About Stained Glass

Barnabas was a Jew born in Cyprus and was originally named Joseph. He became one of the early Christians and was renamed by the disciples who called him Barnabas, meaning Son of Encouragement. He was instrumental in persuading the Christian community to accept St. Paul, their former persecutor, after his conversion. Barnabas and Paul made […]

St. Norbert of Xanten, or Norbert Gennep, was born in the late eleventh century in Germany. Being the son of a count, young Norbert was given a position at court, and lived a life of nobility. One day when riding through a forest there was a huge thunderstorm in which Norbert was thrown from his […]

St Charles Lwanga (or Karoli Lwanga) was born in Uganda in the nineteenth century. He was converted to the Catholic faith, and is now revered as a saint and martyr by both Catholic and Anglican churches. As a young man, Charles worked in the court of the cruel King Mwanga II. This king was determined […]

St. Augustine was an Italian-born during the sixth century AD. He was a Benedictine monk and the prior of a monastery in Rome. In 595 AD, Pope Gregory the Great chose Augustine to lead a mission to Britain to evangelize King Ethelberht and his Kingdom of Kent. This mission was called the Gregorian Mission. When […]

In 1515 Philip Neri was born in Florence to a noble Italian family. He received his early education from Dominican friars and at the age of eighteen he experienced a religious conversion. He went to live in Rome and began a life of ministering to the sick, the poor and prostitutes. Later in his life […]

At an early age, St. Rita begged her Italian parents to let her enter a convent. But instead they arranged a marriage for her to a violent and abusive man. She had her first child at the age of twelve. Throughout the almost twenty years of her difficult marriage, Rita retained her devout Christian values […]

St. Celestine’s birth name was Pietro Da Morrone. He was one of twelve children, born in 1215 to Italian parents. As a young man he became a Benedictine monk and lived as a hermit in the Abruzzi Mountains. His devout and ascetic lifestyle drew many followers to him and he founded an order of hermits […]

Matthias was the twelfth Apostle, chosen to replace Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide. The remaining eleven disciples identified two eligible candidates (Matthias and Joseph) and then they prayed and asked God to show His choice by casting lots. The lot fell to Matthias who was then added to the eleven. Matthias […]

Rose Venerini was born in Italy in 1656, the daughter of a physician. As a young woman she entered a convent for a few months, but then returned home after the death of her father. She began teaching the girls in her neighborhood and one thing led to another until she had founded the Religious […]

St. Philip the Apostle was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus in the first century AD. He was born in Bethsaida, Galilee and is featured in all four Gospels, especially the Gospel of John. He was called by Jesus and also brought Nathanael to the Lord. The name Philip is of Greek origin and […]