Revealing Scripture and Tradition without words.

Although glass has been around since ancient times and the Romans used it to glaze windows in one AD, it wasn't until the twelfth century that stained glass windows became a sophisticated art form. Since that time churches throughout the world have used it to instruct and inspire, and as prayer, to raise minds and hearts to God. It has become an integral part of religious architecture for centuries, blending the earthly into the divine. Stained glass windows became one of the first means of mass communication providing scenes and episodes from the Bible to everyone especially those who were not able to read. The stories of both the Old and New Testament have found their way into church windows not just as decoration but as powerful conveyers of a religious message. Stained glass has embedded religious beliefs into the very walls of churches throughout the world. They have helped foster prayer, aid in worship and help thousands grow in faith.

Bible stories, lives of the saints, the beatitudes, the sacraments, corporal and spiritual works of mercy all eventually found their way into the hearts of ordinary people through the powerful and captivating art of stained glass. Forming simple images to complex symbols. stained  glass windows have been carrying a religious message to children too young to read and elderly adults who can still conger up in their imagination windows from their childhood churches or from some of the magnificent cathedrals throughout the world.

In many ways stained glass is a great equalizer whose message can be read by those with great educational advantage and the illiterate, by rich and poor alike. It is open to all and carries a religious message to all who take the time to look.

The stained glass windows in the church of Saint Ann in Lawrenceville follow a common pattern of telling the story of the life of Jesus and Mary. The gallery or south side windows begin with the birth of Mary in the
home of Saints Ann and Joachim, our parish patron and follow down the aisle with scenes from major events in Mary's life concluding with the birth of Jesus. The street or north side windows pick up events from the public ministry of Jesus and carry us to the Resurrection and Ascension. These are the windows that adorned our original Church. They were drawn by Alexander Ghinis, an artist here in Lawrenceville and then crafted in Belgium and transported back and installed in the church. Fortunately they were saved after the fire of 1982 and refitted into the new church building dedicated in 1986.

The two large windows on either side of the Church were crafted specifically for this new building. The gallery side big window depicts Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron of the Americas surrounded by the Saints of the Americas at the time of the church construction. The large window on the north side of the Church entitled "The Universal Call to Holiness" picks up a major theme of Vatican Council II, that all members of the church regardless of their particular status are called to holiness. In the center of the window is the figure of Christ, the source of all grace.