Day 1-(The Trinity Window). “In the beginning…” These stirring words mark the origin of our existence. God stands before the beginning in a place beyond our comprehension. God creates in a place outside of time. Only in creation do we begin to understand his power and majesty.
The traditional symbol of God in many cultures has been the circle. The circle has no beginning or end, which describes the most foundational truth about God. The Trinity Window at St. Catherine of Siena Church has been designed by Michael Northrop, Fr. Kevin Covert, and the Art and Design committee of St. Catherine of Siena and built by Northrop to begin to explain and honor the great mystery of the Trinitarian nature of God. The window is intended to be a devotional aid to the believer and a teaching aid to the seeker.
In the exact center of the Trinity Window, there is a faceted clear crystal. At the core of our belief about the nature of God is the understanding that God is One. God is holy and good. His radiance is experienced as dazzling light. The crystal brings the light of the sun into the chapel but then breaks it into a beautiful spectrum of color. God is one, but we see many aspects of God’s glory.
Surrounding the crystal is a Trinitarian knot. The three points of the design lead us to remember the three persons in the Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The knot is composed of two cords, which are intended to remind us of the two natures of Jesus Christ, the son; fully God, and fully Man.
The knot is surrounded by a series of 24 triangles that radiate out from the symbols of the Trinity, symbolizing the infinite ways that the power, light, and love of God reach out to us. The field of the window is composed of forty-eight logarithmic spirals; twenty-four moving clockwise, and twenty-four moving counterclockwise. This type of spiral is based on the “Golden Mean” 1:1.618. It is a ratio that is found in almost all life and has often been called the “fingerprint of God.” For example, the intersecting spirals are found on the head of a sunflower or on a pine cone. The way the glass gets gradually lighter as it gets closer to the edge is designed to make the window visually “breathe out” into a sphere, creating a more dramatic representation of the all-encompassing and infinite nature of God. The spirals intersect at concentric circles. Each circle is larger than the last by the same ratio. Once we enter into any understanding of God’s nature, we are led into ever-expanding circles of wonder.
Three sweeping arcs of green glass move through the blue and violet field. These represent three streams of grace from a single spring as well as the expressions of the Trinity in creation; creator, redeemer, and comforter. Green is symbolic of the life we receive at the fountain of grace. The virtues of faith, hope and love issue forth to us abundantly.
The outside border of the window symbolizes the ultimate expression of the Divine Love. Two circles of twelve color divisions, representing the Old and the New Covenants; the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Church. God’s Love and Mercy express themselves in the Covenants that the Divine makes with us. The twelve sections are subdivided into twenty-four subdivisions which should call to mind the passage of the hours in the day. The church exists in time, but God is in the center, outside of the limits of time. The Mercy and Love of God constantly flow out to each of us at every time and in every place. In return, we have the opportunity to offer back our faith, hope, and love to its source, once again completing the circle.
It was decided that the Trinity window would stand as day one in the creation story. Light breaks into the darkness. Divine creative energy bursts forth setting the stage for the great drama that is to come.
The following windows were designed and built by Michael Northrop.
Day 2- (right front window). “Then God said, ‘let there be a dome in the middle of the waters to separate one body of water from the other.’” With those words, the waters above the sky were separated from those below. Suspended between the two was the matter that would make up our world. It was a swirling ocean of potential, the origin of all that we know. The colors from the Trinity window are re-formed into a new pattern, symbolizing the hand of God in all that is made.
Day 3- (right center window). “Then God said, ‘let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on the earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.” This window celebrates the fruit of the earth. The abundance that God brings forth from the dry land will sustain all that is created after. In the center of the window the grapes and the wheat remind us that provision for both physical and spiritual needs were put into place by our God before we even existed. At the top of the window, a Bird of Paradise flower calls to mind the earthly paradise made by God’s hand.
Day 4- (right back window). “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night.” The sun governs the day and the moon governs the night, but all work within the plan of the Almighty. Sun, moon, stars, and planets are called into being to mark time and rhythms on the newly created earth. In this window, the sweeping energy of the Divine Word swirls about the earth with its abundant vegetation.
Day 5- (left back window). “And God said, ‘Let the waters teem with an abundance of living creatures and on earth let birds fly below the dome of the sky.’ And so it happened.” In this window, the fish populate the seas. These fish are modeled after the fish in an ancient mosaic in the Church of the Multiplication of the loaves and fishes in Tabgha, Israel. God commands the birds and fish to multiply at the beginning, so it is fitting that we recall the miracle of the multiplication of the fish by Jesus.
The Pelican is an image used in many churches since medieval times. It was believed that the Pelican would pierce its own breast if its young were in peril to feed its blood to them. Because of this, the Pelican became a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus and is often found on Altars and Tabernacles.
The Peacock was a symbol used by the early Christians. It is found decorating the graves of Christian martyrs and saints in the catacombs surrounding Rome. It was believed that the flesh of the Peacock did not decay and as such it symbolizes the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body.
The shell references the spiral in the first window.
Day 6- (left center window). “Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures.” “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This window shows the climactic moment of the story. Every preparation is made. God then brings in the host of animal life that populates our planet. The hoof, claw, and paw prints move across the image. The double helix of DNA at the top of the image is the fingerprint of the Divine that is found in every creature.
Mankind stands in the center; male and female. Adam and Eve are the progenitors of every people and race and as such bare the colors of the races of humanity. The spirals that move out through Adam and Eve refer back to the Trinity window and symbolize the image of God stamped on the heart of every person.
Day 7- (left front window). On the seventh day, God rested. The colors of the creative energy that have moved through the windows come to rest above and below. The symbol of the Trinity from the large window is etched in the center. The black glass around the center is intended to reflect the viewer and the windows in the chapel. It was on the seventh day that God reflected and saw that His creation was good. We can look into this window and reflect on how God has provided for us spiritually and physically through the creation and we can rest in that assurance.
March 14, 2012