The Seventh stained glass window was installed on December 16, 2009 and depicts the sacrament of Penance. The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him in bodily health,has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

What is this sacrament called?  It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.  It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction. It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.  In a profound sense it is also a “confession” – ackowledgment and praise – of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.  It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest’s sacramental absolution God grants the penitent “pardon and peace.”

In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgement of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgement to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life.  For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin. In converting to Christ through Penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and “does not come to judgement.” In the renewed rite of this sacrament, after Vatican II (1962-65), each form of the ritual is called a “rite of Reconciliation,” and the entire ritual an “order of Penance.”

“The sacrament of Reconciliation window was the most difficult for me to design,  There are no traditional images or symbols associated with this sacrament.  Also many terms are used to indicate this sacrament; Confession, Forgiveness, Penance, Repentence, Transformation and Reconciliation to name a few.  After four different concepts and three revisions on the final concept this window emerged.

I went with the term transformation to show the inward process one goes through when experiencing this sacrament. Think of a sinner traveling a road of ugliness, rejection and darkness.  He/she is transformed through the arch of the Church. After Confession he/she is absolved by the priest into something that is beautiful, embraced, radient and exhilarating he/she/is reconciled of his/her sins.”

The ribbon with the latin phrase “Et ego te absolve” translates to “I absolve you”.  The artist stated that the circles in the right side of the window represent the joy one feels after being freed from sin. The figure on the left is in sin so the darker color was used. Whereas on the right the figure is white like the snow signifying one has been purified and is in God’s grace once again.

The window was started intensively on September 14, 2009 and was finished on December 12, 2009, taking 136.75 hours to complete. The window was installed in St. Jude’s on December 16, 2009.The window has 348 pieces; the smallest piece is yellow and is tucked under the top arch of the gold moon shaped piece in the lower right corner.  The blessing of the Penance window was done by Fr. Joseph Xavier on August 15, 2010. The Penance window was donated by the Bulow Family.
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Cf. 1 Cor 5:11; Gal 5:19-21; Rev 22:15.

Jn 5:24.

“Encyclopedia of Catholicism, “ Richard P. McBrien, General Editor ©1995 Harper Collins Publisher , Page 982.

Comments provided by the artist Susan Alexander, Gobles, MI.

Mk 2:1-12.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1421

Mk 1:15; Lk 15:18.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1423, 1424.