Copyright © 2005
Grace Episcopal Church
3600 Russell Road
Alexandria, VA 22305
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A symbol is a sign; everyone knows that, but what is perhaps more important is what the sign represents, the meaning behind the symbol. Symbols can often be beautiful in their own right and should be enjoyed for that reason alone. But the symbol is enormously enriched when one knows why it is there.
That is the purpose of this booklet: that “the outward and visible sign” may be enriched and enlarged by its “inward and spiritual” meaning.
A BRIEF HISTORY
On September 27, 1855, to meet the needs of a growing population, Grace
Church was founded by 30 members of Christ Church and St. Paul’s Church in
Alexandria as a parish “where all may come without regard for temporal estate, freely and without fee, as brethren come one to another.”
Their first church building, consecrated in October 1860, was at 207 South
Patrick Street in Alexandria. It served as a hospital for Union soldiers of color during the Civil War, when Alexandria was occupied by the Union Army. The building is still in existence as a condominium known as “The Gallery.”
During the latter part of the 19 th century and early years of the 20 th century, a traditional and eucharistically-centered style of worship was developed.
By 1893, weekly choral Eucharist was celebrated each Sunday. In 1930, the first
Christmas Midnight Mass in the Diocese of Virginia was celebrated. Grace was the first congregation in Virginia to have a vested choir and also was the first
Episcopal congregation to use the “corpus” or body of Christ on the Cross, thus transforming the cross into a Crucifix. For years it was the only parish in the diocese to use Eucharistic vestments, a practice which today is almost universal in the Episcopal Church.
For over 90 years, Grace Church remained in Old Town. By the mid-
1940’s it became apparent that both neighborhood and congregation had undergone considerable changes. Alexandria was growing and many parishioners had moved to the suburbs. The Vestry decided to sell the South Patrick Street building and relocate to the northern section of the city, where surveys indicated many Episcopalians lived. The communicants of the church, numbering 151 at the time of the decision, approved this proposal. In a true “leap of faith,” many members mortgaged their houses or businesses to provide the funds necessary for the construction of the new church.
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“Old” Grace church was sold in 1947, a house and lot in the 3600 block of
Russell Road were purchased, and ground was broken for the new church in
August of that year. The congregation engaged Milton L. Grigg, a renowned church architect, to design a building in the English Gothic style. Constructed of local fieldstone, the church was over a year in building; the first service in the
“new” Grace church was held on October 24, 1948. The building was dedicated and the cornerstone laid by Bishop Goodwin on December 5, 1948. When the buildings were renovated in the early 1990’s, matching stone was found for the new narthex and elevator tower, thus presenting a seamless front for the church.
THE BAS-RELIEF OF THE WEST FAÇADE
On the outside of the west wall of the church is a series of cement sculptures of men and women at work. It bears the motto “In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, until thou return again unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19).
This, of course, is the curse of Adam with which God sent him and Eve forth from the garden. It seems, at first, a curious choice for the panel, but Mr. Grigg, who also designed these figures, shows an interesting insight into their meaning. “I was struck with the wide range of vocations represented in the congregation at
Grace… in many fields of activity. Yet in the diversity of their commitment to that faith, which gave a commonality in their effort to create, from the rewards of their labors, something that would transcend the mundane…. It was basically man’s sad plight, which is only mitigated by grace, which we are proclaiming – and seeking to contrast.”
The relief is in six panels: a factory; the Muse of learning surrounded by her books; transportation (a locomotive, ship, and wheelbarrow); farmers leading a cow; a printing press; and an airplane and automobile. Whether or not these represent the actual occupations of the members of Grace Church at the time of its building, they most surely do represent a wide range of human contribution to the creativity of God.
THE CORNERSTONE
The cornerstone was laid at the service at which the new church building was dedicated, December 5, 1948. Obviously, the cornerstone has no structural purpose, and the space for it was left there deliberately by the builders. The
Vestry minutes give the list of the items which were placed in a copper box in the cornerstone: The Holy Bible, The Book of Common Prayer 1928, The Church
Hymnal 1940, a complete list of the members of the parish as of that date, the program for the Dedication and Laying of the Cornerstone, the original plans of the building, The Alexandria Gazette dated December 4, 1948 ( The Alexandria
Gazette was not published on Sunday), and a copy of the Virginia Churchman for
November 1948.
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CHRIST OVER THE DOOR
Under a little sheltering roof is the figure of Our Lord, hands outstretched, welcoming all into his Church, His Body. Sometimes this statue is mistaken for the Virgin Mary, but a closer look reveals a bearded, masculine figure.
THE DOORS
These wooden panels were carved by parishioner Dorothy Abernathy and dedicated on Whitsunday, 1965. The left door represents the seven sacramental rites: the Shell of Baptism , a flaming heart for the fires of the Sprit given at
Confirmation
, St. Peter’s shield of the “keys of the Kingdom” for
Confession
(see Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”), the grapes and the wheat of the Holy
Communion , the interlocking rings for Marriage with the water pots used to make the wine at the wedding in Cana, the Bishop’s mitre, the Bible and a stole, representing the authority of Ordination , an oil stock with the oil of healing, blessed by the Bishop for Holy Unction .
