Historic St. Patrick’s window
will grace House of Comfort
PORTLAND, Maine — The Diocese of Portland recently announced that one of the striking stained glass windows which once offered an ethereal and vibrant glow to the interior of St. Patrick Church in Portland will provide warmth and tranquility to the future patients and families at the Aroostook House of Comfort.
On Saturday, April 16, 2016, representatives from the Aroostook Hospice Foundation will travel to St. Joseph Church, located on 673 Stevens Avenue in Portland, to receive the window from Fr. Paul Sullivan, SJ, pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish, at 10:30 a.m.
St. Patrick Church was a part of the parish until its closure in May 2013. Christ is depicted in the middle lancet of the window, commissioning the Apostles “to go forth and teach all nations.” The symbolism of the arrow pointing in four directions in the window refers to the worldwide evangelism of the Apostles.
The stained glass window will ultimately be installed in the chapel of the House of Comfort, Aroostook County’s first free-standing hospice facility, which is expected to be open by early 2017. Located in the former MBNA building on Green Hill Drive in Presque Isle, the soon-to-be-renovated facility will offer end-of-life and palliative care for patients and their families when death is expected within six months.
The donation to the hospice facility was made possible thanks to the generosity of the parishioners at Our Lady of Hope Parish and Bishop Robert P. Deeley, who granted the parish permission to offer the windows as a gift.
“This use of the sacred art will hopefully bring some comfort to the parishioners for whom St. Patrick Church was a spiritual home,” said Bishop Deeley. “This beautiful window, through which light helped to create a warm and sacred place in the past, will serve as a beacon of hope and reassurance for patients and their families in the future. What a grace and laudable action for the parishioners to have supported.”
The stained glass window will be secured at a facility in Aroostook County until installation in the hospice home later this year.
