WINDOW TO ST. JOHN VIANNEY.
(East elevation - 10th window) This window has for its main figure the saintly Parish Priest of Ars, France. The rich red vestments in which he is clothed are not only an aid to the color scheme from an artistic standpoint, but illustrate the case of a poor man rich in spiritual attainments. Accessories used are the shepherd’s crook, typifying the pastor of a country parish, while the processional cross denotes possession of a great faith. The choice of arms in the apex, denote the Parochial Clergy whose model and patron the Cure of Ars became by the choice of St. Pius X. The charges on the shield are a breviary, a pyx and a chalice. The inscription over the head runs, Fecit Mirabilia In Vita Sua. |
The medallions are: At the left, the Cure is shown giving counsel to a bishop, a monk and a nun. At the right, the Saint is depicted giving his blessing to accom- pany alms (symbolized by the purse) to a crippled flower seller; opposite is a blind man, and to the rear is a mother bearing an ailing child. The medallion in the base is that of the ceremony at which St. John Vianney was ordained priest in 1815.
Symbols on background shields are: Top, left and right, respectively, is a hand blessing, commemorative of his long hours in the confessional and surrounded by the text, Ego te Absolvo, and the catechism which he taught to young and old. Below are two medallions, to left and right. The “oil stocks,” symbolize his work of anointing the sick, and a black ecclesiastical hat, with two tassels, the heraldic symbol of the Church to denote the secular clergy. The remaining items are the banner of St. John the Baptist, the Cure’s Patron Saint; the balance and sword of St. Michael, on whose feast St. John Vianney was born; and, in the small center space, a lily and the letter M, initial for his middle name, Marie. |