Trinity Narthex Triptych Window

St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Windham, NH

"Trinity" Narthex Triptych Window
14'-3 1/2" w by 13'-7 1/2" h

Rose Windows: 3 @ 7'-1" diameter each

Sanctuary, Reconciliation Chapel & Sacristy Windows:
12 @ 4'0" by 7'-4" each

German, French and Domestic Mouthblown Glass; Machine- and Hand- rolled Glass; Hand-pressed Lenses; Lead; Solder.

Decastro/Nelson & Associates, Boston, MA, Architects

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The stained glass windows in St. Matthew's Catholic Church occur at two levels. The Upper Windows float high in the lofty ceiling where they symbolize the enigmatic idea of God as the Holy Trinity. The more "down to earth" Lower Windows depict events and teachings from the earthly life of Christ. To emphasize their spatial and thematic separation from the Lower Windows, an achromatic glass palette is used in the Upper Windows. Variously textured, colorless clear glasses combined with both filmy white and denser white glasses give the Triptych and Rose Windows a transcendent, spiritual quality and a sense of uplifting awe. As a reflection of our human inability to fully comprehend our infinite God, the imagery contained in these windows is more abstract than that of the Lower Windows. The Upper Windows represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit both united as One in the Triptych Window and individually in the three Rose Windows.

The twelve Lower Windows depict events and teachings that took place during Christ's time on Earth. A polychromatic palette of glass represents our physical, corporal existence, in contrast with the ethereal white and clear glass of the Upper Windows. White and clear glasses are used in the Lower Windows to symbolize God's reassuring omnipresence among us on Earth. The abstracted imagery in the Lower Windows is more easily recognizable than that of the Upper Windows above. Even so, the subtleties of the these transparent "paintings" of glass only slowly reveal themselves as changing light transforms them thereby allowing parishioners to continually participate in their creation.

Because glass's visual presence extends beyond its two dimensional surface, the windows at St. Matthew's reveal different aspects as the sun transits from day to night and slowly cycles through the seasons projecting ever-changing patterns of light throughout the sanctuary's interior. Views out through the windows also change as shadows, foliage and clouds grow and recede. The windows' exterior appearance also changes as reflected sunlight gives way to the glow of interior lighting at night. This fully three dimensional and constantly changing experience will allow the stained glass to remain a comforting, yet dynamic part of worship at St. Matthews.

click images for a larger version.