The fourth stained glass window represents the sacrament of marriage and is one of the two vocations windows. The window was designed and built by Susan Alexander who is a local artist here in Gobles. 

“Since the thirteenth century marriage has been recognized officially as one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church”.  Married life should be a lesson in Christian living; the husband and wife are to be witnesses to the wonders of the love found in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There are many references in Scripture to the Church being the bride of Christ and Christ being the bridegroom. In the Roman Rite of marriage the couple administers the sacrament by their consent in the vows given.  The priest or deacon is the witness of the marriage for the Church.  Three things are asked of each couple:  (1) “Do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? (2) Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?  and (3) Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?”  The couple declares their consent before God and his Church by saying “I, N., take you, N., to be my (wife or husband).  I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

The Chi Rho is predominating in the center of this window with the two overlapping wedding rings below.  It is a symbol that reminds us that as husband and wife are united by the exchange and consent in marriage they are also united to Christ who will sustain them through their trials, sorrows and joys with His grace. This is the most recognizable symbol of marriage in the Catholic Church. The peacock is another symbol, as the peacock is transformed into a creature of beauty so as a married couple we should be transformed by our trials and joys in marriage to be more like Christ. You will also notice grapes growing over a fence. The grapes are symbolic that a marriage is to be fruitful and bring forth new life.

“The yellow butterfly in the upper right corner is a symbol of resurrection. I also try to place one butterfly in my installations as my signature.  Also notice the shadows of both the peacock and the peahen on the ground underneath them. This is by far the most complicated window I completed for St. Jude Parish.  It started with the design on June 10, 2008 and was finished six months later on December 4, 2008. The process includes: 35.5 hours of design, 219.5 hours of construction and 11.5 hours of soldering, applying a patina finish the cleaning and polishing, totaling 266.5 hours of production. There are 643 pieces in the window with the smallest pieces being the peacock and peahen eyes”.[4]

The marriage window was installed at St. Jude’s on December 10, 2008 and was blessed by Fr. Robert F. Creagan on August 16, 2009. The window was donated by Dee Herschleb in memory of her late husband Robert S. Fragala.
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“Encyclopedia of Catholicism”, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc, ©1995 p.821

Rite of Marriage, © 1970 by The Catholic Book Publishing Corp., N. Y. page 12

IBID

This section was written by the artist Susan Alexander.