The simple word “Fratres” immediately calls to mind the opening lines of St. Paul’s letters, the source of many of the second reading texts used at Mass.  In the center panel of the window we see the traditional representations of the four Evangelists, the writers of the Good News of Jesus. 

• The head of a man symbolizes St. Matthew because his gospel begins by tracing the human descent of Jesus. 
• Since St. Mark began his narrative with a description of St. John the Baptist as the “voice of one crying in the wilderness,” he is pictured as a winged lion. 
• The oxen bring to mind the writings of St. Luke, which emphasized the sacrificial nature of Christ’s death. 
• St. John is symbolized by an eagle because of the highly theological nature of his account of Christ’s life.

            In the bottom panel, the invocation of the word “Veni, Sancte Spiritus” (Come, Holy Spirit) brings down the Holy Spirit, as pictured by the dove and flame, to inspire the words of the priest’s homily.