The right door represents the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In each case a dove has been used in a different position to portray the Spirit. The seven gifts are the traditional ones found in the Bishop’s Prayer in the service of
Confirmation, from the 1928 Prayer Book (p. 297): Wisdom, Understanding,
Counsel, Strength, Knowledge, Godliness and Holy Fear.
THE WEST WINDOWS IN THE NARTHEX
The left window in the narthex portrays the Baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. The Dove of the Holy Spirit is seen descending on Jesus' head.
Again the motif of Baptismal shells is evident in all three windows.
The center window is the beloved scene of Jesus and the children. The artist has taken the liberty of showing, not first century Palestinian children, but representatives of all the children of the world. Their continents and cultures are self-evident.
The right window shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd, bearing home in
His arms one of His lost lambs. All the stained glass in the church was designed and executed by the Willet Studio of Philadelphia.
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THE BAPTISMAL FONT
The Font of white stone is covered when not in use by the brass figure of a guardian Angel, reminding us not to “despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the Fact of my Father Who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). The font is on casters, which makes it possible to move it to the front of the Nave when baptisms take place.
THE HOLY WATER STOUP
Water was used for purposes other than Baptism as early as the fourth century in the Eastern Church, and the fifth century in the Western Church.
Water is obviously a symbol of cleanliness and is used by some people as a means of preparing themselves for the service, as suggested by the Collect for Purity and as a reminder of their baptism. There are two stoups: one at the main entrance to the Nave and a second one at the entrance near the pulpit.
THE NAVE WINDOWS
The Nave windows are intended to be a brief survey of the history of the
Church. Quite naturally, they begin in the first century with St. Paul, the first figure on the Epistle side (right side, facing the Altar), and end in the twentieth century on the Gospel side with the figure of Bishop Fabian of Trinidad.
ST. PAUL
Anyone wishing to learn of the life of St. Paul and his missionary journeys may easily do so by reading The Acts of the Apostles, which is more than half concerned with this subject. If one wishes to understand the thought of this great first Christian theologian, one need only read his letters to the various churches he founded around the Mediterranean basin, which letters comprise the oldest parts of the New Testament.
People are often puzzled as to why St. Paul is carrying a sword, for he surely was not a soldier, but the sword is a basic part of St. Paul’s shield and may be seen again in the Altar kneeling cushion which is dedicated to him. It is both
“the sword of the Spirit” to which he refers in Ephesians 6:13-17, and an indication of the nature of his martyrdom. (As a Roman citizen, Paul would have been entitled to beheading with a sword rather than crucifixion.) He holds also a book containing his many writings. The medallion above his head is a typical ship of the time, for he often took ships in his missionary travels, and was shipwrecked at least three times.
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The last of his journeys is remembered in the lower medallion. St. Paul was on his way to Rome, when he was shipwrecked off the island of Malta, then called Melita. He had assured the ship’s captain that no one would be lost, and no one was, including the prisoners. They made their way to shore floating on bits of wreckage, and immediately set about to gather firewood to warm and dry themselves. St. Paul reached into a pile of brush, and a poisonous snake leaped out and bit him on the hand. The inhabitants of the island expected him to die.
Instead he shook the viper off his hand into the fire and suffered no ill effects whatever.
ST. ATHANASIUS (c. 296-373)
Homo contra mundum , the man against the world, was the name given to
St. Athanasius when he attended the Council of Nicaea in 325, as a member of the entourage of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, Egypt. Athanasius at that time was a mere deacon, and it is as a deacon he is shown in the window. He is wearing the dalmatic (which can still be seen as the deacon’s vestment in a Eucharist) and is carrying the chalice, as a deacon who serves.
Athanasius must indeed have seemed like a man against the world in that august assemblage, which included the Emperor Constantine, St. Nicholas of
Myra (our Santa Claus), and, most importantly, the priest Arius, who insisted that
Our Lord was certainly more than a man but less than God, a sort of semi-divine being. Athanasius understood at once that this dangerous heresy would quickly make of Jesus just another demi-god to be added to the pagan pantheon. It was he who insisted, against a most powerful opposition, including the Emperor, that
Jesus Christ was fully Man and fully God. We owe to him the doctrine of the
Holy Trinity which, while difficult to explain, is certainly the indispensable foundation of Christianity.
Athanasius’s stand eventually resulted in the Creed we call Nicene. The upper medallion, quite naturally, has Credo (I believe) written on its scroll. The lower motto is a quotation from St. Athanasius.
ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO (354-430)
Born in North Africa of a Christian mother and a pagan father, St.
Augustine had tried most of the religions of the ancient world by the time he was twenty-one. He was particularly attracted by Manicheism, but abandoned it after one of its leaders was unable to answer a question to his satisfaction. He made his way to Rome and eventually to Milan, where he came under the powerful influence of St. Ambrose, who baptized him on Easter Eve, 387. Augustine’s final decision for Christ was triggered by his reading of St. Paul’s Letter to the
Romans, Chapter 13, which is memorialized in the upper medallion.
