|
|
St. Agatha - St. James Church Tour |
|
|
On our way out, we pause to take in the nave once more, the splendor of its colors, the elegance of the vaults, the clear light that spills through the clerestory windows. We also become aware of the choir loft as an integral part of this church, thanks to the magnificent organ, a Great Kilgen installed in 1930. Its array of pipes rises up to the springing of the vault. Those pipes echo the columns of the nave and even the composition of the main altar of 1887. The purpose of the music provided by these pipes is made clear by an inscription at the organ's console. LAUDATE DEUM IN CHORDIS ET ORGANO, this says, "with strings and organ praise Him!" (Psalm 150:4). The organ pipes also frame the great rose window of the entrance wall. Only the entrance towers flank this window, which means there are no competing sources of light. Instead the window shines forth in the darkness. We call it a rose window chiefly because it is circular and forms radiate from its center. Most of it is simply areas of colored glass, except for the very center. (This you will need binoculars to see when you come to the church.) |
| Here we may see a scroll giving the title of this church's first patron, Saint James the Greater. Other objects accompany that scroll: a traveller's staff, a pilgrim's flask, and the cockleshell. These emblems of St. James end our vista as we leave the church, just as James himself concludes the view as we enter and look to the altar. His emblems also remind us that we, too, are travellers and sojourners, and that ours is a pilgrim Church on this earth. Outside, James in statuary form invites us to journey. Inside, his accessories of travel remind us of the last words we hear at Mass: "Go," says the priest at dismissal, "Go! To love and to serve the Lord!" |
|
The text for this virtual tour was written by Dr. Paul Watson, emeritus Professor of Art History. Photos are courtesy of Fr. George Strausser, Janah Sorensen, Michelle Bougas, Katie Allard, and Vinh Dang.
