On the Return of Stained Glass

"When St. Peter Catholic Church in Volo, Illinois, wanted a huge stained-glass window of Our Lady of Guadalupe appearing to Juan Diego done in the traditional 19th-century Munich style once predominant in American churches, the parish turned to Daprato Rigali Studios in Chicago. When St. Joseph Church in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, needed recently acquired original Munich windows restored and several new ones made to match, the church looked to the expertise of Beyer Stained Glass Studio in Philadelphia. Similarly wanting to replicate windows in the Munich style to replace ones that formerly graced the church before their removal in a 1960s renovation, St. Stanislaus Oratory in Milwaukee enlisted the skills of Conrad Schmitt Studios in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

"'People are seeking out very clear figural art, lovely to look at and that connects them to the great tradition of the church,' explained liturgical art expert Denis McNamara, academic director and associate professor of The Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He sees this revival paralleling the whole recovery of traditional architecture in the churches. 'There's a renaissance of the whole allied arts of architecture,' which include stained glass and oil painting, he reported. The revival in traditional-style stained glass is 'part of the larger renaissance of the recovery of the beauty of it all.'"

A recent article in National Catholic Register reported on a resurgence in the use of stained glass in church buildings.

To access the complete National Catholic Register report, please visit:

National Catholic Register: Light Show: Renaissance of Stained Glass Underway in Sacred Spaces (9 FEB 19)