A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth EditionHall, Edward Hagaman
Religion
A guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the city of New York: Fifth Edition
Hall, Edward Hagaman
Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, N.Y.)
=The Seven Angels with Trumpets= (Rev. viii. 2) are the main subject of
the window above the _Chapel of St. Columba_. Three of them are in the
lower part of the middle light and two in each of the side lights. In
the upper part of the middle light is the mighty angel of the cloud,
overarched by the rainbow, standing upon the sea, and holding aloft in
his left hand the little open book (x. 1, 2). In the upper part of the
left side light is the angel with the seal of the living God (vii. 2) and
in the right side light the angel with the golden censer (viii. 3). In
the middle of the side lights are four angels (two left and two right)
blowing the four winds of the earth (vii. 1). In the circular light at
the top are the name “Pergamos” and a shield bearing the sharp two-edged
sword of Him who sent the message to the church in Pergamos (ii. 12)
between the Greek letters ΙΗϹ and ΧΡϹ (Jesus Christ.)[29] In the bottom
border are the words: “From the seven ‖ Spirits which are before ‖ His
throne.” A tablet in the Ambulatory reads as follows:
“The Clerestory Window Above the ‖ Chapel of Saint Columba‖
is Erected ‖ to the Glory of God ‖ and ‖ in Loving Memory ‖
of ‖ 1797 John Williams Leeds 1873 ‖ 1800 Eliza Leeds 1885 ‖
Emily Irene Hardenbergh 1899 ‖ By Their Daughter and Sister ‖
Josephine Eliza Leeds ‖A. D. 1915.”
=Christ Reigning in Glory=, as described in the first chapter of the
Book of Revelation, is the principal subject of the great central window
above the _Chapel of St. Saviour_. In the central light is the Son of
Man, with up-raised hands, vested as King and Priest, wearing a royal
crown, a crimson mantle and a golden pallium. He stands in the midst of
the seven candlesticks (i. 13), holds in his right hand the seven stars
(i. 16, 20), and is surrounded by winged seraphim. Beneath him a rainbow
(iv. 3) over-arches the sea of glass (iv. 6). In the side lights are the
four principal archangels: St. Michael (left, above,) is depicted in
armor as the Prince of the Celestial Armies, while the balance in his
left hand, supposed to contain the souls of the dead, symbolizes his
character as Guardian Angel of Departed Spirits. St. Raphael, below him,
with pilgrim’s staff, is represented as the friendly traveller, recalling
Milton’s “affable archangel.” St. Gabriel (right, above,) appears as
Angel of the Annunciation, as indicated by the lilies (symbol of purity)
in his right hand; and below him is St. Uriel, as Angel of Light, holding
the sun.[30] In the circular window at the top are two angels holding the
morning star mentioned in the message to the church in Thyatira (ii. 28),
but the name “Thyatira” is lacking. In the border at the bottom of the
three lights are the words: “Jesus Christ ‖ the Faithful ‖ Witness.”
The window was given by Mrs. Whitelaw Reid. A tablet in the Ambulatory
reads:
“The East Window ‖ is Erected in Memory of ‖ Whitelaw Reid ‖
October 27, 1837-December 15, 1912.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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