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He is shown in the window as the Bishop of Hippo, near ancient Carthage, along with one of his many books. The most famous of his writings is probably
The City of God , an enormous work of 22 books, which was prompted by the sack of Rome by Alaric the Goth in 410. Many were asserting that this calamity was the fault of Christianity, and Augustine set about to demonstrate that the Empire was not sacred and that God was as interested in barbarians as he was in Romans; the true “eternal” city was the Christian Church which existed not only in time and space, but also above and beyond it. He has been called “the architect of the
Catholic (not Roman but universal) Church.” The influence of his thought extended all through the Middle Ages and into the Reformation and is still important to theologians today.
The flaming heart pierced by an arrow is a reminder of a famous quotation from St. Augustine, “Thou has made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.”
THE VENERABLE BEDE (673-735)
As his dress indicates, the Venerable Bede was a monk. He spent the whole of his life in Northumbria. His great contribution to the Church, among his many writings, was A History of the English People , better known as The Saxon
Chronicles . These are invaluable to historians as an accurate record of the culture of Saxon England prior to the Norman Conquest. Bede was a careful scholar and clearly distinguishes historical fact from mere legend or hearsay. Under the circumstances, an inkpot and quill at his head and a scroll at his feet are most appropriate.
ST. ANSELM AND ST. DUNSTAN
The next two windows have a rather amusing story. The glazier put them in on the same day and got them in the wrong order. Both gentlemen were
Archbishops of Canterbury, but the glazier, knowing little of church history, put the Norman Bishop, Anselm, before the Saxon Bishop, Dunstan. When this was pointed out to the Rector, he laughed and said, “Well, nobody in the church will know the difference but you and me, so let’s not worry about it.”
ST. ANSELM (circa 1033-1109)
Archbishop of Canterbury
Anselm is the 36 th
Archbishop of Canterbury in a direct line from
Augustine, who established the See of Canterbury in 597 A.D. at the direct command of Pope Gregory the Great. Anselm was born in Italy and became a
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monk at Bec, in France. He was enormously popular with the English clergy after the Norman Conquest, and they persuaded William I, “The Conqueror,” to select
Anselm for his Archbishop.
Almost immediately the new archbishop fell into the king’s displeasure over the matter of “investiture.” It had long been the custom in feudal Europe for kings to “invest” their bishop with lands and property, and even themselves present to the bishop cope, mitre and pastoral staff, the badges of his office, as a knight’s armor was his. In return the bishop swore feudal obedience to his overlord. This practice the new Pope, Gregory VII, was determined to stamp out.
Anselm sided with the Pope against the King and had to flee for his life from both
William I and William Rufus, his son; hence the ship to cross the Channel, which is above Anselm’s head. The lower medallion contains a chasuble, the symbol of the whole argument over who should award ecclesiastical offices. Anselm was also a prolific writer and is considered by some to have the best mind between
Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.
ST. DUNSTAN (908-988)
Archbishop of Canterbury
St. Dunstan is number twenty-five in the Apostolic Succession of the See of Canterbury and is the patron saint of armorers, blacksmiths, and musicians. In point of fact, he was a musician and also a skillful metal worker; hence the harp over his head, the bell in his hand, and the mallet at his feet. The upper motto means “Rejoice, my soul;” the lower motto “To work is to honor.” Grace Church parishioner and composer, William H. Plant, wrote a Mass in honor of St.
Dunstan and it is from this work that the familiar “Lord’s Prayer” used in this parish is taken. It is a splendid congregational setting of this most universal of prayers.
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI (1181-1226)
We begin our journey down the Gospel side of the Nave with this most beloved of saints, Francis of Assisi. Coming into the Church when she was at the height of her worldly power, Francis was like a breath of fresh air. In a society hard with worldly cynicism or despising all earthly matters in its enthusiasm for the world to come, Francis saw God’s world and found it good. With a child-like simplicity, he enjoyed flowers, birds, animals and all the good things of this earth.
It was he who could conceive of “our sister, the death of the body.” His Canticle to the Sun is one of the most beautiful apostrophes to nature ever written by anyone. Francis was fortunate in his Pope Innocent III, who though a tyrant in many matters, recognized the untainted holiness of Francis and permitted him to found a new order, the begging friars, or “brothers” of St. Francis, the
Franciscans. Francis is shown in the window with his beloved animals, including
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the infamous wolf of Gobbio. Above his head is the Crucifixion, for in later life
Francis was to develop the “Stigmata” or bleeding wounds of Christ in his hands and feet.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
The banner reads, “Of me, Thomas, you have written well.” Indeed this famous doctor and teacher of the Church has written well of his Lord Jesus Christ, especially in his works on the nature of the Holy Communion. This is why a chalice and paten are most appropriate in the upper medallion. At his feet is the clear-sighted eagle’s eye of understanding. At the time Thomas was writing, the works of Aristotle had just come into Medieval Europe via Arabic Spain. Thomas took these classical writings, which he read in Latin, and reconciled the ancient philosopher’s thought with Christianity. But perhaps Thomas is best loved for his hymns, reflecting the mystery of the Holy Sacrament.
