Stained Glass

The large stained glass windows above the altar were made by St. John’s founding Pastor, Fr. Anthony Herndel, and Dr. Richard Thompson. The window on the left of the altar represents the seven sacraments of the Church: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick, all coming from the hand of God.

The window on the right represents the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Wisdom – symbolized by the lamp of enlightenment is the gift that leads our souls to see things from God’s perspective. It is the fullness of knowledge of life’s meaning, of truth and of love that can only be obtained through drawing ever closer to God through life’s experiences, in prayer and reflection. Understanding – symbolized by the triangle enclosing the heart helps us penetrate to the heart of God’s revealed truth and enables us to grasp the truth of the basic and fundamental principles of life. True understanding comes as much from the heart as from the mind.

Knowledge – depicted by the shield and cross is the gift that perfects a person’s practical reason in making judgments about the truth. Like a shield, knowledge protects us against errors in judgment that would keep us from the truth.

Counsel – sometimes called right judgment and symbolized by the scales, enables the person to exercise prudent judgment in their actions and responses to their understanding of truth.

Fortitude – represented by the sword of Courage, a symbol of martyrdom in the early Church, is a gift that provides those who receive it the firmness of mind required to do good and to endure evil, to persist in difficult times and through hardships.

Piety – symbolized by the rainbow, reflects holiness and divine providence. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit that infuses in us a love of God and devotion to all that has been consecrated to God.

Fear of the Lord – also called “Wonder and Awe in God”, is depicted by the all-seeing eye of God in the Trinitarian triangle. This gift actually is not fear of punishment, but rather a sense o hope and respect for God’s glory that creates a desire to swell in God’s presence and to avoid those things that offend Him.

Together, these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, given to us freely from the hand of God through the Sacraments of the Church provide us with the tools we need to reflect on the Trinity, search for the truth, and live so that we grow closer to God in the process. This occurs as we strive to achieve better, though never complete, understanding of the Trinity, its elements of unity and equality as well as its Divine diversity and uniqueness of the Three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.