ROSE WINDOW

Above the oak balcony is a 28-foot diameter, jeweled wheel, sometimes called a Rose Window for it's resemblance to an open rose. It is composed of authentique Norman slab glass and English antiqued cathedral glass, depicting episodes of Mary's life. Our Rose Window is referred to as: "The Children's Rose Window" for the children of the diocese who donated $25,000 (in pennies) toward its completion.
The Blessed Virgin, in the center, is holding the Child Jesus. The medallions extending outward depict Marys life at the:

Visitation
Resurrection
Nativity
Foot of the cross
Presentation of Jesus in the temple
Descent of Holy Spirit upon Apostles
Finding the Child Jesus in the temple
Assumption
Meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary
Coronation

Rose windows- first appeared in Romanesque Architecture.

BENEATH THE ROSE WINDOW

Beneath the Rose Window is a Byzantine-style icon-type painting also referred to as the Dormition of Mary. This is considered the finest piece of work, by Felix Lieftuchter in the cathedral. A 24 foot panel, the figures are drawn to a 9 foot human scale. Christ holds in His arms a child, symbolic of the soul of the Blessed Virgin. The other foremost figures are St. Peter standing at the head and St. Paul kneeling at the foot. St. John and St. Luke are also figures represented with other apostles and disciples. This painting is a prime example of the Keim Process, mineral colors invented by the Germans about 1880. The life expectancy of this paint should be hundreds of years. The small stained glass windows below the painting are of prophetic or imitative figures of Mary: Eve, Rebecca, Ruth, Ester and Judith as Old Testament prophetic figures; St. Theresa and St. Rose (of Lima, Peru) as saints known to be imitative of her.

CREATIO MUNDI

Above the Rose Window, we see Felix Lieftuchter's fresco of Creatio Mundi, the opening chapter of the story of Genesis. Angels bearing up a series of discs that picture the progress of events according to the separate days of creation, and the symbol of the Trinity, a triangle surrounded by light rays with an eye in side. A version of this symbol is on the great seal of the U.S. and is reproduced on the one dollar bill. The overall pattern on the remaining walls are Greek symbols for Jesus and Mary; the star of David and the Hebrew word for God form the pattern on the side walls of the balcony.