WILLIAM LAUD (1573-1645)
76 th
Archbishop of Canterbury
William Laud was not a popular man. The movement called Puritanism was sweeping the Church of England, and from 1630 on had sent many English citizens to Massachusetts Bay Colony in America. William Laud was in strong, even violent, opposition to a trend which he felt, rightly, would destroy the
Catholicity of the English Church. In this he was strongly supported by his King,
Charles I. Unfortunately, Charles was not any more popular than his archbishop, and between them and their high-handed methods they managed to bring on the
Puritan revolution of 1649 and the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell. In 1641
Laud was arrested for high treason and imprisoned in the Tower. His king, though in complete sympathy with him, was unable to help him and in 1645 he was beheaded. Charles I followed him to the chopping block in 1649.
The symbols at Laud’s head and feet are self-explanatory. The chasuble represents his Catholic theology and the block and axe his death. The Archbishop himself is dressed in the bishop’s vesture of his time: rochet and chimere, which our bishops still wear, plus Elizabethan ruff and a Canterbury cap.
SAMUEL SEABURY (1729-1796)
First Bishop of the American Church
The end of the American Revolution in 1783 found the Anglican churches of the new United States in great disarray. Not only could they no longer count on any financial aid from the mother country, but also many of their clergy were loyal Englishmen sworn to protect the Crown. Many had fled to Canada or returned to England; the few remaining were highly suspected of being “Tories.”
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What was the Anglican Church to do in such a situation? Some felt she could reorganize herself along Presbyterian lines; after all, the Colonies had never had a bishop.
However, the group of churchmen in Connecticut felt it was impossible to be an Episcopal Church without the Episcopos (bishop). Without consulting anyone else, they elected Samuel Seabury (who agreed with them) to go to
England to seek consecration. Once arrived, Seabury was faced with a dilemma:
English Bishops were required to take an oath in support of the Crown; this he obviously could not do. However, in Scotland there was a small but thriving
Episcopal Church of “non-juror” bishops, and it was through the church in
Scotland that Seabury was consecrated in 1784 by the Bishops of Aberdeen, Ross and Skinner. In return, the Scottish Church requested that Bishop Seabury do his utmost to see that the new American Prayer Book include in its Communion
Service the Scottish Prayer of Consecration, not found in other rites. This prayer, known as “The Invocation,” is still a part of the Rite I Eucharistic Prayer.
Obviously, Bishop Seabury was successful in his effort.
At Bishop Seabury’s head is the seal of the Diocese of Connecticut; at his feet is a map of that state.
EDWARD PUSEY (1800-1882)
Edward Pusey was a canon of Oxford Cathedral, England, for fifty-four years. It was during this time that he became a leader in the “Oxford” or
“Tractarian” movement in the Church of England, of which John Henry Newman is the best-known leader. (The “Tractarians” were so named because of the
“tracts” or small booklets which they wrote, defending the catholicity of the
Anglican Church.) Unlike Newman, Pusey, along with John Keble, did not feel it necessary to abandon the Church of England for Rome. All three men were
“high” churchmen and did much to restore Catholic worship and doctrine to the
Church of England, but only Newman felt it necessary to desert her. Pusey is shown with the buildings of Oxford University in the upper medallion and with a collection of his many books in the lower one.
FABIAN TRINIDAD
Bishop
Fabian M.E. Jackson was an Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Trinidad in the West Indies, in the middle of the twentieth century. Ordained priest in
1927, he was consecrated bishop in St. Paul’s Cathedral on June 24, 1946. His connection with Grace Church was a very personal one, as he visited this parish on September 11, 1949 as part of the Anglican Eucharistic Congress which was held that year, sponsored by the American Church Union. Parish registers
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indicate that he was the first bishop outside the Diocese of Virginia to visit Grace
Church on Russell Road.
The bishop held everyone spellbound as he talked about his work in the
Diocese of Trinidad. The morning after his visit, he went to New York to enter
St. Luke’s Hospital. He had contracted a tropical disease of the eyes, somewhat like cancer, and there was a good possibility that both eyes would have to be removed. Although the outcome of this treatment is unknown, he returned to
England and served in the Diocese of Bath and Wells (he had resigned his bishopric in 1949), as Rector of Batcombe and also as assistant bishop. He returned to Trinidad in 1951 as Commissary (i.e., a representative of the Bishop).
Above Bishop Fabian’s head is a medallion depicting the seal of the
Diocese of Trinidad; the lower medallion shows the island itself.
THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Hanging between the stained glass windows in the Nave are the Stations of the Cross. The devotion known as the Stations of the Cross began in Jerusalem by the fourth century. Pilgrims would travel the route from Pilate’s house to
Calvary, stopping along the way for prayers and devotional readings. During the
Middle Ages, the Stations grew in popularity in local churches, especially under the influence of the Franciscans.
The number of stations at first varied widely, but finally became fixed at
14. Of these, eight are based upon events recorded in the Gospels. The other six
(3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 13) are based on inferences from the scriptures. The wooden carvings that serve as the Stations in Grace Church are distinctive both in their artwork and in their titles. Each has a verb description (i.e., condemned, expired, etc.). The parish commissioned these Stations in 1982 from a woodcarver in
Wisconsin and they were first used in the church the next year.
