New stained glass window shines
lighton parish's patron saint
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published May 19, 2006
Redford Twp. — In its 50th year, St. John Bosco Parish received a gift from two of its parishioners that could be described as a window into the heart of the parish.
Jack Linden and Sr. Janet Wright, OP, over the course of a year created a commemorative stained glass window bearing the likeness of the parish's patron, St. John Bosco. Last weekend they installed the window in the church's entranceway.
|
Sr. Janet Wright, OP, polishes the stained glass on a window bearing the likeness of the patron of St. John Bosco Parish in Redford Township. The window wascreatedfor the parish’s 50th anniversary. | "I think stained glass has always inspired people," said Sr. Wright, a retired art teacher who's been at the parish for three decades. "This is a place of worship and I think the color of the glass enhances that process. This will be a special piece for our anniversary."
The window, which is about six feet tall, is now positioned between the two double entry doors of the church, on Beech Daly Road, south of the I-96 freeway.
More than one year ago Linden, who with his wife, Maria, runs a stained glass window shop in Plymouth, came up with the idea of making the stained glass tribute to the parish's patron. Sr. Wright, whose favorite medium is watercolor but who had taken classes in stained glass before, was quick to become his apprentice in the project.
For more than a year, the two worked for countless hours on the window in the basement of the parish rectory.
Linden said that it was meaningful to him to be able to use his God-given talents.
"It gives me an opportunity to feel that I have done something significant for my parish and for all of the parishioners of St. John Bosco," he said. "It's just something that I have always had an ambition to do and this was the opportunity to do it."
St. John Bosco was known chiefly for his teaching of the faith. Both Sr. Wright and Linden had spent much of their lives teaching, Sr. Wright in a classroom and Linden in his glass shop. The parish also has a devotion to teaching. For a long time it maintained a grade school, which educated thousands before closing three years ago due to lack of enrollment and financial constraints.
The window shows St. John Bosco with his hands folded. Both his face and his hands are intricately detailed and shadowed. His hands are shaded lighter than the rest of his body to indicate their holy work of passing on the faith.
Also, etched in glass below the statue is a pair of hands, one handing a book to the other to symbolize the passing on of knowledge.
|
Fr. Richard Osebold (far left), joins artists Sr. Janet Wright and Jack Linden, looking over a stained glass window the two made for St. John Bosco Parish, bearing the parish’s patron. | Making the window involved a number of steps, from etching a cartoon (drawing) of the saint based on a statue in the church, to forming each piece of glass, to repeatedly sanding and fitting the pieces into a copper-lined frame.
Sr. Wright said the project was educational — and tough.
"It's very precise work because everything has to be cut and had to be fitted," she said. "We did it step by step by step, so it took many hours.… It was one of the best projects I've worked on in a long time."
And it certainly was appreciated. A few parishioners who stayed after last Saturday's afternoon Mass to watch Sr. Wright clean the window for installation said they were moved by the stained glass tribute.
Marge Kucharek, for example, said she cried with joy when she first saw it in the church rectory's basement.
"I couldn't explain to you," Kucharek said. "Jack took me down there. He has such love for this. You should see him."
Fellow parishioner Helen Dineen, who raised a family in the parish, described the window as "breathtaking."
"This is just unbelievable," she said. "I can't say enough."
Fr. Richard Osebold, pastor of the parish, said the window will serve to enhance the parish's joy at the special occasion of the parish's golden jubilee this year.
"The 50th anniversary is a special time and this is kind of a commemorative art piece to help us celebrate it and have more joy in the occasion, and to commemorate our saint," said Fr. Osebold, who himself is a teacher, retiring this year from teaching Latin at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. "It also shows a lot of love and dedication of these two artists, who worked countless hours to put it together.
"And the final product is so beautiful. It just fits right in with the theme of our year to honor our patron saint and our parish, which he overlooks."
|
