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 Our Church Windows: A Tour
If you've wanted to attend our annual Stained Glass Windows Tour but haven't or even if you want to look again, now you can do so from the comfort of your home! Click here to view a PDF slideshow of our church windows tour provided by our parish historian and tour guide, Dr. Frank DeStefano. We hope you enjoy the latest addition to our parish website! Please note: Please be patient while PDF file downloads - it may take a few moments. Make sure your computer volume is on and is not on "mute".
Our Parish History The Growth and Development of Our Parish Less than a hundred years ago the Catholic Church in American was a missionary church. To serve the families of the Stratfield section of Fairfield, Our Lady of the Assumption parish began its history as a mission from St. Thomas Parish of the center section of Fairfield. St. Thomas itself had become a parish only in 1876 after years as a mission of St. Augustine’s in Bridgeport. The pastor of St. Thomas, Rev. William J. Blake, initiated the mission to Stratfield, and celebrated the first Mass in August, 1921, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Byrnes of Buena Vista Road. The mission of Our Lady of the Assumption was formally organized on January 31, 1922.
One year later, Assumption became a parish of its own with a resident pastor, Rev. John A. Sullivan. Father Sullivan estimated that in 1923 there were more than 90 men and 110 women in the parish with an additional 150 men and 1715 women in the Tunxis Hill area of Fairfield. In 1926 Rev. Thomas B. Gloster became pastor of Assumption and soon established a mission to the Tunxis Hill area under the protection of the Holy Family. While Father Sullivan had served the community from a two-family house on North Avenue, Father Gloster saw the need for a Rectory and in 1926 purchased the home and property at the intersection of Stratfield Road and Querida Street for this purpose. Records for “the roaring twenties” are limited but do reveal a steady influx of Catholics into the area. In 1931, Father Gloster estimated there were close to 1,200 Catholics between Assumption Parish and the Holy Family mission.
Despite the suffering brought by the “great depression,” the parish continued to grow through the decade of the 1930s and experienced two significant and lasting changes. In 1938, the Holy Family mission became a parish of its own, reducing Assumption to about 650 parishioners. In the next year, the new pastor, the Rev. Robert Leo Christopher, began construction of the beautiful church that would become the center of parish worship for generations to come.
Almost immediately after he became pastor on June 15, 1939, Father Christopher launched the pledge drive for the new church building and raised over $20,000 – an enormous sum in those days. The new building was completed within a year at a total cost of about $75,000 with the balance of the cost being financed by a mortgage for $52,000, which was held by St. Bernanrd and St. Lawrence cemetery of New Haven at a rate of 3.5%. The builder was the E&F Construction Co. of Bridgeport whose owner, Philip Epifano, had been a parishioner since 1929. The architect was Gerald Phelan of the Bridgeport firm of Fletcher Thompson.
The church was built in the Norman Gothic style so popular at the time. According to a history of the parish written in 1958, it was build of granite quarried in the neighborhood of the church. The tower, surmounted by a cross of hand-wrought iron, the beautiful rose window over the choir loft, the altar of delicately veined Botticino marble, and the tabernacle of solid sculptured bronze can still be viewed today. The church was officially dedicated with a Solemn High mass on February 4, 1940.
The parish continued to grow through the war years as Connecticut, and the Bridgeport area particularly, became the “arsenal of America.” The years just after the war brought some new developments. A Ladies’ Guild, a center of parish social activity for years to come, was formed in 1947. In 1948, three nuns of the Order of Saint Dominic arrived “to take charge of the religious education of the parish children.” A house adjacent to the church was remodeled into a convent with its own chapel. It may also have been during this period that the parish was assigned a second priest, with the first curate being Rev. Vincent O’Connor, a generous, kind and well-liked priest who served the parish from 1945 through 1959.
During the 1950s, Fairfield’s growth mirrored that of Bridgeport and the growth of “bedroom” communities of New York City, and growth at Our Lady of the Assumption mirrored that of Fairfield. There was a need for new services and facilities. In 1951, 5he parish built a church hall for teaching ad parish activities, and three years later this served as a schoolhouse for the first 80 students to be enrolled in Our Lady of the Assumption School. Finally, in September, 1955, a new 16-room parochial school building opened serving 250 students in grades 1-3; and in 1961 the school graduated its first of many classes. Over the years, the Dominican sisters of Newburgh provided outstanding principals and teachers such as Sister Helen Michael, the first principal, Sister Anne Cecilia, and Sister Mary Rita, who after a brief appointment in 1969 returned in 1979 to guide the school until 1996. Noteworthy as well are Sister Mary Denise and Miss Patricia Brennan whose careers at Assumption are representative of all the religious and laity who have served the children of the parish so well over the years.
By 1957, the parish had become so large, that the mission established a short while before in Easton formally became a separate parish with its own pastor. Father Christopher supervised the construction of Notre Dame’s church in Easton before turning over to his successor. Father Christopher passed away on September 17, 1958 at the age of 62. A dedication written at the time summed up his career as a priest: “A beautiful, complete parish plant he built for us, but much more he gave us in spiritual guidance and kindly concern for our welfare. His abiding humility and quiet humor endeared him to us all, beyond measure.”
