By Gretchen Keiser

The stained glass windows, which bathe the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in hues of blue, yellow, deep red and gold, were designed by Robert Pinart of Nyack, N.Y. and produced by Cummings Studios of North Adams, Mass.

In addition to the sheer beauty of the color and design of the windows, they express pictorially the focus of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception upon Mary, the Mother of God, and her central role in the redemption of the world through the birth of Christ.

All of the window designs begin in the creative process with a small-scale color sketch, which is later expanded to a full-scale drawing known as a cartoon. From that cartoon a layout of the window is made on paper, which is cut in segments and used as the basis for the cutting of the specially selected pieces of stained glass. As the process continues, the segments of cut glass are pieced together and raised in the light, so that the designer can paint on the glass and create the images which appear so vividly on the completed window. The painted glass is then fired in a kiln, which fuses the paint to the glass and makes it permanent. All but the smallest windows in the Shrine were created in sections, which were assembled and built into the window frame to create the completed window.

The process of designing and assembling the windows began in the summer of 1983 and was completed in late March 1984. Because this work involved the restoration of an historic church, rather than the creation of stained glass windows for a new church, it was an unusually large undertaking. The Cummings Studios produced more than 50 windows for the church, which were created from 13,000 to 14,000 individual segments of glass. The glass used in the pictorial segments of the windows is European antique glass, a term which refers not to the age of the glass but to the process by which it is made. The glass is handblown and of a finer quality than machine-made glass.

The iconography for the stained glass windows was developed for Cummings Studios by Virginia Raguin, a stained glass historian who is a professor at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass. The progression of symbols in the windows develops thematically throughout the church.

Entering the Shrine, the first windows seen are those directly above the door, three half-moon shaped windows which represent the Mysteries of the Rosary. Prior to the fire, there was only one window opening above the door. As one enters the church, the window to the left, which depicts yellow roses against a red background, represents the Joyful Mysteries. To the right, the window marked by yellow roses against a red background of thorns represents the Sorrowful Mysteries. The central window showing roses against a predominantly white background in the Glorious Mysteries. Since these doorway windows are most accessible to the world passing by outside, the decision was made to focus upon the central Christian themes of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.

Entering the church, there are on each aisle four double-lancet windows with a small diamond section above each. In background design, the windows begin with a diamond pattern similar to the pattern which was in the windows before the fire. A deep blue border, traditionally a color associated with Mary, frames diamonds in varying shades of blue and yellow. Against the diamond pattern Mr. Pinart added a new element to the windows of a pictorial medallion, representing Biblical titles which have been associated with Mary. This litany of titles establishes that it was Mary’s Immaculate Conception, her birth without sin, which enabled her to become the Mother of God. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is taken from images and symbols used in the Old Testament Song of Songs.

Beginning on the left side and moving toward the altar, the medallions depict the titles: Bright as the Sun; Cedar of Lebanon; Fountain of Living Waters; Lily Among Thorns; Pomegranate; Rising Sun; Ark of the Covenant and City of God. On the right side, moving away from the altar and toward the door, the titles are Tower of David; Enclosed Garden; Mirror Without Stain; Lily of the Valley, Rose of Sharon; Well of Pure Water; Olive Tree and Fair as the Moon.

From these windows which express the qualities of Mary, the windows in the transept of the Shrine focus upon the Jesse tree or lineage of Christ. These four-lancet windows with a rose window above express, in a different form, the traditional Jesse tree concept of the root of Christ springing from Jesse’s side. In such windows, Mary is depicted at the top, holding Jesus above her. In these windows, the Jesse tree is depicted horizontally in pictorial medallions beginning with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesse on the left side of the altar and continuing of the right with Jesse, David, Solomon and Jacob, father of Joseph. The red background symbolizes Christ and in the rose windows above, the symbol of Mary is surrounded by seven doves representing the Holy Spirit. The eighth circle at the top places Jesus above Mary.

The Chancel Rose window above the altar focuses upon the Immaculate Conception in its symbols and, in its painting style, imitates the style of the 15^th century, when the concept of Mary as having been born without sin was strongly emerging in the Church. The painting style and design were chosen to emphasize the rootedness of Mary’s Immaculate Conception in the thinking of the church and the window has greatly detailed and unusual painting deliberately traditional in style. While the figure of Mary is in the center, the background of red was chosen as a color expressive of Jesus. The window is ringed by the twelve stars which surround Mary, and at the top is God the Father.

Turning to the back of the Shrine, the Great West window depicts the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven, with the dove representing the Holy Spirit and rays of celestial light descending as Mary is crowned by Jesus. While the rest of the windows depict the relationship between the world of men and the divine, this window takes on a different spirit, reflecting the glory of heaven and the triumph after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the Father. In contrast to the traditional and 15^th century style of the other windows, this window is highly contemporary in design.

Four small diamond-shaped windows on either side of the altar are an unusual part of the renovated Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Following the fire, these windows were rediscovered by masons who found that they had been bricked over during the last 100 years. When the bricks were removed, some of the original glass and design of windows that were in the church in 1869 were rediscovered. While the glass had been damaged extensively by the heat of the fire, fragments were recovered and reused by the designer to fashion these small windows. The lily pattern in these windows is reflective of the pattern found in the original windows and the glass is a mixture of the old and the new.

Throughout the Shrine, the color, design and iconography of the stained glass windows emphasize the Marian aspect of the Church, but place Mary in her special role as Mother of God, uniquely conceived and called to this central role in the redemption of the world.