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| THE ROSE WINDOW: The petals radiating from the center are depicted as clusters of grapes and heads of wheat. When used in Christian art, grapes and wheat are always symbolic of the Eucharist. Both because of their use as the Eucharistic elements in the liturgy and because of their varied meaning throughout both the Old and New Testaments, wheat and grapes are particularly rich symbols in liturgical art. The wheat evokes many scriptural references; one of these is Christ's parable about the grain of wheat that must fall to the ground and die before it bears fruit, which is symbolic of His own death and resurrection and of the pattern our own lives must follow. The grapes are also evocative of many stories and images from Scripture: Israel as God's vineyard, the image of the new wine and the new wineskins, and Jesus' self-identification as the Vine and His followers as the branches that must be pruned so they will bear much fruit. All of these images point to, and find their fulfillment in, the death and resurrection of Christ, which is re-presented sacramentally at every celebration of the Eucharist. The Four Evangelists are also represented in the Rose Window, with each one pictured beside his traditional emblematic figure. These figures are an allusion to a vision recounted in the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel, and the creatures of the prophet's vision also reappear in book of Revelation when John recounts his vision of the heavenly worship. "In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and back. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight" (Rev 4: 6-7). Since early in Christian times, these four figures have been considered to be representative of the four Gospel writers. |
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