The Connick Windows at Unity Church, St. Paul MN

 After spending several hours in the Cathedral, we still had time to visit one more church that afternoon -- the Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul, where we met with a warm welcome and interesting conversation with Senior Minister the Rev. Dr. Oscar Sinclair.  According to the MIT archives, Charles Connick designed windows for the Ames Chapel and the Sanctuary. 

The St. Martin's Windows in Ames Chapel

 Rev. Sinclair helped us locate the Ames Chapel, which was built in 1920; the Connick windows are positioned on the west end of the Chapel.  Unlike other Connick windows I have seen, these rely heavily on "opalescent glass" for the window backgrounds.

St. Marten's Windows, by Charles Connick (1923) in the Ames Chapel at Unity Church, St. Paul MN.
Photo by Paul Dahlberg

St. Martin of Tours was born in the 4th century in the region now known as Hungary.  As the son of a Tribune, his first career was that of a soldier; one story describes him cutting his cloak in half to help cloth a begger.  

He then had a vision in which Christ appeared and said "Martin, a mere catechumen, hath clothed me," an experience which only intensified his Christian faith.

By the age of 20 he had left the military and pursued a religious calling, focused on study, evangelism, and opposition of the Arian heresy.  

He established a monastery (the Liguge Abbey); in 371 he became the Bishop of Tours.  He died in 397 CE.

He is the patron saint of the poor, soldiers, conscientious objectors, tailors, and winemakers.  His feast day is Nov. 11.

The center lancet shows him in military armor with half a cloak; he holds a bishop's mitre (MIT Order #1018). The window was installed in 1923.

The two insets on the side lancets illustrate the two stories mentioned above.  In the left lancet, St. Martin cuts his cloak in half to clothe the freezing beggar.  In the right lancet, we see a representation of his vision, with Christ as the central figure, flanked by two angels, and St. Martin resting across the bottom.

The Missing Sanctuary Windows

According to the MIT Archive (Order # 2899), Rev. Arthur Foote worked with Connick Associates during the mid 1940s on the design of 18 windows for the south (back) wall of the Sanctuary (5 windows on each aisle, and 8 openings in the south wall).  There is also a reference to a window on the gallery stairway, and a suggestion that some but not all of the windows might be purchased.

The third page of this archived document includes some very interesting comments by Rev. Foote regarding the subject matter for the windows: "We should like to see represented every major religion and every main branch of the human family."  He goes on to list 9 major religions for consideration, along with some individuals who might be used for the aisle windows.

It appears that the subjects and symbols were agreed-upon by April 1948.  However, there is no "completion date" on the order, and it's possible that a contract was never signed.  It's also possible that the windows were destroyed when the sanctuary suffered a fire in 1963.  I did look through the State Historical Society's list of archived materials for Unity Church, and I can see there are materials regarding the St. Martin's windows, but no mention of any stained glass windows installed in the late 1940s-1950s.

I am hopeful that someone in the congregation will know more and we can someday get an update on these missing windows!  Please leave a comment if you know something about them or can assert positively that the church did or did not have stained glass windows in the sanctuary prior to 1963!