Divine Desk

—Stephen—-
ecclesiarum.wordpress.com

Impromptu Stained Glass

When I walked into a local church recently, the first things that caught my eye were a few leaves caught in a window.  With the light shining through this one, it gave the appearance of stained glass. (An idea in here! ;))

——Stephen——

It Started With a Quote

“One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name”.

You may recall that I highlighted this quote in an earlier post, suggesting that this was a fit remark for today’s celebrity culture.  Of course, I couldn’t leave it at that – I had to find the origin of the quote.

Using that wonderful research tool – the Web – I simply pumped in the quote, like you do.   Initially, it seemed that the quote should be attributed Sir Walter Scot, pulled from a chapter heading in ‘Old Mortality’.  However, I came across a small piece by ‘getting there’ (sorry couldn’t suss real id), who has carried out a piece of research, finding that the quote is better attributed to a military man Thomas Osbert Mordaunt (1729-1809) who wrote a poem during the Seven Year War between Austria and Prussia (1756-1763) – the two lines come from verse 11 of that poem.

Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife,
Throughout the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.

The original meaning set against a world when death and glory were the making of a man.
http://gettingthere.hubpages.com/hub/Mordaunt

Some tails are worth chasing.

——-Stephen———

Stained Glass at Wensley

It was a pretty grey foggy day today.  I had planned to do a circuit of a local reservoir but my companion preferred to stay dry, so a revision of venue took us to Holy Trinity church – Wensley, North Yorkshire.  It was pretty dark inside the church and not very warm either.

I don’t always take pictures of stained glass when I visit churches, but I picked out these windows, which I thought were a little unusual (?).

” Ah Galahad, Galahad for such as thou art is the Vision“.

The angel above Galahad carries a banner which reads “One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.”   – I’m afraid, to me, it suggests celebrity rules.

“Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. He is risen. His not here.”  Which my research suggests is derived from Mark 16:6 of the King James Bible.

This window commemorates an organist at the church (1906).  I wasn’t sure that I was interpreting the window correctly but then I noticed the organ pipes in the background.

Saint Cecilia.  I may start a collection of ‘stained glass Saints’.

——Stephen——–