SWEETEST HEART OF MARY /
The Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (North Window)
Photographer: Jann Soltis
2/23/01
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The Charity of St. Vincent

The real color effects in the church come from the magnificent stained glass windows, creations of The Detroit Glass Works. According to news paper accounts of that day, they reputedly won one of the main prizes at the Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. These stained glass windows are spectacular for their exquisite and incomparable tracery and their kaleidoscopic colors. Eight tall such windows, four on each side, light the nave. The lights in these windows glow with red, orange, blue, and gold figures in various designs and patterns, in addition to presenting a pictorial biblical or religious scene. In 1979, the most necessary repairs were done upon these and the other windows in the church at a cost of approximately $23,000; in 1983, the windows on the Canfteld side were made secure against vandalism by the installation of a protective plastic called Lexon at a cost of $37,000.

While the pictorial center of each window is very well executed, it is the tracery, or the lovely scroll designs outlining each window, which is exceptionally designed and magnificently colored. Upon first glance, it may seem that this tracery design is identical in each window. Closer observation, however, will reveal that the scroll work outlining each is a very different and a very individual intricate pattern. Many churches have beautiful pictorial windows, but seldom does one find such exquisite tracery work which is a very special distinguishing feature of the windows in this magnificent Gothic edifice.

Some art critics have mentioned that the brilliant intensity of the colors of the windows in this church can be compared with that of some of the finest specimens of church architecture in Europe. The multiplicity of hues and shades found in these windows is a delight any time of the day. On a sunny day, the yellows and golds predominate and they wash the church in a glorious effect of sunshine. At twilight, however, many tints and shades of blue-greens and then of blues predominate, creating an entirely different effect. It is most interesting to note that the uppermost part of each window (even of the very large transept windows) has a large circular design which consists of a cutout pattern that is a rendition in glass of the traditional and characteristic Polish custom of the Eastertide “wycinanki” i.e. paper cutouts.

Two of the most striking features of this magnificent edifice are the two great windows at either end of the transept. Their immense proportions occupy the entire space of the wall at those ends. These mammoth windows are sixty feet high and thirty feet wide, and each contains three circular frames in the uppermost section. They are masterpieces of the art of stained glass and represent the Holy Family in the south transept and the Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in its north counterpart. Again, they are representative of the idealism of the founding pastor. These latter windows cost $2,500 each
— indeed, a tremendous sum of money in 1893-1894.