About Stained Glass

In 1480 in Italy a boy called Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene was born to Lord Gaspar and Mary Porter. In later life he became known as St. Cajetan. He was a Catholic priest and religious reformer who founded the Theatines together with four companions. St. Cajetan was concerned about spiritual healing and he endeavoured […]

St. Claudia was a first century saint and the mother of Pope Linus. Her father was the British King Caratacus who was defeated by Aulus Plautius and held in chains. When the Emperor Claudius released him, his daughter took the name of Claudia and was baptized in Rome. In the second Biblical letter of St. […]

St. Clare was born in 1194 of noble Italian parents. She was a devout follower of St. Francis of Assisi and ran away from home to give herself to God and to live a poor and humble life for Jesus. She founded an order of nuns called the “Poor Clares”. Sacred art and stained glass […]

St. Alphonsus was born in Italy in 1696. He became a Catholic bishop and was a prolific writer and theologian. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, which was dedicated to working among the poor. In 1762 at the age of sixty-eight he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti despite his protestations. […]

According to Eastern legend, St. Charity was the daughter of Wisdom (also known as St. Sofia) and her sisters were Faith and Hope. Their Latin names were Fides, Spes and Caritas (meaning Faith, Hope and Charity). St. Charity and her two sisters were martyred during the persecution of Christians under the reign of the Roman […]

St. Christopher is well known as the patron saint of travellers, and is seen in sacred art and stained glass carrying a child on his shoulders. Legend has it that Christopher was crossing a river when a child asked to be carried over. When he put the child on his shoulders he discovered he was […]

St. Anne was a ninth-century saint born in Constantinople to aristocratic parents. She is sometimes also known as Susanna. An arranged marriage to Agarenus prompted St. Anne to flee the city of Constantinople and she went to Leucadia, Epirus in about 866. Here she lived as a hermitess for the rest of her life until […]

St. Christina of Bolsena is also known as Christina of Tyre or Christina the Great Martyr. She is venerated as an Italian Christian virgin and martyr of the third century AD. She was the daughter of a wealthy pagan man named Urbanus. He wanted Christina to become a pagan priestess and tried to force her […]

St. Anne was a ninth-century saint born in Constantinople to aristocratic parents. She is sometimes also known as Susanna. An arranged marriage to Agarenus prompted St. Anne to flee the city of Constantinople and she went to Leucadia, Epirus in about 866. Here she lived as a hermitess for the rest of her life until […]

St. Bridget of Sweden is one of the six patron saints of Europe. She founded the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband to whom she was married for twenty years. Stained Glass images of St. Bridget often show her wearing a pilgrim’s hat, carrying a staff and bag, or with a […]