THE WEST WINDOW OVER THE CHOIR
By turning in the crossing and looking backwards, it is possible to get quite a good view of the choir window, showing the history of the Church in
Virginia.
The center panel represents the first celebration of an English Communion on the continent of North America, in thanksgiving for the safe passage of the
English colonists at Jamestown in 1607. It is celebrated under a canopy made of a sail, as there were as yet no buildings, and Native Americans are present. One can imagine the fervent thanksgiving of those men after the perils and hardships of three months on the Atlantic, in a flimsy ship of the early seventeenth century.
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The medallion at their feet shows the baptism of Pocahontas, daughter of Chief
Powhatan and rescuer of John Smith. Pocahontas later married John Rolfe and returned to England with him, where she died.
The left panel shows the first rector of Grace Church, Dr. Daniel Francis
Sprigg, also the first editor of The Virginia Churchman . Dr. Sprigg is shown holding a model of their first building at 207 South Patrick Street. The medallion over Dr. Sprigg’s head is the seal of the City of Alexandria, which was once a flourishing seaport.
The right panel shows Dr. David Griffith, first rector of Christ Church in the newly organized Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
(1789). Christ Church was the Mother Church of all the colonial churches in this area, and the two previous rectors of the church were members of the Church of
England. George Washington was a vestryman of Christ Church, as he was of all the others. Dr. Griffith holds a model of Christ Church in his hand, and the medallion over his head is the seal of the State of Virginia, with its famous motto,
Sic semper tyrannus.
ST. JUDE THE APOSTLE
While still looking at the west window, it is possible to see on the right wall, above the pews, a small statue of St. Jude. Almost nothing is known of this
Apostle, although one of the Epistles bears his name. He has come down to us in tradition as the patron saint of hopeless causes. His statue was given by one of the members of the parish, after she had been in a terrible automobile accident, had lain in a coma for three weeks, and then had almost miraculously recovered.
THE STATUES OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST AND OUR LADY
These statues came from the old church building on Patrick Street and were originally covered with paint. Their symbolism is very clear. It was Our
Lord Himself who said of his cousin, John, “Verily I say to you, among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding that he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”
(Matthew 11:11). John represents the last of the Prophets; Christ, the first of those who are born of the Spirit. The statues are separated by the Rood Beam, with its figures of the Crucifixion, the event which ended the old era and began the new.
John is dressed in his traditional “raiment of camel’s hair,” and in his hand bears a slender cross, as a sign of the coming Messiah. This symbol is used frequently to indicate St. John Baptist and was especially popular with the painter
Raphael, where it is often seen in the paintings of the Madonna with the two
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children, John and Jesus. At his feet is a lamb, not because he is a shepherd, but again to indicate “the Lamb of God.” His votive light is red, as befits a martyr.
The charming statue of Our Lady shows her with her Son when He was perhaps two. The delight of the Mother in her child and His in her is obvious, as the little boy reaches up to embrace her. St. Mary’s votive lights are blue, the color for purity.
THE ROOD BEAM
“Rood” is an old English word, meaning “cross,” and it is the suffering of the Crucified One that is depicted here. The symbolism of the Rood Beam is that all must pass under it in order to reach the Blessed Food at the Altar; or, to put it another way, all must pass through the travail of death, as did our Lord, before attaining the glory of everlasting life. The Rood Beam represents forgiveness mediated to us by Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
As is traditional, the figure to the left of the Cross is Jesus’ Mother, Mary, who is so grief stricken that she cannot even raise her eyes to look at her Son.
The figure on the right is St. John, the Beloved, the only one of the disciples who dared keep vigil with the faithful women. He is pointing to the Cross to remind us all of its saving power. These figures were carved by Sarah Bagwell Smith.
THE LADY ALTAR
The Lady Altar by St. Mary’s statue was brought to the present building from Old Grace Church, as was its Altar Cross. This Altar is primarily used for weekday celebrations. The Altar Cross bears an interesting inscription on its back:
This sign of the price of our salvation is the first Altar Cross to be used in divine worship in the Diocese of Virginia. Placed in
Grace Church, Alexandria, during the last decade of the nineteenth century, it has born witness to the faith of the
Church until now, in the fourth decade of the twentieth century, when it was completed with Corpus and title (IHS) on St.
Michael’s Day 1933.
The wooden railing around the Altar space was carved by Dorothy
Abernathy, who also carved the doors. She depicts four events important to St.
Mary: first, the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14); second, the Annunciation
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by the Angel Gabriel to Mary herself, “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with
Thee” (Luke 1:28); third; Mary accepting the lily from the Angel as she says,
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38); and fourth, the occasion of
Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, and her response to Elizabeth’s greeting:
“My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”
(Luke 1:47). The apron (or part just under the rail itself) bears the wheat and grape motif of the Holy Communion, with the Mystic Rose, symbol of the loving heart of the Virgin.
