Stained Glass

"The windows at St. James' Cathedral tell stories both from the Bible and from the history of the Christian Church. But whether from the Bible or from the Church, they all tell of the encounter between God and humanity. So all the stories are luminous with divinity, translucent, and hence wonderfully suitable for the medium of stained glass. Light shines through the glass, making lovely abstract patterns, but it also lights up the pictures, revealing their beauty and reminding us of God's mysterious presence among all people..."

- The Very Rev. Douglas Stoute, Dean of the Cathedral

The Windows of St. James by Shirley Ann Brown is a 28-page full colour booklet (7" x 9") - the Cathedral's Bicentennial Publication #4, and Publication No. 1 of The Registry of Stained Glass Windows in Canada (RSGC). ISBN 0-9689015-0-6. The book can be purchased through the Cathedral Gift Shop for $15 (Cdn) plus shipping & taxes. The author is Director of the RSGC and a professor in the Fine Arts Department of Atkinson College, York University, Toronto.

This item is available through the Cathedral Gift Shop.

Following are some images and stories behind the stained glass windows at St. James' Cathedral. An additional sampling of the Stained Glass is available in the History & Architecture Gallery.

The High Altar

Images from the stained glass above the high altar

The Calling of St. James

This stained-glass window in the west porch was unveiled and dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on June 29, 1997. The acid-etched, painted and leaded-mouthblown glass installation, measuring 15' x 25', is a memorial for the Governor General's Horse Guards. [website].

The artist is Stuart Reid of Toronto. Images of Reid's work can be found online at Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art.

Reid says, "Colour for me is the presence of life, like a blush on a face or a season's gift. It represents the transitory, the quickened, the moment... not the eternal / the always. So when colour goes to black or grey, or bleaches to white, it is like losing the colour in one's face; and when colour emerges out of a neutral or 'always' condition, it is transitory life re-emerging. In my stained glass windows, where colour is light and light is colour, I instinctively use purer colours. I openly celebrate the strange enveloping radiance of colour's energy and life." - Artists in Stained Glass.

The Works of Mercy Window

This window, located on the northeast side of the Chancel, was installed by the Franz Mayer Company of Munich, Germany in memory of Canon Edmund Baldwin (+1876). The chancel windows were installed over the period between 1882-1893. The works of mercy depicted (left window, top to bottom, then right window, top to bottom): tend the sick, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty. It is the representation of Matthew 25: 31-46.

From The Windows of St. James by Shirley Ann Brown: "The window respresenting the Works of Mercy was a direct reminder to the financially secure members of the Church that they were to be responsible for the welfare of those less fortunate than they, and so they were exhorted to fulfill their duty to tend the sick, visit the imprisoned... These are all easily-read narrative scenes in order to serve as models and reminders of what was expected of the good Christian."