Lenten worship Wednesday March 18, 2015 Nathaniel- Bartholomew Over Nathaniel’s head is a “flaying knife,” the symbol of his martyrdom. The tradition is that he traveled east as far as India. While preaching in Armenia, on his return trip, he was captured, flayed (skinned) alive and then crucified—upside down. In the window he carries a staff which represents the symbol of the pilgrimage that he made. The branch of the fig tree in the top panel is a symbol referring the story in John’s when Phillip brings Nathaniel to in John chapter 1. Jesus recognized him. Nathaniel asked Jesus how you know me, and Jesus said he had seen Nathaniel under a fig tree before Philip I called him. Nathaniel’s response to Jesus is highlighted in the glass in the window “Thou art the Son of God” “Thou art the King of Israel.”

Saint Thomas St. Thomas also preached in India and he is said to have built the church at Malipur, India. For this reason, St. Thomas is the patron saint of builders and thus the carpenter’s square at the very top of the pane. The fingers and hands in the top panel referral course to the statement made by Thomas when one of the disciples told him that Jesus had risen: “Unless I see his hands in feet the Mark of the nails and put my hands in his side, I will not believe.” When Jesus appeared to the disciples the second time and Thomas was with them, Jesus is held out his hands showed him his side and Thomas then exclaimed the words there in the glass: “My Lord and my God”

There's something about the fact that these two men are paired… Nathaniel was the one who wondered aloud whether anything good can come out of Nazareth? And Thomas that was the one who said to Jesus and the disciples, ‘Yes let us go to Jerusalem and die with him.’ Thomas, of course, is also the one who more famously said “unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and feet and put my fingers in his side I will not believe.” These are the two men who verbally doubted Jesus. And ironically these are also the two men who were the only ones that got it correct in their confession of faith. Nathaniel said “Thou art the son of God, the king of Israel.” Thomas proclaimed “My Lord and my God.”

Saint James the Major, Apostle Nothing is recorded in the about James after ’s ascension, except that he was killed by Herod in :2. According to tradition however he made several pilgrimages, the most famous being to Spain where James founded the Christian Church and fought off the moors. James became the patron saint of Spain. In our window, all of James’s symbols, except one, referred to his pilgrimages. At the top is a staff at the scallop shell, both being symbols of a pilgrimage. This symbol of a shell has become synonymous with pilgrimages, but its beginnings as a religious symbol start with St. James greater. One legend tells us how a knight with his runaway horse fell into the sea and asked saint James for help. Though heavy with armor the knight miraculously remained afloat and when he finally got ashore, he discovered that he was covered with St. James’s Shells. Over his head is a pilgrim’s wallet and a club. Since a club is one of the symbols of martyrdom this panel is referring to James’s death as well as his travels. And finally he is shown carrying a pilgrim staff. The words in the window come from Gospel of Mark 1:37; one morning in Capernaum, Jesus got up early and went off alone to pray. His disciples came looking for him and when they finally found him they said, “All Men Seek for Thee.” While this text does not come from or even relate to St. James, it is the perfect text for the patron saint of pilgrimages.

Saint Stephen the Martyr Three stones directly over Steven’s beardless head refer of course to Stephen’s martyrdom by being stoned to death. Stephen also is carrying a palm frond which was a traditional symbol of victory among the Romans. This meaning was carried into Christian symbolism, with the palm branch was used to suggest the martyrs triumph over death. The symbol of the top panel is a gridiron. According to the book Lives and Legends of the Evangelists, Apostles, and Other Early by N. D’Anvers, This is symbol is always associated with S.t Lawrence who was martyred by being roasted a live on a gridiron. “St. Lawrence however is constantly associated with St. Stephen’s(symbols), because of the tradition that, when the body of St. Stephen was lay down beside St. Lawrence’s, St. Lawrence moved aside to make room, for which Saint Lawrence was surnamed Laurence the Courteous.” (p.232). The quote of the window is the statement made by Stephen as he was being stoned to death “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”(:59).

Saint Paul Apostle The symbol most common for St. Paul is shown at the top panel of the window. It’s an open Bible with a sword behind it. On the Bible is written in “Spiritus Gladius”, which means the sword of the Spirit. This references Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where Paul describes the “whole armor of God” to be put on by the Christian. This description ends with verse 17: “and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.” The crossed swords over Paul’s head is another frequently used symbol. One sword refers to “fighting the good fight of faith” which he advised Timothy to make in 1 Timothy 6. The second sword refers to the manner of his martyrdom. Additionally, Paul is also holding a sword, representing a part of his “armor of God.” The quotation in the windows from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 1: 21. It is part of St. Paul’s statement of his expectation and hope that “so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by my life, or by death. For to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Saint Silas Silas is known for the missionary journey he took with Paul. The ship in the top panel recalls long sea trips in this early missionary work. The Chi Rho symbol on the sail (made from the two first letters of Christ in ) proclaims that the voyages were made in Christ name to spread Christ’s gospel. Over Silas’s head is a beautiful cross called “Cross of glory:” a Latin cross behind which is a rising Sun symbolizing the resurrected Lord. The quotation of the windows is from :26-31; the story of the imprisonment of Paul and Silas in , . At midnight earthquake shook everyone’s bonds in the prison keeper, thinking his important prisoners had escaped, was about to kill himself. But Paul stopped him, saying they were all there, the keeper fell down before Paul and Silas and asked, “What must I do to be saved? And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Thou shalt be saved.”

Upon entering this sacred space, the story in the stained-glass begins with:

Moses and , ↘ St. Paul and St. Silas and , ↗ St. James the Greater and St. Stephen, and , St. Nathaniel and St. Thomas, and , ↘ ↗ St. Peter and St. Andrew, and Zachariah, St. Mark and St. Matthew, Malakai and → St. John and St. Luke, Christ Triumphant

Reading the story in the glass mirrors our own life story: it picks us up, pulls us into the Sacred, drawing us toward the divine, then fills us with the love of God illuminated in our lives and sates us with the story of the Saints. Our glass is a picture book that, in order to read it, you must get involved with it. Because the glass is static, YOU become the dynamic moving part and your participation with it creates a physical momentum that launches you right back into the world. But, just before you do ‘Go in peace to serve the Lord’ our glass proclaims to you before you step back into the world is exactly what I'd like you to consider and meditate on now: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Thanks be to God.