Most know the saying, “the eyes are windows to the soul,” but for the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, its new stained-glass windows are channels to heavenly beauty.
Some 30 clerestory stained-glass windows bearing 60 different icons now adorn the cathedral that is under renovation. Clerestory windows are windows placed high on the walls of a church’s nave. Each clerestory window contains as many as five panels of stained glass. The remaining stained-glass windows will be installed over the next few months. The new windows collectively will represent every parish in the diocese, whether through a Marian image, a patron saint or a saint representing a diocesan culture or community.
Father Michael D. Weston, diocesan director of divine worship, suggested possible images for the icons together with the Cathedral Liturgical Committee. Headed by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, the committee approves liturgical designs for installments in the cathedral, such as the ambo, chairs, altar, tabernacle and stained-glass windows. Father Weston is one of seven priests on the committee, which includes pastors who have experience either building or renovating a church.
The architect of the project is James O’Brien, a former parishioner of St. Agnes Church in Arlington who now attends Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Easton, Md., and architect of O’Brien and Keane Architecture. Beyer Studio in Philadelphia designs the stained glass with guidance from the committee, which first submits a list of desired images or themes to the studio. The studio then creates an image and submits it to the committee for review and comment.
Icons are often seen as painted images of Jesus, the Holy Family and the saints, but Father Weston said that the icons in the clerestory windows are common symbols of the Catholic faith.
“When you think of Christian symbols, the obvious ones include a cross, the Alpha and Omega, the dove representing the Holy Spirit. The committee considered images that would be easily recognizable for visitors to the cathedral,” he said.
Several icons such as the “Tower of Ivory,” “Mystical Rose” and “Ark of the Covenant” are Marian symbols drawn from the Litany of Loreto, a litany to Mary, Father Weston said. Other symbols include a priest’s stole, St. Peter’s keys, a shamrock, an anchor, the ten commandments, a pelican and the Sacred Heart of Jesus surrounded by a crown of thorns.
Bishop Burbidge said the icons are intended to be a catechetical tool.
“If we were to have an eighth-grade confirmation class come to see the renovated cathedral, we would take it as an opportunity to teach the students about the different symbols that are shown. Just using the clerestory windows as an example: I would say, ‘Look up at those windows, and tell me the things that you see.’ Expanding upon each symbol’s importance in understanding the faith becomes a teaching moment, where we catechize not just eighth graders, but us, too.”
The clerestory windows are the first of the stained glass installed in the cathedral. Other stained-glass windows will include the east and west transept windows, the north facade rose window, and the south facade gabled windows.
The east transept window portrays the life of the Holy Family, including the betrothal of Mary and Joseph and the peaceful death of St. Joseph. The west transept windows depict Jesus, several of his apostles and saints such as Sts. Paul and Timothy. The east and west windows will be installed in April.
The south facade features three gabled windows facing Arlington Boulevard. The windows, called “the cloud of saints,” feature the patron saints of diocesan parishes.
The rose window design resembles the rose window of the Chartres Cathedral in France and bears the theme, “the New Jerusalem,” from Revelation 21. Christ sits in the center of the window, surrounded by several rings of stained glass depicting 12 gates, 12 angels and his Twelve Apostles. The rose window will be installed next month.
Some 16 bay windows, or oriel windows, will line the nave of the cathedral. Each oriel acts as a small shrine and features three panels of stained glass depicting the life of a saint who represents one of the diocese’s many cultures and communities. The oriel windows will be installed over the summer.
The installation of the new windows reminds us of the Diocesan Golden Jubilee theme “Renew,” Bishop Burbidge said.
“We’re celebrating 50 years of being a diocese, but this isn’t the end. The jubilee year is really a beginning for the next 50 years and for generations to come,” Bishop Burbidge said. “It is a moment to celebrate how we as a diocese have been blessed and to be renewed by the Lord, who says to us in the Book of Revelation, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ ”
