Episcopal Journal – Episcopal Journal: inform, involve, and inspire

Highlights for October

October 1, 2021

Finding comfort in the Prayer Book during the pandemic

By David C. McDuffie

Since COVID-19 has forever changed life as we knew it, we have become accustomed to hearing a constant refrain recognizing our anxiety, fears, and loss. “I hope you are doing well in these strange times” became a staple of email messages I sent.

We have heard these calls of lament from the pulpit or, more likely these days, from a Zoom box or Facebook feed. The church needs to address difficulty. If it does not, religion risks becoming shallow and superficial and will inevitably crumble under the strain of adversity.

Yet, Christianity is also a resurrection faith, and a deep and abiding religious faith provides us with not only comfort in times of crisis but also with hope for the future and confidence in God’s transforming grace.

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Tiffany’s glass artistry creates a triumph of light

Seven Tiffany windows at St. Michael’s Church in New York portray “St. Michael’s Victory in Heaven.”Photo/St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

By Dennis Raverty

In 1894, Louis Comfort Tiffany patented his new processes for the production of stained glass, and the following year the seven magnificent lancet windows over the high altar in the Episcopal Church of St. Michael in New York City were completed, a marvelous tour de force of artisanry, exemplifying the unique qualities of color and luminosity now made possible by these new technical innovations in glassmaking.

Tiffany’s process for the manufacture of colored glass involved treating it with various metallic oxides while still in a molten state.

The areas of the glass so treated not only change color, they also increase in opacity, and so these areas appear somewhat darker in the finished window, because they let in less light.

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