The South Clerestory Windows: The Liturgy of the Mass

5. The Liturgy of the Eucharist

            The ideas contained in this window present an introduction to the most solemn part of the Mass – the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  At the top of the window, the words “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus” (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the many-winged forms of the Seraphim, God’s ‘fire-angels,’ bring to mind Chapter VI of the Book of Isaiah and recall the attitude of reverence with which we should enter into the awesome presence of God.  The rest of the window symbolizes the mementos of special intentions of the Church, the living and the saints.

            The memento of the Church is recalled by the use of the figure of a fishing boat, which represents the Church as a unit.  This image is easy to understand if we remember frequent references to the Church as “Peter’s Bark.”   The papal tiara and keys of authority, the bishop’s miter and crosier, the shell and baptismal water of the faithful – all placed inside the boat – give consolations to the place of the pope, bishop and faithful within the Church.

            Moving downward, the memento of the living is indicated by the sword that suggests the Church Militant.  To the right of the sword a diptych, a hinged writing tablet, is shown.  At one time in the history of the Church, the names of the living for whom a special remembrance was being made were inscribed on a diptych and read aloud at this point of the Mass.

            The three figures standing at the bottom of the window signify the Communion of Saints whom we commemorate in the third memento when we lay claim to their merits and prayers for our help and protection.

            The final figure, in the lower right-hand corner of the window, completes the thought of the Sanctus prayer:  “…Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.”  The figure shows a man riding a donkey over a path strewn with palm branches.  This reminds us both of the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem and of the coming of Christ the King of Peace at the consecration of the bread and wine.