St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church - Table of Contents

Chapel - Apostles Windows
St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church
51 Colonial Circle at Bidwell Pkwy. and Lafayette Ave.
Buffalo, New York
St. John's-Grace Church - Official Website

Artist:

Margreta Overbeck

Fabricator:

Lamb Studios

Windows style

Gothic Revival

On this page, below:
Saints Simon & Matthias
Saints Philip & Bartholomew

Saints Andrew & James
Saints Thomas & Matthew
Saints James the Less & Thaddeus

See also:  The other Apostles window, by J. Gordon Guthrie

2009 Photos

Captions  from Peter Bridgford, "St. John's Grace Episcopal Church: A Guide to Some of the Memorials," 2000


Saints Peter and John window at right   ...   The other four windows in the illustration are Apostles windows by Margreta Overbeck for Lamb Studios

The six stained Glass  windows of the Apostles in the Chapel took 56 years to be completed.

Margreta Overbeck, Guthrie's pupil and protégé, is responsible for the design of these five windows on this page. Adding to the relationships of Guthrie and Overbeck is the fact that while she was a college student in Buffalo, Margreta worshiped at St. John's!  

The name/initials of the designer somewhere in the lower edges of the windows: "M. Overbeck" or an "O" superimposed over a stick "m" will normally be found.   "Karole K. Pix" or "KK' assisted Overbeck with two windows.

Below each apostle is a smaller panel reflecting something about the apostle.

- Source: Peter Bridgford, "St. John's Grace Episcopal Church: A Guide to Some of the Memorials," 2000

Saints Simon & Matthias


Saints Simon & Matthias 
  
Dedicated on October 28, 1979, the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude   ...   Details below:


St. Simon the Zealot  
(Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13)   ...  Dedicated 1979   ...   Little is known of St. Simon, the Cananean; he may have belonged to a Jewish patriotic group called the Zealots, Luke 6:15. Symbolized by a fish superimposed upon a Bible, Simon was a disciple devoted to Jesus and the lower panel depicts his being called by the Lord as he zealously holds the scrolls of the Living Truth.  



St. Simon the Zealot 



St. Simon the Zealot    ...   St. Simon symbolized by a fish superimposed upon a Bible,


St. Simon the Zealot 
Simon was a disciple devoted to Jesus and the lower panel depicts his being called by the Lord as he zealously holds the scrolls of the Living Truth.





Saint Matthias

Dedicated 1972    ...  
Saint Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot    ...     Details below:


Saint Matthias



Saint Matthias
One tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews, and then beheaded. Is that the meaning of the ax at the left?   ...   Note spelling" "Mathias."



Saint Matthias



Saint Matthias
Note signatures: M in a circle - Margreta Overbeck   ...   KK - Karole K. Pix"




Saints Philip &  Bartholomew


Details below:


Saint Philip
St. Philip was asked by Jesus about how they would feed 5000 people. Philip replied that five loaves and two fish wouldn't do a thing. Note the two fish and five communion wafers above Philip's head.    ...To remember his courageous act of baptizing an Ethiopian eunuch, that event is shown in the lower panel along with a lion.   ...   St. Bartholomew is credited with a great deal of missionary travels, perhaps as far as India; therefore, a boat is featured in this window both above and in the lower panel.    ...   He may have been martyred by being flayed to death and hence his symbol is three knives.    ...   Note Ms. Overbeck's artistic license to include dolphins in the Sea of Galilee in the lower panel.



Saint Philip



Saint Philip



Saint Philip
Acts 8:26-39: "St. Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch"





St. Bartholomew   ...   Details below:


St. Bartholomew



St. Bartholomew



St. Bartholomew



St. Bartholomew
Bartholomew was associated with fishing; thus, the dolphins in the Sea of Galilee. Tradition pictures him as missionary; thus, he is depicted traveling in a boat.



St. Bartholomew





Saints Andrew & James


Saint Andrew
St. Andrew was one of the first apostles called by Jesus to leave his profession as a fisherman and "I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1: 16-17. He holds a basket of golden fish symbolic of the souls converted to Christ. Andrew was also the one who brought a young lad with five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus in preparation of the feeding of the 5000. Andrew was supposedly crucified on an X-shaped cross, which became his symbol.



Saint Andrew



Saint Andrew
St. Andrew was one of the first apostles called by Jesus to leave his profession as a fisherman and "I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1: 16-17. He holds a basket of golden fish symbolic of the souls converted to Christ.



Saint Andrew
X symbol at right of photo: Andrew was supposedly crucified on an X-shaped cross, which became his symbol.





Saint James
St. James, son of Zebedee, his brother, John, and Peter, comprised Jesus' inner circle of Apostles who were privy to several significant moments in our Lord's ministry, e.g. the Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemane before the trial.



Saint James
He was regarded as a Pilgrim and, in the window, he carries a pilgrim's staff.    ...   Pilgrims also wore scalloped shells to protect their heads from the blazing sun. Three shells are his symbol.



Saint James



Saint James
James is credited with converting the man assigned to execute him by the dignity with which James faced his death. The lower panel depicts his executioner receiving the forgiveness and blessing of James.





Saints Thomas & Matthew


Details below:


Saint Thomas



Saint Thomas



Saint Thomas
Tradition held that Thomas built churches in India so we see that theme in the panel under Thomas.





Saint Matthew



Saint Matthew



Saint Matthew



Saint Matthew




Saints James the Less & Thaddeus


Details below:


Saint James the Less



Saint James the Less



Saint James the Less
Note signatures: M in a circle - Margreta Overbeck   ...   KK - Karole K. Pix"





Saint Thaddeus
Note Saint Thaddeus' symbol, a boat with cross-shaped mast



Saint Thaddeus



Saint Thaddeus
Note Saint Thaddeus' symbol, a boat with cross-shaped mast



Saint Thaddeus
Note Saint Thaddeus' symbol, a boat with cross-shaped mast



Saint Thaddeus
Note signatures:  Margreta Overbeck   ...   K Karole K. Pix



Saint Thaddeus







Special thanks to Rector Philip W. Dougharty and former Rector Peter Bridgford for their assistance in 2009.
Special thanks to Rector Jon F. Lavelle for his cooperation in 2019.

Photos and their arrangement © 2009 Chuck LaChiusa
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