Subject: Dove/Holy Spirit
Inscription: “Daily Increase In Them Thy Manifold Gifts of Grace”
Donor: Wellington and Victoria Stevens Wallace
Maker/Date: Charles Hogeman, 1908
Description – The inscription is from the 1789 Prayer Book and more specifically the “Order of Confirmation”:
“ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by Water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgiveness of all their sins; Strengthen them, we beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter; and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and forever. Amen.”
The Dove is the Christian symbol of the Holy Ghost from the words of John the Baptist in John 1:32- “And John bare witnessing, and said, I saw the Spirit coming down a from heaven like a dove and resting on him.” In this sense, it appears in representations of the Annunciation, Baptism of Christ and Paul. A dove issuing from a nun’s mouth symbolizes her soul rising to heaven. The dove of Noah’s Ark became the symbol of good tidings and peace. From Rome, doves represent love and constancy.
Techniques – The Wallace windows use similar glass around center symbols arranged in five rows of stone with the central theme in the middle. Surrounding the symbol are two concentric circles of stones. Within each row are different shapes of glass. The effect is traditional without any special treatment of the glass or painting.