STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OF SAINT RITA’S CHAPEL NEAR PARIS

COMMENTARIES ABOUT STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OF SAINT RITA'S CHAPEL NEAR PARIS FROM MRS. DENISE VOLLEREAU

CONTENT

  • Treasuries to be discovered in Saint Rita's Chapel near Paris
  • Way of the Cross at Saint Rita's Chapel of Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris
  • Symbolism of the architectural structure of Saint Rita's chapel of Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris
  • STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OF SAINT RITA’S CHAPEL NEAR PARIS
  • Symbolism of stained glass windows of Saint Rita's chapel near Paris
  • Symbolism of the statues of Saint Rita's chapel near Paris by their author
  • Explaining the symbolism of the liturgical furniture of Saint Rita's Chapel near Paris
  • Symbolism of bells of Saint Rita's chapel of Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris

COMMENTARIES ABOUT STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OF SAINT RITA'S CHAPEL NEAR PARIS FROM MRS. DENISE VOLLEREAU

"These places which speak God. … Some places are profoundly marked with spirituality, whether  we are or not believers, mysteriously, they raise the soul." These words pronounced by Patrick de Carolis about Rocamadour, I made them mine when I entered for the first time Saint Rita’s chapel : a plain and welcoming chapel, filled with living prayer! 
And then, a certain kind of light reigns there, discreet and warm, radiating through magnificent stained glass windows. Stained glass windows which are not figurative, but carry a symbol, a message. According to their creator, the Guével family, they express, by way of flames, the action of the Holy Spirit in the primitive Church. 
And, near the tabernacle, the manifestation of Resurrection to the world which destroys death . The glass artist magnificently collected a whole symphony of blonds and radiant whites, a range of reds deep and alive. 
We feel invited to contemplation and I accepted the invitation! I did not resist either to the desire to take photos of what was within reach of my objective, to keep these stained glass windows close to the eye. 
When you first read these windows, you are mostly charmed and captivated by the beauty  of the stained glass windows. But after a second reading, they gradually lead us to thinking, to “deciphering", which soon become perfectly evident : 
This symphony of colors is obtained from similarities and from contrasts: harmony and complementarity. Colors are enhanced one by the other. 
Starting with these thoughts, we feel concerned. The message comes through : in our life, our relationships, there are also likenesses and oppositions, with everything which results from it! And two thoughs came back to my mind, one from a Benedictine father which is worth meditating : " … Each one of us lives with his brothers with what he is and, I would be tempted to say, a little as he can. The secret of one and the volubility of the other ; the strictness of one and the unconventionality of the other; the vivacity of one and the slowness of the other ; the sweetness of one and the sharpness of the other … All this has to live together most harmoniously! 
All these differences are not contradictory, even if, unhappily , they may become, atcertain times, sources of conflict or tension. (…) These differences must not be felt or perceived as oppositions but indeed as real complementarities. In a community or a family, unity is not uniformity, but, by the variety of the members of which it is composed, it is a source of abundance, and, by practicing mutual forgiveness which it requires, it is the foundation of communion. " T.R.P. Piron Kergonan, Abbey Ste Anne de K. 
The other reflection is one of the Jesuit father Auguste Valensin: 
" To found love or friendship, there must be enough likeness to create harmony, and enough difference to create complementarity. " 
This is what my contemplation led me too without having looked for it … To conclude, I want to thank the glass artist. God must have endowed us with plenty of Life and Love, to enable us to give life to the material (wood, stone, glass) and thus make it "says" a word of life! A word which opens the way … I believe that true artists are messengers of life and light. In their own way, and why not, they give us a spiritual accompaniment! It’s up to us to listen and open out heart to marvel. ". 
During the eucharist, by the peace gesture, we show our commitment at the service of communion. Invited to create a unique stained glass, we coordinate our multiple colors with the others, allowing the light that comes from the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. " 
Sister Véronique Thiébaut, Nun of the Assumption in: Prions en Eglise