Window 16: Confirmation
The sixteenth window in the Creation and the New Creation series of windows at the church of Saints Leonard and Fergus, Dundee.
Window 16: Confirmation.
Window 16: Confirmation is the second Summer window, and in continuity with the rest of the Summer windows has an array of warm golden colours in the Celtic latticework background pattern, indicative of the season. With confirmation being one of the sacraments in Catholic tradition, the window belongs to The Seven Sacraments theme that runs its way through the windows.
The sacrament of Confirmation is regarded as an affirmation of belief, a sealing of the covenant that was created in Baptism (see Window 5: Baptism). During Baptism, Christians receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and in Confirmation, that gift is enriched with the strength to become true witnesses of Christ in the world. In Catholicism, Confirmation is administered when children reach adolescence, a sort of ‘coming of age’ when they are able to take responsibility for their faith. It usually takes place during a Mass given by a bishop. The bishop anoints the forehead of the candidate with chrism, or holy oil, which functions as a sign of the Holy Spirit.
There are two main images in this window that are representative of this chrism and symbolic of Confirmation – one traditional and one contemporary, with parallels between both. We’ll look at each in turn.
The first symbol of the chrism of Confirmation is a traditional one and is in the main window: a beautiful, stylised olive tree, showing the leaves and fruit. Chrism is made of olive oil, which comes from the fruit of the olive tree. The oil is mixed with balsam to give it its fragrance, which represents the ‘aroma of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 2.15).
The importance of olive oil can be seen throughout the Bible. In Jewish culture it was regarded as sacred and used to anoint kings and priests as a sign of God’s presence and favour. Its use in anointing as a sign of God’s presence in ancient times connects to anointing as a sign of the Holy Spirit in the Christian sacrament of confirmation.
The oil was also regarded as a symbol of wealth, joy and health because it had so many other uses, culinary and practical. It was used in oil lamps for light and warmth, as indicated in the richly symbolic biblical parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Only the wise ones took enough oil for their lamps with them while they waited for the bridegroom (Christ) to arrive (see Matthew 25.1-13).
To remind us that the chrism is a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, the Holy Spirit in the form of a Picasso-style dove flies
above the olive tree. This dove connects this window back to the Holy Spirit as a dove hovering over the baptismal waters in Window 5: Baptism.
The olive tree is the third tree in the windows, the other two are the palm tree in Window 8: The Woman at the Well and the almond tree in Window 9: The Almond
The Holy Spirit in the form of a Picasso-esque dove.
The stylised olive tree, symbol of the holy oil of Confirmation.
Tree, all representing the third day of Creation, the Days of Creation being one of the three main themes that weaves its way through the windows. On this third day, dry land appeared, along with ‘plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it’ (Genesis 1.11).
North Sea oil rig, in the transom.
Look closely and you’ll see a fox looking up into the tree and a crow peering out from among the branches – the fox and the crow from the Aesop Fable of the same name. A little bit of light-hearted fun, they connect back to the other creatures in the windows representative of the birds and the animals created on the fifth and sixth days of Creation, such as the three jays in Window 7: The Scottish Window and the mountain hare in Window 13: Saints Peter and Andrew.
The second representation of the chrism of Confirmation is contemporary and is up in the transom. It is a clever portrayal of a modern oil rig, mining for North Sea oil. Dad gave the image an eerie, misty feel by swirling acid onto the glass to subtly burn away some of the deep blue. The lights and the flame in yellow were added using silver stain.
Modern crude oil can be regarded as a parallel to the traditional olive oil in that it, too, is a symbol of wealth – it has the nickname ‘black gold’. Like olive oil it has many uses, one of which parallels the traditional use of olive oil for creating light. While today electricity powers most lighting, some electricity is still generated from crude oil.
The image of the North Sea oil rig in the transom is another connection in these windows to Scotland. Most of the largest oil fields in the UK sector of the North Sea have been found in the waters to the north and east of the Scottish mainland.
The flame at the top of the flare tower is a safety measure. It is excess gas being burned, which stops the pressure of the gas below getting above a set pressure. In the context of this window, with the oil rig being used as a modern-day symbol of chrism, the flame serves as a reminder of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the sacrament of confirmation because the Holy Spirit is often depicted as fire. The most notable example of this is in the biblical Pentecost narrative, when the presence of the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire appeared and rested upon Jesus’s mother and his disciples (see Dad’s Pentecost window at the Church of Our Lady and St Michael, Shipston on Stour).
As previously mentioned, the sacrament of Confirmation is an affirmation of belief and a strengthening of the Christian faith. Once confirmed, discipline is required to fully participate in the Christian community and to act as true witnesses of Christ. However, this discipline is not to be viewed begrudgingly but joyfully. Dad symbolised this joyful discipline with a small painting with a Scottish flavour towards the bottom of the window: a dancer and piper in traditional Scottish garb. The dancer and the piper with his music, both requiring discipline to perform well, represent this joy.
Scottish dancer and piper.