History Reads Us...The following is excepted from "The History Corner" written by Peg Vareny for "The Messenger"

These three windows in the apse repressent the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; they, as well as the chancel windows and the Baptistry window, were designed and crafted by the late Andreas Larson, a well-known stained glass artist who had his studios in Minneapolis in the 1940's and was considered at that time to be one of the best modern stained glass artists. The Father and Holy Spirit windows were given by Mrs. L. N. Scott (memorialized with our 'Scott Room') in memory of her husband, Louis Napoleon Scott, 1859-1920. The Son window was given earlier in memory of Frances Mae White by her husband, Dr. J. S.White.

The best way to describe the detail of the symbolism is through the notes submitted by the artist at the time of the dedication of the windows, which took place on Sunday, November 2, 1940. "The symbolic meaning of the three windows in the chancel of St. Paul's Church on the Hill." by Andreas Larson The three windows in the apse of the sanctuary portray the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The first window to the left is in honor of God the Father. The scripture saith that "No man has seen God at any time," and so God the Father should not be represented in a physical form but by something which represents His action, like the Hand, the All Seeing Eye, or the Creator's Star. In this window the Father is revealed in His creation. A seraph stands with his feet on the earth, the stars of heaven at his back, the Creator's Star upon his breast; his right hand holds the sun and his left the moon, while beneath his hands the fowls of the air describe a bow. The four prophets are represented in the corners of the border by the Stone of Jeremiah, the Saw of Isaiah, the Ram with four Horns of Daniel, and the Closed Gate of Ezekiel.

The central window portrays God the Son. In it, Christ is seated in the act of blessing and with The Holy Scriptures in his left hand . The seven stars of the seven gifts of the spirit are blazing behind Him; the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End are at his right and at His left. And as God the Father has been proclaimed by the prophets, so in this panel God the Son is proclaimed by the four Evangelists whose symbols mark the border: Matthew as the Winged Man, Mark as the Winged Lion, Luke as the Winged Ox, and John as an Eagle.

God the Holy Spirit is symbolized by a seraph like the one in the Father window, having the Dove of the Holy Spirit on his breast, in his right hand the winged wheel and in his left tongues of fire, and the band about his head inscribed "Spiritus Sanctus." The Spirit is revealed in the life of the Church, so to prophets and Evangelists are now added

Confessors of the Faith who brought the faith to the West: the Cross Potent of St. Jerome; the beehive and two knotted scourges of St. Augustine of Hippo; the Bishop's Staff of St. Gregory the Great; and the Flaming Heart pierced with arrows of St.Amrose. Swirling beneath all is the upsweeping wind of the Spirit