The Rose Window
The magnificent Rose Window is twenty-six and one-half feet in diameter and is among the largest in the world. It may be called the Window of Creation. It is an anthem of praise in art based on the first chapter in Genesis and Psalms 148, 149, and 150. The sixth verse of Psalm 150 is the text of the window's message: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."
There are sixteen circles in the outer perimeter with one large circle at the center. The center circle depicts the Master in His majesty holding the universe in His left hand, with His right hand extended in blessing. At the top of the world stands the cross, signifying the triumph of the gospel over the world. The love of God has become triumphant in a cross. God's suffering became man's salvation. The lifted hand of the Master signifies the universal love and redemption of God.
Beginning with the top center circle on the perimeter and going clockwise, the following is the description with the appropriate text of Scripture:
1) Alpha and Omega
Text: I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Revelation 22:13)
Description: Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. When they are used together, they have a similar meaning to our expression, "from A to Z." They stand for the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
2) The Sun
Text: and God said: "Let there be light:" and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)
Description: Light is a source of life and joy to all living things. Jesus Christ claimed to be the light of the world when He said, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
3) Angels
Text: Angels came and ministered to him. (Matthew 4:11)
Description: Angels were servants and messengers of God. They mediated divine revelation to man and interceded for them before God; and they served as protectors for both individuals and communities. The birth of Jesus was announced by an angelic choir.
4) Wells of Water
Text: But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14)
Description: Wells of water, symbolizing the quenching of the thirst of man and beast and every living thin, was prominent and is prominent in sustaining existence of life.
5) Rain
Text: God gives rain upon the earth and sends water upon the fields. (Job 5:10)
Description: The parched earth is refreshed with the falling showers, and in the semi-arid land of the Hebrews, rain became one of the greatest blessings of God.
6) The Seas
Text: The sea is His, for he made it. (Psalms 95:5)
Description: The Hebrews were not a seafaring people. They were afraid of the sea; it was full of mystery and danger. The seas belong to the creative mind of God.
7) Fish
Text: They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them. (Luke 24:42)
Description: The fish is one of the earliest and most complex symbols. Reading the initials of the Greek acrostic phrase, meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior," one obtains the Greek word for "fish," ichthus.
8) Birds
Text: I know all the birds of the air. (Psalms 50:11)
Description: In the Old Testament, birds of fowl were usually joined with "of heaven" or "of the air." Birds evidently were plentiful in ancient times. They were sympathetically watched, and we read for example, of the migration, the care of their young, and nesting, the helplessness of their young; indeed, every phase of bird life is touched upon. It is also possible that the ability of the bird for flight suggested to ancient man his flight from this world to the future world.
9) Man
Text: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; mate and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
Description: In the Judaeo-Christian faith, man has always been conceived as the crowning act of divine creation. The genesis story of creation lists man as the culmination of God's creative pattern.
10) Trees
Text: And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree. (Genesis 2:9)
Description: Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, reference is made to trees. Trees were for shade and rest and trees were for food and strength. In the old Testament and the New Testament, faithfulness is described as a tree planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in its season.
11) Lightning
Text: He it is who makes the lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Psalms 135:7)
Description: Lightning was regarded as the activity of God often indicating that God was angry and that man was being called to repent.
12) Wild Beasts
Text: And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds. (Genesis 1:25) Decription: In the Old Testament, the word beast is commonly used for "cattle," and sometimes as "wild beasts."
13) Mountains
Text: I lift up my eyes to the hills. (Psalms 121:1)
Description: The grandeur and the mystery of the mountains were part of the wonder and awesomeness of God. The people built their cities on hills, they sang songs about the hills. They thought heaven was a place "on high."
14) Fire and Heat
Text: The king was sitting in the winter house and there was afire burning. (Jeremiah 36:22)
Description: The ancient Hebrew houses used fires for light and heat. Light and heat represented the essentials of the life provided by God.
15) Clouds
Text: He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth. (Psalms 135:7) Description: In the scripture the clouds indicate the weather. The clouds became instruments to convey truth, such as dark clouds meaning the anger of God or impending doom, and bright clouds meaning the favor of God or approaching joy. One of the more interesting scriptures is Exodus 13:21, "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and night." In this sense, God is using the clouds to direct his people.
16) Moon
Text: And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night;..." (Genesis 1:14)
Description: As the sun was created to give light for the day, the moon was created to give light in the night. The moon is the lesser light to rule the night as suggested in the 16th verse of the first chapter of Genesis: "And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night;..."