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 the Art and Environment 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.” 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, to create 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 He 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.