The Lady Altar kneelers were designed by Patricia Boatner; Sieberts
Decorators, Bethesda, made the paper patterns to exact size. There are four cushions altogether, three in the front and one on the side. The symbols are all associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Crown - Queen of Heaven
MR - Maria Regina
Fleur de Lys - Emblem of royalty; Fountain—the Fountain of Living Waters”
(Song of Solomon 4:12ff and Psalm 26:9)
Lily of the Valley - White flower and sweet scent, especially for the Immaculate
Conception, as the lily is the symbol of purity
Lily - This design was copied from the one woven into the Altar Frontal which was used on this Altar for many years
The background color is Dresden Blue.
THE AUMBREY
The brass door to the aumbrey shows a dove – the symbol of the Holy
Spirit – superimposed on a Greek cross which is also the letter Chi, the symbol for
Christ. The wings of the dove form the arms of a second cross to signify the
Crucifixion. The Reserved Sacrament is available for clergy and Lay Eucharistic
Ministers to take to those who are unable to get to church, except during the period from Good Friday until Easter, when the aumbrey stands empty and with an open door.
THE HANGING SANCTUARY LAMP
This lamp is kept burning whenever the Reserved Sacrament is present in the aumbrey. It signifies Christ’s sacramental presence in His Church.
Obviously, it is not lighted from Good Friday until the first celebration of Easter
Day.
THE MEMORIAL PULPIT
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The pulpit was designed in 1978 by Elton Wood and executed by the New
Holland Furniture Company, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The previous pulpit, though handsome, seriously obstructed the view of the Altar for those sitting on the left-hand side of the Nave near the front. The pulpit has been deliberately designed to let everyone “see through” it to the Altar when the pulpit is unoccupied. The pulpit itself is oak; the carved figures are of basswood.
As the pulpit is the place set aside for proclaiming the Good News, all of the five figures represent people who have forwarded the Christian message in one way or another. They are also all members of the Church in the British Isles, our ecclesiastical mother.
The first figure on the left is that of St. Patrick (c. 389-461) the patron saint of the Irish. Patrick, of course, was not Irish, but Welsh, the son of a
Romano-British deacon. (There was no celibacy of the clergy in St. Patrick’s day.) As a teenager he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.
After six years, he managed to escape to France, but in response to God’s call, he returned to Ireland to convert his heathen captors. The shamrock, Ireland’s national flower, was used by him to teach the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and is shown in the crook of his staff.
The next figure is that of St. Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045-1093). St.
Margaret was a Saxon noblewoman, who fled north with her family at the time of the Norman invasion of England. In Scotland she married Malcolm and became his queen. She was known throughout Scotland for her devout life and her many charitable foundations. She also helped to regularize the Scottish Church and to bring it more into conformity with the Latin Church. She must have been a good mother, too, as her son David, who succeeded his father, is also considered a saint.
The third figure is John Donne (1571-1631). A subject of both Queen
Elizabeth and James I, John Donne lived the life of a wealthy, aristocratic profligate as a young man. Donne was born a Roman Catholic but argued himself out of the Roman Church and eventually into the Church of England. In 1601 he cut himself out of political favor and all worldly success by marrying Anne More, the niece of the beheaded Sir Thomas More. But if the marriage denied him worldly preferment, it gave him everything else, as he and his wife remained deeply in love throughout their marriage. In 1615 he was persuaded to enter the
Church of England priesthood, where his brilliant preaching brought him to the attention of King James and eventually to St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, as the
Dean.
In addition to his famous sermons, Donne is known as the first and greatest of the Metaphysical Poets. Indeed, the development of his character from wild young man to God’s devoted priest can be traced through his poetry.
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Around the corner of the pulpit is
St. Thomas a’ Becket
(1118-1170).
Thomas was a Saxon deacon who was an intimate friend of a Norman king,
Henry II. Much against Thomas’s will, Henry nominated him for Archbishop of
Canterbury, thinking thereby to keep the Church securely in his own control.
Unfortunately for the King, Thomas quickly became caught up in the struggle between church and state. After Thomas had excommunicated a prominent nobleman, Henry in a rage suggested his murder, and Thomas was in fact murdered by four of Henry’s knights in his Cathedral, Canterbury, on his was to
Vespers. The king later did penance for his complicity, and Thomas became “the holy blisful martir” of the
Canterbury Tales . His shrine, known for miraculous healings, was a favorite place of English pilgrimage, until it was destroyed by
Henry VIII.
The last figure is C. S. Lewis (1893-1963). Lewis was a professor of
Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, England. He made his reputation on The Allegory of Love , a study of the Medieval romance.
He had been brought up a Christian but became an agnostic until, as he explains in his autobiography Surprised by Joy , his sense of reason led him back to the
Church because he had tried everything else and found it wanting.
Lewis became one of the great Christian apologists of the twentieth century. It is impossible to estimate how many people he influenced through such books as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The
Problem of Pain, A Grief Observed, Miracles, and many others. He was equally distinguished as a writer of fiction, and it, too, is profoundly theological. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength are his great trilogy of science fiction novels. Till We Have Faces is an absorbing retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. But perhaps the most delightful of his books are the Chronicles of Narnia , written for children. These books, seven of them, can be read on many different levels, from sheer fairy tale to deepest theological insights. It is the four children of these stories who are seen jumping out of the wardrobe. The Lion and the Witch are above.
