For a week now, statues in some churches have been covered with a purple veil, and will remain so until Easter. In Richard Alwyn's fascinating documentary about Catholics in rural Lancashire earlier this month, the parish priest, Fr Anthony Grimshaw, explained why this was so. It was, he said, to let worshippers concentrate on the essential narrative of Jesus's journey towards the Cross and Resurrection. No doubt the veiling does introduce this theme. But finding out the root origin for Lenten veiling is not at all easy. Plenty of reasons are given. One reason given is that the Gospel read on Passion Sunday (last Sunday) recounts how Jesus "hid himself, and went out of the temple". This was when people had taken up stones to throw at him because he had made what seemed a blasphemous claim to be God: "Before Abraham was, I am." Pope This hardly seems to account for a fortnight of veiling, right up to Easter (apart from the crucifix, which is uncovered and revered on Good Friday, as by the Pope, pictured here last year).

In other contexts there is also a good deal of ritual veiling around, none of it inviting explicit elucidation. In Catholic churches, a veil covers the tabernacle, the ritual cupboard in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. zebra shower curtain b&qInside the tabernacle, a veil also covers the ciborium, the lidded metal cup in which the Sacrament is reserved. prelude grommet-top window treatmentsThe chalice in which wine is consecrated at Mass is brought to the altar under a veil. robinwood curtains and blindsIn these cases, the reason is clearly the holiness of the things veiled. The veil serves not so much to protect the holy things from unhallowed eyes, as to dignify the holy things. The precedent comes from the Bible.

Exodus (36) describes how the tabernacle of God's presence was made from "curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work". Curtains and veils also had a ritual function in the world in which Christianity grew up. We still retain a few daily uses for curtains: primarily to draw across the window at night, to keep out the cold certainly, but also to construct a private space. The ancient Romans liked curtains in the doorways of houses and palaces. Mosaics, such as those from the sixth century in Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, show fine specimens. The liturgical use of such curtains is unfamiliar to us, but the 13th–century liturgical magpie William Durandus collected a variety of practices. "On feast days the curtains are spread out in churches to decorate them," he says. Durandus seldom explains origins. The "reasons" he gives are usually the devotional uses of such practices. So, for curtains, "the diversity of their colours denotes that man, the temple of God, ought to be decorated with a diversity of virtues."

Durandus says that some curtains "are spread out on either corner of the altar, through which the priest enters the secret place". By this he means the altar, as a kind of hidden, holy place, and he refers to Moses putting a veil over his face because of its unbearable glory after he had spoken with God. Curtains round altars were much favoured by Anglican liturgical reformers of the 19th century who put up dossals and side curtains hung from riddel posts, as seen in medieval paintings. Durandus also writes of "curtains spread out in front of the altar during Lent" – not just its last two weeks. These are of "beautiful fabrics", and signify the veil of the Temple dividing off the Holy of Holies. It was this that was torn asunder when Jesus died on the Cross. As the Epistle to the Hebrews explains, Jesus offers his own body as a sacrifice once and for all, and enters, not into a holy of holies made by human hands, but into heaven, establishing "a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh"

by Walter D. Kolos, Church Historian The stained glass windows at St. John’s Church are perhaps the most famous of the parish’s many treasures. Starting in the late nineteenth century, stained glass windows began to appear in the church, and by the turn of the twentieth century there was a full complement of leaded glass work in place. The influences of the Oxford Movement which began in the 1830s didn’t arrive at St. John’s until the 1860s. Initially, our colonial style church was “gothicized,” primarily with a liturgical floor plan (chancel and center aisle arrangement ), and gothic style furniture. By the 1870s, stained glass windows started to appear. The first windows were attributed to the firm of Sharp and Steele of New York. Known as glass stainers, they had a factory on lower Sixth Avenue, and were quite prolific in the period between 1850 and 1897. The windows on the west side of the nave, and at the chancel, are believed to be from this manufacturer.

