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Views from the Choir Loft

New Stained Glass Windows of Military Saints

Fr. David Friel · November 11, 2019

OVEMBER is the month of All Saints and All Souls, and today is both the feast of one of the Church’s great soldier-saints, Martin of Tours, and Veterans Day in the USA. In that spirit, it seems appropriate to share news of a set of stained glass windows featuring military-related saints that was recently crafted and installed. Now gracing the chapel of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) in Washington, DC, these windows were designed and executed by Washington Art Glass Studio, based in Dunkirk, MD.

The main windows depict saints who have a particular connection to military life. These include the Roman Centurion (Mt 8:5-13; Lk 7:1-10), St. Martin of Tours, St. Joan of Arc, St. John of Capistrano, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Also included are Saints Peter & Paul, the four evangelists, symbols of the seven sacraments and the office of preaching, two episcopal coats of arms (belonging to Archbishops Joseph T. Ryan and Timothy P. Broglio, the first and current archbishops of the AMS), and six seals of the military branches and departments.

All the windows were blessed during a ceremony in early September 2019 that included readings from Sacred Scripture and the singing of psalms and hymns. In his remarks, Archbishop Broglio reflected on the significance of the occasion:

When the Church blesses stained glass windows, she does so for the following reasons: that when we look at the representations of those who followed Christ faithfully, we will be motivated to seek the city that is to come, that we will learn the way to attain complete union with Christ, that as we struggle along with our earthly cares, we will be mindful of the saints, those friends and co-heirs with Christ who are also our own brothers and sisters and our special benefactors, that we will remember how they love us, are near to us, intercede ceaselessly for us, and are joined to us in communion.

The following gallery includes photographs of the new windows.

AMS_G2 AMS_F2 AMS_E2 AMS_D2 AMS_C2 AMS_B2 AMS_A2

Two interesting things appear near the back of the chapel. First is a set of two windows side-by-side with no saints depicted. One presumes that these spaces are reserved in the hope that the canonization causes for Fr. Vincent Capodanno and Fr. Emil Kapaun will one day reach fulfillment.

Second, there are two paintings adorning the front of the balcony that, while not new, fit the overall plan of the chapel through their depiction of two additional saints with military connections. On the left appears St. George slaying the dragon, while on the right a young Fr. Angelo Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII) is shown ministering as a chaplain during World War I.

AMS_H2 AMS_Balcony2
Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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    As I explained in my article posted earlier today, Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland is actually a Catholic tune (in spite of what some have claimed). The volunteer choir I direct sang that beautiful ADVENT melody last Sunday, and I invite you to listen to the live recording. It will get better the more we sing it.
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    The Vice-President of the Church Music Association of America, Dr. Horst Buchholz (who also serves as Director of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Detroit) sent us an email yesterday regarding the harmonizations (PDF) I composed for the Gregorian Chant psalm tones. Dr. Buchholz says: “Those settings are absolutely exquisite, as I'm used to when it comes from you. Bravo! Well done! Now, as a sequel, if you could write something for accompanying psalms in English that would be awesome.”
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    A young lady named Agnes wrote to us: “Dear Mr. Ostrowski, do you have the PDF score for Ave Corpus Domini set to the ADVENT melody? Last year, we sang the hymn tune “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland” quite a bit using your contrafactum technique. My choir appreciates the Latin hymns and practice videos, especially in the ADVENT and CHRISTMAS seasons. Your recent article on Gregorian Psalm Tones is a great help to my organist brother, and reminds us of attending VESPERS years ago when we lived in California. Thank you so much for all the effort put into providing these wonderful resources!”   Agnes, if you are listening! Yes, the PDF file you desire can be downloaded for free at the Brébeuf Portal via this URL link. Thanks for writing to us!
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“I vividly remember going to church with him in Bournemouth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy (from Latin to English). My grandfather obviously didn’t agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but my grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right.”

— Simon Tolkien (2003)

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