In 1960, Msgr. Thomas F. Henahan became pastor after serving in this capacity at Holy Family in Fairfield and St. Ambrose in Bridgeport. Deeply rooted in the tradition and magisterium of the Church, he implemented the changes called for in the Second Vatican Council in a way that ushered in the new but respected the old. The Second Vatican Council called for both liturgical changes and greater participation of the laity in the life of the Church. As an example of the former, priests began facing the congregation while saying the Mass in English and accepting the offertory gifts from the participants. As regard to the latter, Msgr. Henahan established a Parish Advisory Council in the 1960s composed of elected representatives of the laity who offered advice and guidance to the pastor. In addition, lay involvement was demonstrated by the ordination of the parish’s first permanent Deacon, George Saulnier. In 1978, George and his wife Elizabeth organized the Emmaus retreat movement for the teenagers of the parish. Within a few years “Emmaus” has spread throughout the Diocese and beyond.
Msgr. Henahan served over 20 years in the parish, overseeing many changes including the building of the Rectory at its current location. He celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest in 1980, retired in 1981, and resided in his beloved parish until illness forced him to move to St. Joseph’s Manor. Always known for his devotion to the Blessed Mother, he served Our Lady of the Assumption with dignity touched by humor.
In 1981, Rev. William J. Conklin succeeded Msgr. Henahan as pastor after serving 10 years as pastor of St. Joseph’s in Shelton. In 1983, Father Conklin called upon the parish to assist him in renovating our church properties. The goal was for $500,000. Many renovations took place in the Church, Rectory and parish hall buildings. However, the pledges failed to meet the expected on-half-million-dollar goal. Unfortunately, this project saddled our parish with a tremendous debt which was a constant source of concern for Fr. Conklin until his death in September of 1992.
In 1992, Msgr. Blase Gintoli became the new pastor of Assumption. Born and raised in Bridgeport, our current pastor was in the first graduating class of Notre Dame High School. He came to Assumption after distinguished service as pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Bridgeport. Before his appointment, the Parish Council was asked by the Diocese to state what they wanted in a new pastor. They wrote, “The new pastor should be recognized as a deeply spiritual person, a good homilist, he should also have the desire to lead his flock to a deeper knowledge and practice of their faith. He must see this function as the most important of his ministry.” If a high level of personal involvement in parish activities is a sign that people believe that their spiritual needs are being met, then we can say that Msgr. Blase has been successful in his ministry.
Our Church Windows The Church and its Windows:
A Shared Experience One experience that we all have in common, from the first Mass at the Byrnes’ house in 1921 to last Sunday’s 9:00 a.m., is the sharing of the Holy Eucharist. The word Eucharist is derived from a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” Throughout our 75 year history, we have come to Mass to offer our thanks, and the idea of thanksgiving is embedded in the beautiful windows of our church.
The period of our church’s construction (1939 – 1940) coincided with an era of great artistic and architectural revival in America, especially in church architecture. Artists were deliberately trying to recreate what they considered to be the purest forms of church art. For example, Assumption was built in the Norman Gothic style which first appeared in France and England in the 12th Century. The color scheme of the windows, dominant blues with subordinate reds and whites, was an attempt to copy that of the great 13th Century French cathedrals.
This period was also influenced by the implementation of liturgical reforms called for by Pope Pius X. Fr. Christopher, the pastor, wanted to building to be centered upon the Sacrifice of the Mass, and he wanted the windows to have a meaning. In the Liturgy we bring the gifts of bread and wine to the altar, as symbols of our thankfulness. At the Consecration they become the Body and Blood of our Lord, and then the priest prays, “Lord, let your angel take these gifts to your heavenly altar,” where they are accepted by God and later returned to us at Holy Communion.
The windows in the Sanctuary over the altar represent the angel carrying the gifts to the heavenly altar. There are three elongated, or lancet windows, with four panels, known as medallions, in each. In the center of these medallions one sees symbols such as the Crown of Thorns, the Robe, the Ladder and Lance, the Cock that Crowed, and the Cup of Gethsemane, just to name a few. In Church art, these symbols are known as the “instruments of the Passion,” and are representative of our Lord’s Sacrifice. In sacred art, angels are commonly depicted blessing these “instruments” before the “heavenly altar,” and this is the purpose of the two angels with the censer that we see above the middle window.
Looking to the back of the Church we also see the “heavenly altar” in the beautiful rose window. In the center of the altar reclines the “Lamb of God” on the seven seals with the banner of the Resurrection just as portrayed in the Book of Revelations. Surrounding the Lamb in the petals of the rose are symbols of the twelve Apostles. For instance, we can see the “crossed keys” which symbolize St. Peter and the three purses of St. Matthew, the tax collector. The rose window is the traditional rendering of the Last Judgment in Christian art. The Apostles represent us at the end of time when, according to St. John, “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear form their eyes.”
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