H ISTORY OF
T HE R OSE W INDOW
According to Parish Annals 1862-1902, at the time planning for the enlargement of the Church was underway in
1885, it was decided that in case further enlargement of the edifice should be required in the future „it may be accomplished without hindering the proportions of the Church by taking down the south gable and extending two or three or
four bays as may be necessary. For this reason no expense will be incurred in ornamenting the south end.‟ (Page 99)
While, such planning is admirably optimistic and economically sound, it does present something of a problem. The
architectural style of the church is neo-Gothic, and in the great Gothic Cathedral of medieval Europe, the wall facing the
high altar at the opposite end of the center aisle—that is, the wall containing the main entry-way—was decorated with
richly sculptured portals surmounted by an imposing circular window. Thus worshippers would be greeted by notable
Christian figures and symbols as they entered the church and be struck by the dynamic light and color of the circular window as they departed. The decision against “ornamenting the south end” of the enlarged Church of the Nativity denied the
building one of the most powerful features of its Gothic architectural style.
When, in 1900 the Church of the Nativity was designated the Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Bethlehem, some
must have regretted that the south wall of the edifice, lacked powerful, elements of its architectural heritage that could
enrich the experience of those who came in and went out.
A solution to the problem
was provided in 1908 through the
generosity and devotion of the Sayre
family. The August issue of the
Ready Helper for that year carries
the following announcement: “A
circular window is being placed in
the South end of the Church of the
Nativity in memory of Miss Anna F.
Sayre, who passed away on the 29th
of September last, by her brother,
Mr. William H. Sayre. Miss Sayre
had been identified with the Parish
of the Church of the Nativity since
its inception and was known and
loved by the community at large for
her many charitable deeds.”
The plague adjacent to the
window corrects an omission in the
Ready Helper article. It reads, in
full, as follows: “To the Glory of
God in Loving Memory of Anna F.
Sayre, 1834-1907, and of her twin
sister Catharine Sayre, 1834-1859,
the Rose window above is placed by
their brother William H. Sayre.
The Ready Helper account
continues: “The circular window
bears the various designations, rose,
marigold, or Catharine Wheel according to the construction of its stone tracery. The Catharine Wheel was the one chosen for the Church of the Nativity as
corresponding best with the style of its architecture...The window is the work of Mr. A.J. Holzer of New York City, and
is similar to those of the 13th century. Conformable to the design of these early circular windows, the window contains neither faces nor figures.”
It is true that in the early circular windows of medieval churches, the stone traceries that separate the colored glass
panels resemble the spokes of a wheel. Hence the term Wheel Window. The addition of „Catharine‟ to the label is in tribute to St. Catharine of Alexandria, who, according to legend, died in AD 307, after being tortures on a so-called pinwheel
which exploded multicolored fireworks as it rotated. (Shakespeare, incidentally, had his anguished and dying King Lear
exclaim, “I am bound upon a wheel of fire.”) Fireworks, which suggest the lively variety of colors in stained glass work,
are, after all, both dangerous and beautiful—life-threatening and life-enhancing. Thus the very name of the window—
Catharine wheel—bespeaks a symbolic connection with the theme of life and death. That the twelve glass panels between
the spokes of the wheel in the Nativity window illustrate symbolically the heroic lives and the martyrdoms of the disciples
further develops the life and death theme. In a sense, the window invites us to look through the darkness of death to the
light which dominates, whether we are entering toward the brightness of the chancel and altar to worship or departing into
the light of the world outside to serve.
The interior lighting for the window - the effect of which, of course, is most impressive outside the church at night
- was given in memory of Bobbie Willey in 1994 by her husband Robert Willey, who expressed the hope that the illumination would provide a welcoming light to travelers coming up Wyandotte hill.
H ISTORY OF
T HE R OSE W INDOW
The „Rose window‟ label, which has come to be applied to any large circular window in the façade of a church,
also abounds in symbolic suggestions. The rose consists of many separate petals united in one bloom. In the climactic close
of the Divine Comedy (AD 1314), Dante uses the rose as an emblem of “all the company of heaven,” each petal representing one person preserving his or her individual identity while being an integral part of the whole bloom - the functioning
community, the harmonious divine choir of the saved. Both the Virgin Mary and her Son have been glorified with the title
of Rose. Not the 15th century German Christmas hymn „Lo, how a rose e‟er blooming‟ (#81 in The Hymnal 1982). The
rose has obvious sensuous appeal to both eye and nose and has evoked aesthetic, erotic, and religious responses from Medieval lyrics and romance down to present moment.
The twelve sections created by the spokes emanating from the central shield with its Greek cross contain symbols
of the eleven disciples plus St. Paul, who replaces Judas Iscariot. These symbols are lucidly explained in a booklet entitled
Apostolic Symbolism in the Rose Window, written by Paul M. Campbell as a confirmation project in 1985. The essay is
dedicated to Mr. Jack Frick, to whose interest in and work on the windows of Nativity we are all deeply indebted.
One extraordinary characteristic of the Nativity rose window is the predominance of the color green in its over-all
effect. The spectacular rose windows in Chartres Cathedral in France (12 th-13th century) and in the National Cathedral in
Washington, D.C., (20th century) as
well as a great many rose windows
elsewhere are, it seems, made up
mostly of hues and shade of red and
blue. These boldly conflicting colors
tend to produce an effect that is dynamic and dramatic. In the Nativity
rose window, however, the symbols
recalling the active lives and farflung missions and faithful deaths of
the apostles seem to be enfolded in
and surrounded by the vibrant and
restful green. In many ways, the
window treats life and death and
seems to unite all in the quiet vitality of vegetation—the peaceful life
of the 23rd Psalm‟s “green pastures”
or the garden in which Mary Magdalene, expecting to confront death,
was the first after the crucifixion to
meet the living Lord (John 20:1118).
Robert B. Thornburg
Retired Professor of English and Humanities at Muhlenburg College