In a homily on April 19, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI noted the St Patrick Cathedral’s beautiful stained-glass windows, which “flood the interior with mystic light”. He reflected that “it is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit”.
The metaphor captured one of his deepest aspirations: to make known the Church’s interior life so that others will see the Church as she truly is. His evocation of outward-looking “dark, heavy, even dreary” windows that “come alive” with light also captures the enduring legacy of the papal visit to the United States in 2008, beginning with the image of the pope himself.
