From the outside, those windows are dark, heavy, even dreary. But once one enters the church, they suddenly come alive; reflecting the light passing through them, they reveal all their splendor. Many writers – here in America we can think of Nathaniel Hawthorne – have used the image of stained glass to illustrate the mystery of the Church herself. It is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit. It follows that we, who live the life of grace within the Church’s communion, are called to draw all people into this mystery of light.
That, that no doubt is what must happen to the person who walks into the famous Saint Chapelle in Paris, built by King Louis IX in 1239 to house some a rare series of relics. It is a the high point of Gothic architecture in the rayonnante style.
If it is a daunting task to do this in a spectacular church building, how much more for us in the mystical body of Christ:
This is no easy task in a world which can tend to look at the Church, like those stained glass windows, “from the outside”: a world which deeply senses a need for spirituality, yet finds it difficult to “enter into” the mystery of the Church. Even for those of us within, the light of faith can be dimmed by routine, and the splendor of the Church obscured by the sins and weaknesses of her members. It can be dimmed too, by the obstacles encountered in a society which sometimes seems to have forgotten God and to resent even the most elementary demands of Christian morality.
So if you want a dazzling experience in Montreal, go see the most beautiful church in the city, which many people don't know about: Saint Leon de Westmount, with mesmerizing stained glass by the great Guido Nincheri. Don't crane your neck too much, you be left sore...
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