THE CHRISTUS REX
Mounted on the pillar to the left of the pulpit is a small Crucifix showing
Christ as King, robed in Eucharistic vestments and wearing a crown.
THE ALTAR RAIL GATES
The Altar rail itself is simple stone with no adornment. The brass gates, which are closed during the Consecration, contain the Greek Alpha and Omega, each enclosed in an open Greek cross. The letters represent a quotation from
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Revelation 1:8. “ ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.’ saith the Lord.” The two Greek letters symbolize the Infinity of God.
THE HIGH ALTAR KNEELERS
These needlepoint cushions, the loving work of members of the parish, represent the shields of the twelve Apostles, plus St. Paul. From the Gospel (left) to the Epistle (right) side, the sequence is thus:
St. John - Eagles
St. James - Knives
St. Matthias - Knives and Book
St. Jude - Ship
St. James the Less - Saw
St. Andrew - X cross
St. Paul - Sword laid on a book (the middle kneeler)
St. Peter - Keys
St. Philip - Loaves of Bread
St. Simon - Fish on Book
St. Matthew - Money Bags
St. James the Greater - Three Shells
St. Thomas - Spear
These shields, of course, go back to Medieval heraldry. Some of the symbolism is easily deduced from reading the Gospels, e.g., “the keys of the kingdom” for Peter; the moneybags for Matthew, who was a tax collector when
Jesus called him. Others are more obscure because very little is really known about most of the Apostles. Tradition tells us that all except St. John died a martyr’s death; he died an exile on the Island of Patmos.
THE BISHOP’S THRONE
In the rear corner of the left wall in the Sanctuary is a carved sea which is reserved exclusively for the Bishop. Carved into the stone above it is the old seal of the Diocese of Virginia. The needlepoint cushion also shows this handsome seal on a purple background; purple is the color for a Bishop.
THE CREDENCE SHELF
On the right wall, opposite the Bishop’s Throne, is the Credence Shelf.
This is a convenient shelf used to hold the bread and wine and such other vessels which are necessary to celebrate the Holy Communion.
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The word has an interesting history. In both Roman times and the Middle
Ages, death by poisoning was by no means unusual. Apparently a “credence” was any small side table used to hold meats and other food. Before serving a guest, the host would taste of these foods, to assure his guests that they would not be poisoned. He would say, “I believe this food is pure.”
The needlepoint hanging in the niche behind the credence shelf was dedicated on Founders’ Day 2004. Three medallions show a cluster of grapes
(wine), a sheaf of wheat (bread), and the IHS, symbolizing Christ’s sacrifice.
THE SANCTUARY STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
These were the first windows to be installed in Grace Church, and their subject is “The Song of the Three Young Men” which is an addition to the canonical Book of Daniel. It is the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace by the Babylonian King
Nebuchadnezzar for their refusal to deny their God and to worship before the golden image which he had set up. Much to the king’s astonishment, the three youths were not burned up but were seen marching about on the coals, singing this hymn of praise. Their canticle is a celebration of creation and translates
“Blessed be all the Works of the Lord.” Among many works are mentioned sun and moon, stars, nights and days, mountains and hills, wells, whales, fowl, and so forth. The subjects are named with a recurring refrain, “Bless ye the Lord: praise
Him and magnify Him forever.”
THE HIGH ALTAR
The High Altar is of stone and bears on its surface a cross in each corner and one in the center, symbolizing the five wounds of Christ. The front face bears the Greek Cross, which always has four equal arms.
The numerology of the candles is interesting. The pattern of the candles always creates, with the Cross, a prime number; two candles plus the Cross equals three, in honor of the Holy Trinity; six candles plus the Cross equals seven, a number mentioned again and again in the Book of Revelation; twelve candles plus the Cross equals thirteen (used on high holy days).
THE FIGURE OF CHRIST
The almost life-size figure of Christ over the High Altar was carved in
Italy and secured through Rambush, according to the architect, Milton Grigg. It is not a Christus Rex, as the Figure is wearing only a loincloth; neither is it a dead body, for the muscular structure is clear and very strong. The dead Christ is on
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the Rood Beam; the Christ of the High Altar represents the Living Christ, ever present in His Church.
THE PROCESSIONAL CROSSES
There are four processional crosses, of varying sizes and designs. The smallest cross is of ornate brass in the Celtic design. Celtic crosses are easily recognizable by the circle which intersects all four arms, representing the eternity and continuity of the Church. This particular cross is embossed overall with the
IHS monogram in the center and a pierced leaf design at the ends of the arms.
The larger, plainer Celtic cross has an interesting history. Photographs of the choir in the Patrick Street church, taken in 1916, show the cross with a corpus, thereby making it a crucifix. The corpus was subsequently removed, but the tiny holes where screws held the corpus in place are still visible. The IHS monogram, the first three letters of “Jesus” in Greek, appears in the center with
“In hoc signo vinces”
(“in this sign thou shalt conquer”) engraved on the horizontal arms. At the lower part of the cross is engraved “Grace Church, Alexandria, Virginia,
1907.”
