About Stained Glass

With over a hundred churches in the USA named after him, St. Augustine is a well-known and loved saint who brings hope and inspiration to many. Stained glass and other church artworks show him in various moments of his life, either with his mother Monica, at his conversion in the garden or writing at his […]

St. Monica was the Mother of St. Augustine and is also known as St. Monica of Hippo. She lived in the First Century and is remembered and honored for her outstanding Christian virtues. She is depicted in stained glass designs together with her son Augustine or in other scenes from her life. She was married […]

St. Bartholomew was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, and he is mentioned by name in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In John’s Gospel, it is believed that he is the same person as Nathanael. After the Ascension, he went to preach in India and Greater Armenia. There are three different accounts in Christian […]

Patricia was an Italian virgin and saint of the seventh century AD. According to tradition she was of noble birth and may have been related to the Roman emperor or a descendant of Constantine the Great. In stained glass art she is sometimes seen wearing a crown, showing her nobility. St. Patricia fled to Rome […]

St. Rose of Lima is depicted in stained glass and other sacred art as wearing a crown of roses. She was born in Lima, Peru in 1586, and although her real name was in fact Isabel, because of her great beauty she became known as “Rose”. As she grew older, Rose herself did not wish to […]

The birth name of Pope St. Pius X was Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto. He was born in Italy in 1835. His most outstanding achievement was to publish the Code of Canon Law in which all the laws of the Catholic Church were collected in one book for the first time. He was known for encouraging his […]

St. Roch was born in France in the fourteenth century. He was born with a red birthmark on his chest in the form of a cross. When his father died, Roche distributed his inheritance to the poor and set out on a pilgrimage to Italy. When he reached Italy he found an outbreak of plague […]

Born in Poland in 1894, St. Maximilian Kolbe became a Franciscan monk. During his lifetime, St. Maximilian founded the Immaculata Movement devoted to Our Lady. He also travelled to Japan and India to spread the Movement there. Due to ill health he returned to Poland and was arrested and imprisoned when the Second World War […]

The existence of St. Philomena was first discovered in 1802 when her remains were found in a catacomb belonging to St. Priscilla in Rome. It is believed that she was a young Roman virgin martyr who died at the age of about thirteen. The stones which covered her remains had drawings on them which have […]

Susanna was born to a noble family in Rome in the third century AD and was related to Pope Caius. At an early age she made a vow of virginity. She refused a marriage arranged by the Emperor Diocletian and was instrumental in converting some of the court officers who tried to convince her to […]