Stories from the First Cathedral 21: The Stained Glass Windows

During Advent and Christmas, I will write about the stained glass windows in all of the buildings of the First Cathedral. Each window has a special story. It would take many pages to tell these. When I give tours of the First Cathedral I pick and choose a few windows to tell the individual stories. If I told all the remarkable tales attributed to the beautiful pieces of stained glass created in each window it would take all day. Let's start with the nave and choir area of the 1862 cathedral, which houses twenty-one windows. 

"The windows, all designed by the George Morgan studio of New York City, were not particularly expensive - the lancets in the nave each cost about $100. Though the Republican thought that they were 'in the best style of modern art,' the windows are not especially complex in design or technique. Most windows get by with relatively few pieces. Nor do the windows feature complex symbolism: most of their imagery is simple, not subtle. The Cathedral windows are remarkable in the intensity of their colors - notably blues, reds, and bright greens. In early morning and late afternoon the windows can utterly glow" (The First Cathedral by the Venerable Ben Scott and Mr Robert Neslund).

My favorite window is above the altar in the choir area. It is titled "Saviour Bearing a Lamb," the gift of the Rev Ezekiel Gear, former chaplain of Fort Snelling. The colors are bright and beautiful. The window shows Jesus the Good Shepherd holding a lamb close to his face with a look of compassion and love.