Tower Topics ~ Summer 2002

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Transept windows of the Abbey Basilica
by Bro. Thomas Sullivan

In an effort to provide readers with a more intimate portrait of the renewed Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Tower Topics presents an artistic, architectural, historical or liturgical element of the church. This issue we focus on the transept windows.

Both transept windows, north and south, present a Benedictine cross (in a red-brick motif) dividing the window into four segments, each containing symbols from the lives of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. The medallion at the center of each cross is based on the obverse side of the Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict, struck in 1880 to commemorate the 1,400th anniversary of his birth.

St. Benedict window

The letters C, S, P and B in the four quadrants of the medallion stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti, “The Cross of Holy Father Benedict.” On the vertical barof the medallion cross are the letters, “CSSML,” which signify Crux sacra sit mihi lux, “May the Holy Cross be my light.” Inscribed on the horizontal are the letters, “NDSMD,” which stands for Non draco sit mihi dux, “Let not the dragon [the devil] be my guide.”

The south transept window is dedicated to Saint Benedict. The following symbols are presented: a raven with a piece of bread in its beak; a broken cup; a book inscribed with the words sacra regula; and a crosier or pastoral staff.

The symbols of the raven with the bread and the broken cup are taken from Book II of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I the Great in which the life and miracles of Benedict are presented. A wicked priest, jealous of Benedict’s reputation for holiness, poisoned a loaf of bread and sent it to Benedict. Benedict, aware at once that it was poisoned, instructed a raven to carry it out of harm’s reach.

Earlier in his life, a group of monks asked Benedict to be their abbot; he agreed, but told them he would be too strict for them. He was, and they decided to poison a cup of wine and present it to him; when he blessed the cup, it shattered.

In the lower quadrants appear a book and a crosier. St. Benedict is the author of a Rule for Monks, composed circa 530-560.

Benedict’s Rule is described by those who follow it as “the holy rule” (Sacra Regula). The crosier or pastoral staff is a symbol of the role that abbots play in the life of the communities they shepherd. The abbot as pastor (or shepherd) is mentioned five times in the rule. Monks are referred to as sheep eight times and as a flock seven times. The crosier in the St. Benedict window is modeled after that of Abbot Frowin, first shepherd of the monastic community at Conception.

St. Scholastica window

In the north transept window, dedicated to Saint Scholastica, the symbols: a book inscribed with the words sacra regula; a crosier or pastoral staff; a multi-forked bolt of lightening; and finally, a fluttering dove.

The holy rule and crosier are repeated from the window of St. Benedict in the north transept. Scholastica, as abbess of a community of nuns, is believed to have followed the rule written by her brother, and, like her brother, was shepherd of a community. The crosier in the St. Scholastica window is modeled after that carved by Brother Jude Person for Abbot Gregory Polan.

The lightening bolt is a reminder of the storm sent by God as a favor to Scholastica, who, before her death, asked her visiting brother to postpone his departure so the two could discuss spiritual matters. After her brother refused, the storm forced him to stay with her.

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