The rich colors, realistic renderings and ornate canopies are typical of Sharp and Steele’s glass work. Metal and paint appliqués (some of them water soluble) were also employed. Their work was very popular during this period, and some churches were completely outfitted by “Sharp” windows. It was this style and process of glass making that Louis Comfort Tiffany opposed. He had introduced a new style of stained glass which employed richly textured layers of glass. The folds in fabrics and the details of vegetation were achieved with “flowing” glass. His renowned “opalescence” technique was all the rage in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Tiffany lived in the community, building his famous “Laurelton Hall” just to the north of the church in Laurel Hollow. Some of his descendants are members of St. John’s today. The windows have undergone a tremendous amount of restoration work in recent years, and the work is not over (and will never be). They are not only visually beautiful, but also an integral part of our faith community’s legacy.

His appearance was like lightening, and his raiment as white as snow… This window depicts the Angel at the tomb of Jesus on the morning of the Resurrection. To the Glory of God and in memory of These three individuals were members of the John H. Jones family, and also the Moore family of Moore’s Hill Road in Laurel Hollow. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? This window, from a parable, shows Jesus in prayer holding a shepherd’s crook. Behind him can be seen a vast multitude of sheep – his devoted and well-tended flock. John Divine Jones was one of the most prominent Jones family members in the nineteenth century. He not only gave the land for St. John’s Memorial Cemetery in 1867, but also donated property and buildings for the future Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1889. His wife, a distant cousin, was member of the Floyd -Jones family from the south shore of Long Island.

And the Angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. This window depicts the moment when the Angel Gabriel announced to the young virgin Mary that she had been chosen by God to bring his son into the world. Although betrothed to Joseph, the child would not be his. Townsend Jones was a prominent businessman, who served not only on the Vestry of St. John’s (1858-1869), but was also a Junior and Senior Warden afterwards. His wife, Mary Elizabeth, was his first cousin, and was born in the Hewlett house, which is now the Rectory. And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiments became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah. This window depicts the Biblical event whereby Jesus ascends to a mountain and is transformed bodily. He becomes radiant, and this is the most dramatic display of Jesus’ divinity.

The narrative is a further revelation (after his baptism) of his identity as the Son of God. Born Nov. 6, 1804 Died Jan. 23, 1882 Charles Hewlett Jones was a very well respected and accomplished member of the Jones Family. Part of the “Hill Folk” branch of the family (the only Jones clan that chose to live inland from the water), Charles H. was not only active in the whaling industry, but ran the family’s extensive farm and brick yard operations in Cold Spring Harbor and West Neck L.I. “The Beloved Disciple” has been considered by many to be St. John the Evangelist. However, through the centuries, scholars have debated this. This particular window representation has often been mistaken for the Virgin Mary, and in some parish writings has been described as such. The very feminine representation of this male disciple would account for the identification error. In Memory of John Gardiner Jones 1873 by John D. Jones John Gardiner Jones was the only son of Charles H. Jones and Elizabeth Gracie Gardiner Jones (Gardiner’s Island).

He died of tuberculosis when he was 29 years old, and is entombed in the vault above the church. And when he said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. This window depicts Jesus Christ’s physical ascent into heaven, forty days after his resurrection. The faithful below, in awe, are shown witnessing this miracle. Elizabeth Hewlett Jacob Hewlett Harriette A. Hewlett John Divine Hewlett Phoebe A. Chase Emma E. Hewlett This window is a memorial to the family of Jacob and Elizabeth Hewlett– their son John and his two wives, and the their daughter Phoebe. This family line began in Rockaway, Long Island (Village of Hewlett), and many are buried at the ancient site of Mt. Nebo in Woodbury L.I. The altar, or reredos window on the south end of the chancel is comprised of three round arch lancet windows. The center window is a depiction of St. John the Evangelist holding a chalice with a green snake in it. According to legend – not scripture – when St. John was in Ephesus he was given a cup of poisoned wine.