Only one of Grace Church’s processional crosses at this time is a crucifix.
The cross is the plainest of the four. On the sphere which joins the cross to its staff there is an engraved message only partially legible, which indicates that the cross was dedicated in 1958.
The largest of the four is the Evangelists’ Cross. The center medallion is the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) with each of the four evangelists represented in medallions at the ends of the arms. The symbols are St. Matthew (Divine Man),
St. Mark (winged lion), St. Luke (winged ox), and St. John (eagle). The inscription reads, “In memory of Christopher Ray Cunningham (1959-1966).”
The Evangelists’ Cross is stored on the wall behind the pulpit; the other three are stored outside the door to the sacristy.
THE ROSE WINDOW IN THE NARTHEX
First appearing on maps and charts in the 1300’s, the compass rose was originally used to indicate the directions of the winds. A fleur-de-lys in the North position came into use during the time of Columbus. The compass rose appearing in this window is the symbol of the Anglican Communion and the fleur-de-lys is replaced with a bishop’s mitre. The Greek quotation is from John 8:32 – “…and the truth will make you free.” The window was made by the Willet Studios of
Philadelphia and dedicated October 22, 2000.
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THE PRAYER DESK, CRUCIFIX, AND VOTIVE LIGHT STAND
Directly beneath the rose window is a wooden prayer desk facing a simple metal stand for votive lights. In keeping with the tradition of lighting candles as part of one’s prayer life, the votive stand, a gift from a parishioner, was added after the expansion and renovation of 1992-94. The crucifix which hangs on the wall above the votive stand was given by another parishioner in the early 2000’s.
The prayer desk has a long Grace Church history, appearing in photographs of the Patrick Street church as early as 1912. It was the focal point of a War Chapel in the Patrick Street church during World War II and for many years stood in the Nave, both on Patrick Street and in the current church.
Photographs of the War Chapel show a prayer desk with no kneeling cushion. The needlepoint kneeler, added in the early 1970’s, shows the traditional
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) on a blue field.
THE BANNERS
Processional banners of both Grace Church and Grace Episcopal Day
School are displayed in the narthex when not in use.
The anchor is one of the most ancient symbols for Grace, always shown so that it forms a cross combined with the Greek letter Chi, which stands for Christ.
Thus the symbol expresses faith and hope through the cross of Jesus Christ.
The needlepoint banner was designed and made by The Rev. George
Conrad Weiser. He described the design of the banner as follows:
I super-imposed a cross on the anchor. On the top border I put three crosses to symbolize Calvary. At the bottom I put a Jerusalem or Crusader’s cross to symbolize Christian warfare. The twelve petit-point crosses symbolize the twelve Apostles.
The silk banner was a gift from a Japanese priest, The Rev. Paul Kochi, who served in this parish in 1951, while he was doing a year’s work at Virginia
Theological Seminary. Fr. Kochi greatly appreciated the help given him by this congregation, and when he returned to his church in Kyoto he sent us the banner woven of Japanese silk, as a gift. Because of the fragile condition of this banner, it has been framed and now is on permanent display.
Grace Episcopal Day School has its own banner for use at school observances. This banner shows the anchor with Chi – the symbol for Grace –
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superimposed on the Episcopal shield. It was made of fabric appliqué in 1999 for the 40 th
anniversary of the school’s founding.
The sesquicentennial banner was created in 2005 to commemorate the
150 th
anniversary of the founding of Grace Church. It depicts a chalice and host above a sunburst and the sesquicentennial theme, “God’s Grace for All.”
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EPILOGUE
The Psalmist encourages us to
“worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness...”
(Psalm 96:9) At Grace Church we try to do this in our liturgy, music, and hospitality for those who come to this sacred space of stone, of wood, of stained glass. We have this great treasure to share. It is our hope that all who come here will find God in spirit and in truth.
This small booklet will help you to know something about the signs and symbols of our worship space. Our church is an outward and visible sign of an inward, spiritual grace. Each window, statue, and cross points us to a deeper reality and encounter with God’s presence and Christ’s love.
This booklet, published in our Sesquicentennial year, is dedicated to Helen S.
Merrow, author of the first edition published in 1978. Helen loved Grace Church, the people and this holy space. She shared ministry with her husband, Fr. Edward
L. Merrow, Rector from 1948–1974. After his death she served the parish until her death in 1984. As a member of the choir and the Vestry and as Director of
Christian Education, Helen Merrow knew we are called to share our faith and to celebrate our rich heritage as Episcopalians in the Anglican tradition. This new edition will help us all to share and celebrate the beauty of holiness with the generations that follow.
Thanks to Betty Alexander for her leadership of this project and to the
Sesquicentennial Committee, chaired by Anne Caputo and Ruth Corlett, for producing this new edition of Outward and Visible Signs.
--The Rev. Robert H. Malm, Rector
Grace Episcopal Church
Alexandria, Virginia
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