St. Peter and St. Paul - The East Window
The Centre Section from the top
At the top is a lamb, an "Agnus Dei". This represents the sacrificial lamb of God
Below the lamb are angels bearing ceremonial crownS. The main central panel depicts Christ, Salvador Mundi (saviour of the world), crowned King of Kings with Blessing hand and decorated Cross. This image is biblical: it is Christ at the final Judgement when the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him and he will sit on his royal throne and the people of all nations will be gathered before him.
Matthew 25, 31-32
“When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
At the bottom of the central section is a pelican, a symbol of sacrifice. The pelican was believed to draw blood from its own breast to feed its young so it is used as a symbol of Christ shedding his blood to save his people.
The other four main panels next to Christ
At the far left is Moses. After princely learning in Egypt, Moses, as leader of the Exodus, is credited with originating the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law or Torah, including the ten commandments given in stone.
Next to Moses is St Peter.
Simon, a humble fisherman, becomes the disciple, Peter, the name meaning rock. Jesus said he would be “The Rock on which to build my Church”. Inspired to confess Jesus as the Christ. “I will give you keys of the kingdom of Heaven”. So he is easily identified as he carries Keys and the Bible. He was the leading Apostle at Pentecost. He was crucified by the Romans under Nero but we have his account of the time with Jesus through the Gospel of Mark who was his follower.
On the other side of Christ is St Paul
Before dramatically converting, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus and an eager persecutor of the early Christian church. He undertook missionary journeys to many eastern Mediterranean countries preaching to Gentiles as well as Jews. He wrote 14 epistles, or letter, to churches he had founded. He spoke of the “Word of God” as the “Sword of the Spirit” so he is portrayed with a symbolic sword and open bible inscribed “Spritus Gladius”.
On the right hand side is the Prophet Elijah.
Elijah was an interpreter of the Word of God after divine inspiration. Renowned for prophesying the coming of the Messiah (The Christ). He also appears in the New Testament at an event known as the Transfiguration. He is shown here with a raven, a reference to when a raven fed him in the desert.
Matthew 17. 1-4
“Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus “Lord how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
The lower four panels
These depict the four evangelists who wrote the gospels. From left to right:
St Matthew: his symbol is that of a man, emphasising Christ's incarnation as a man.
St Mark: a winged figure of a roaring wild lion; strength, royalty and the one crying in the wilderness.
St Luke: a winged ox; for sacrifice, strength and temple imagery
St John: an eagle; soaring spiritual vision.