largest stained glass church window in the world<\/strong> is in [choose one]:\u00a0 (1)\u00a0Cologne, Germany;\u00a0 (2)\u00a0The Vatican;\u00a0 (3)\u00a0Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France;\u00a0 or (4)\u00a0Covington, Kentucky.<\/p>\nIf you guessed \u201cThe Vatican,\u201d you are wrong!\u00a0 That distinction goes to a church right here on American soil, the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky.<\/p>\n
The cathedral\u2019s north transept window, measuring 67 feet in length by 24 feet wide, depicts the Council of Ephesus, the ecumenical council which, in the early fifth century, proclaimed Mary as the Mother of God.<\/p>\n
This is no small potatoes!\u00a0 In the fifth century, some theologians\u2014Nestorius prominent among them\u2014began to teach that Mary was the Mother of Jesus, but not of God.\u00a0 Nestorius debated the unity of Christ\u2019s natures, saying that Mary gave birth to his human nature but not his divine nature.<\/p>\n
Pope Celestine disagreed, asserting that Jesus\u2019 two natures\u2014fully God and fully man\u2014could not be divided.\u00a0 Supported in his teaching by St. Cyril of Alexandria, Pope Celestine convened an ecumenical council at Ephesus, Mary\u2019s place of residence in her old age, to discuss the issue.\u00a0 The bishops, all 200 of them, agreed that Mary was indeed the Mother of God (called, in Greek, the Theotokos <\/em>or \u201cGod-Bearer\u201d).<\/p>\nAccording to Jewish custom, Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple on the octave of his birth (celebrated on January 1).\u00a0 As the new year begins, the Church honors Mary in her role as Mother of God.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
Ten, perhaps twelve years ago, my husband and I attended a wedding in northern Kentucky.\u00a0 The following morning we woke in our Covington hotel room, peered out the window, and spotted the basilica\u2019s steeple across the horizon.\u00a0 Hoping to find the church, we hopped in the car and set off to explore.\u00a0 As we arrived at the Cathedral Basilica, a busload of students from Wheaton College was unloading at the door\u2014and we followed them into the church for what must have been a most unusual theology lesson for that group of evangelicals!<\/p>\n
Ask a Protestant from the Reformed or Evangelical tradition what is his greatest problem with the Catholic Church, and chances are, he\u2019ll answer \u201cMary.\u201d\u00a0 Many, if not most, members of mainline Protestant denominations can quickly offer a laundry list of concerns about Catholic Marian dogmas:\u00a0 Mary\u2019s perpetual virginity, her assumption into heaven, her immaculate conception (that is, that Mary herself, as the \u201cark\u201d which held the nascent Christ Child, was preserved from all sin by God in order to be a worthy vessel for the Divine Presence).\u00a0 The idea of praying to Mary (who is venerated, not \u201cworshipped,\u201d by Catholics) is also a source of division.<\/p>\n
But if pressed, the same Protestant is likely to admit that he has studied the Church\u2019s teachings on Mary very little or not at all, and that he has not seriously explored the rich history of Marian devotion\u2014back, even, to the earliest days of the Church.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a little known fact that Martin Luther to his death believed the Marian dogmas which are today considered to be \u201cCatholic,\u201d and he approved of Marian paintings and statues in the churches of his time.\u00a0 Throughout his life, Luther had a deep devotion to the rosary and to Mary.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The largest stained glass church window in the world is in [choose one]:\u00a0 (1)\u00a0Cologne, Germany;\u00a0 (2)\u00a0The Vatican;\u00a0 (3)\u00a0Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France;\u00a0 or (4)\u00a0Covington, Kentucky. If you guessed \u201cThe Vatican,\u201d you are wrong!\u00a0 That distinction goes to a church right here on American soil, the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky. The cathedral\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,49,155],"tags":[2729,2746,2832],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-catholic","category-mary","tag-art","tag-catholic","tag-mary"],"yoast_head":"\n
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The largest stained glass church window in the world<\/strong> is in [choose one]:\u00a0 (1)\u00a0Cologne, Germany;\u00a0 (2)\u00a0The Vatican;\u00a0 (3)\u00a0Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France;\u00a0 or (4)\u00a0Covington, Kentucky.<\/p>\n