Sacred Art

St. Catherine Stained Glass Window, dalle de verre technique, by Gabriel Loire, 1959.

St. Catherine Stained Glass Window, dalle de verre technique, by Gabriel Loire, 1959.

St. Catherine of Siena Window

The stained glass window located on the west side of the church, over the choir loft, was created in Chartres, France in 1959 by Gabriel Loire. It is 21 square meters in area and was made using a “dalle de verre” or “faceted glass” technique. Dalle de verre technique (French for “slabs of glass”) uses thick pieces of translucent colored glass set in epoxy or cement frames.  Gabriel Loire(1904-1996) was a very prolific stained glass artist with more than 800 installations throughout the world.

Other works by the same artist in this area include windows at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church  and First Presbyterian Church in Seattle, as well as St. Charles Borremeo and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, Washington. For more information about the artist and his studios, please see the Loire Studio website.

A GUIDE TO THE CHURCH REMODEL IN 2003

The new altar dais (platform) is octagonal in shape.  The octagon is an important Christian shape.  The eight-sided figure recalls the eighth day of creation—the day of the new creation, the day of resurrection.  The dais is made of red oak with a cherry nose on each step.  The cherry helps to make the steps clear  and connects with the cherry piece in the altar and the ambo and with the reddish terrazzo band on the floor.

The terrazzo inlay around the octagon uses marble from the former communion rail.  It incorporates colors which connect with the other colors in the church:  the reddish color with the sienna paint and cherry wood, the browns with the floor and dark marbles, the blue with the mosaic behind the crucifix.  From the points of the octagon, there are rays of reddish terrazzo which reach to the other elements in the church, connecting everything to the central altar space.

The baptismal font is also octagonal, reminding us that baptism is the beginning of our new life in the risen Christ.  Pieces of pink marble from the former side altars and ambo cover the eight sides of the font.  The former communion rail makes the top  rim of the font.  In addition, there is a terrazzo panel which incorporates marble from the upright sections of the communion rail and blue sections to connect with the mosaic.  The pattern in the font echoes the pattern in the floor.  The infant part of the font is carved from the marble from the former altar.  The inside of the font is blue tile, again to connect with the blue crucifix mosaic.

The altar and ambo are made of oak with a cherry band.  The oak is similar but somewhat contrasting to the oak in the pews and the flooring, and the cherry connects with the wood on the dais and the terrazzo band.

The eucharistic chapel altar is made from the marble from the former back altar.  It preserves the alpha and omega from the back altar, as well as the marble cap.  The tabernacle and sanctuary lamp are the one in use before the remodel.  A new oriental rug in the colors of the church is in front of the tabernacle.  The chairs and kneelers in the chapel had been used in the sanctuary.  Two of the kneelers are from the original church built in 1929.

Each panel of the icon screen is designed to reflect the shape of the upper windows.  Two of the lower panels of the screen contain the communion rail gates and three upper panels frame icons.  The left icon, behind the baptismal font, is the Baptism of Jesus.  The center icon  is a copy of the 15th century  Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev.  The right icon is the Washing of the Feet. These icons were written by Joan Brand-Landkammer, a former parishioner who is also the iconographer for St. James Cathedral.

Joan Brand Landkammer also wrote the icon of St. Catherine of Siena that is near the north entrance of the church.  This icon features St. Catherine in the center surrounded by smaller icons of her life.  The back side is an icon of Jesus on the cross.

ICONS by Carol Landgraf
While all sacred art seeks to reveal something of the nature of God, iconography approaches a subject in prayer and self-discipline to expose the mystery of the incarnation in a very special way.  It has been so since the time of Christ.

A traditional icon painting is essentially a non-naturalistic art form whose goal is to make visible that which the ordinary senses cannot grasp.

In prayer one sees through symbolic language, stillness and attentiveness the layers of meaning in an icon.  Certain techniques assist in meditation.  Rules of perspective are altered to draw the beholder into the painting–distorted to emphasize the importance of an image.  Use of color tells us we are observing a world not governed by light and shadow in the normal sense.  Buildings may symbolize Holy Wisdom.  Mountaintops indicate closeness to God and a tree in the painting represents the life God intends for us.  These and many other symbols are meant to assist us in our growth in the way of the spirit and to transport us to greater intimacy with God.

“We contemplate icons in the whole text of the church and the liturgy so that the Christian community that observes and is transformed by their understanding of God can, in turn, become more and more a living icon of the communion of life between the three divine persons.”  Pope John Paul II

St. Catherine’s newest icon by Joan Brand-Landkamer was written in the orthodox tradition of iconography according to procedures set down and followed over the centuries.

The theme of the icon, the hospitality of Abraham from Genesis 18, is one of the oldest subjects depicted, and it has been understood to symbolize the Holy Trinity, a fundamental belief held by all Christian churches.

The Rublev Trinity is a simplified version of this theme and was written in the 15th century.  Joan has taken this icon as her prototype.  In it we see the three divine visitors seated around a table upon which rests a chalice containing the head of the lamb, evoking the meal Abraham provided and suggesting the Eucharistic meal.  The visitors hold their staffs of authority , are graced with halos and wings and sit, within the composition, in the circle of divine love.   There is a place at the table for us and a place in the communion of love.

This icon provides a window into God.  It also provides a model for us as the people of God.  We are made in the likeness of God.  The communion that we see in the figures around the table, the distinctness and equality of persons, reveals to us the mystery of the Trinity.  That same sense of communion, respect for each person and clear distinctness of persons is our call as church, as the people of God gathered together in worship.

May this icon, may our newly remodeled church, invite us to live in the likeness of God.