Music: The Crucifixion by Sir John Stainer (1840 - 1901)
Image: Memorial window in the 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, to the children killed in the 1963 bombing of the church. Given by the people of Wales. Details here.
Sorry, Jane and Lance, the attribution of the window is a link to a BBC news item about the window. It commemorates the Ku Klux Klan bomb which killed 4 girls at Sunday School in the church in September 1963.
Hari OM It's a beauty and perfect for Good Friday....though I do hope it is not so much commemorating the bomb as those who suffered from it's effects... Hope you are having the morning we are having in Dunoon - it is absolutely fabulous. Blessings. YAM xx
I think so too, Yam, though you're right that I could have expressed myself more accurately in my reply to Jane and Lance. Yes, the sun is shining (somewhat patchily as yet) up here too, after a day of strong winds and sleet yesterday! Once the clouds break up completely it should be lovely.
What a heartening story behind the gift of that window....and how dreadful to take oneself back to the sixties and that community so surprised that anyone white could care...
Helen, though of course I knew the facts of the bombing I knew nothing of the window when I first found this photo. I was just looking for a suitable image for my Good Friday post. When I discovered the history behind it I was very deeply touched that ordinary people an ocean away could care so much.
Happy Easter, Perpetua! This weekend they are forecasting sun today on Good Friday and rain on Easter Sunday. It seems it ought to be reversed, with stormy weather today and beautiful sunny weather on Easter, but...
It's been glorious weather today for us also, and though it won't be so sunny over the weekend, no storms are forecast. I hope you have a happy Easter whatever the weather.
Thanks, Kristie and the same to you and your family. It's been good to be able to be with others this year, rather than stranded at home as we were last Easter.
And a happy Easter to you too, Jennifer. I knew the history of the bombing in Birmingham, but it was very moving to discover the story of how the window was given by the people of the little country I call home.
Yes: that lovely hymn says it all, really. Very moving window too. Was it last Holy Week you were snowed in? Hard to believe, after today's glorious sunshine. I hope you have a very blessed, happy and sociable (!) Easter this year.
being a Northener, oratorio has always been essential to me at the major festivals, DB. It was indeed last year that I was snowbound for the whole of Holy Week and missed the observances for the first time in decades. This Easter is proving incredibly sociable. :-) Easter blessings to you and your family.
I was touched to tears by this evocative stained glass image and your link to the story behind the window, and the giving spirit of the people, especially the children, of Wales. The bombing was a despicable act of what we would now call domestic terror, but, back then, many people, even here, had not realized were happening. The church bombing was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement, in big part because the world was now watching. That the schoolchildren of a small country across the pond would care so deeply about this injustice and that the artist would render such a stunningly beautiful window is a perfect lesson in forgiveness. I see from one of your responses that you happened upon the story behind the window. Isn't it wonderous how these things happen? While I am not reading this on Good Friday, the message registers all-the-same. Thank you, Perpetua, and a Happy Easter to you.
Penny, I'm glad to have brought you this touching story, which I feel testifies so strongly to human compassion and solidarity in the face of such cruel and wanton killing. I'm grateful I came across it in time to be able to share it at this Easter season, when we celebrate Christ's triumph over sin and death. It would be wonderful to think that such a tragedy couldn't happen again, but sadly we know this isn't the case. But other things have changed in the intervening years and I do think we are more aware of injustice and willing to fight it. A very happy Easter to you and Tom.
Wishing you a Blessed Easter, dear Perpetua. Other visitors have commented on how much the story from Birmingham adds poignancy and depth of meaning to the stained glass window. I'm deeply touched, and reminded today of why Easter has such a profound significance. Thank you, dear friend.
Thank you, Debra and Easter blessings to you and Jay also. It's a wonderful story and I feel very proud of Wales for making such a lasting gesture of sympathy and friendship to a community which had been so deeply hurt. This reaching out across an ocean to people you will never meet is a lesson to us all.
Dear Perpetua - whilst I was away I recorded last Sunday evenings Antique Roadshow from Gregynog . On the programme a young women turned up with the original John Petts drawing for the cruxcifiction of the black Christ. She had bought it at a car-boot sale for £1! I wondered whether or not you had seen it? If not, you might be interested to watch it on catch up TV.
Thanks so much for letting me know about this, Rosemary. What a coincidence! We don't have TV in Scotland, but I've just downloaded the programme on iPlayer and look forward to watching it once we've finally sorted everything out after our return home.
Hello Perpetua:
ReplyDeleteWe wonder what occasioned the gift of this stained glass window.
We wish you peace and joy this Eastertide.
Sorry, Jane and Lance, the attribution of the window is a link to a BBC news item about the window. It commemorates the Ku Klux Klan bomb which killed 4 girls at Sunday School in the church in September 1963.
DeleteWishing you both a very blessed Easter.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteIt's a beauty and perfect for Good Friday....though I do hope it is not so much commemorating the bomb as those who suffered from it's effects... Hope you are having the morning we are having in Dunoon - it is absolutely fabulous. Blessings. YAM xx
I think so too, Yam, though you're right that I could have expressed myself more accurately in my reply to Jane and Lance. Yes, the sun is shining (somewhat patchily as yet) up here too, after a day of strong winds and sleet yesterday! Once the clouds break up completely it should be lovely.
DeleteWishing you a blessed Easter Perpetua.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shirley, and Easter blessings to you also.
DeleteHappy Easter, Perpetua. What a beautiful stained glass window.
ReplyDeleteAnd the same to you, Sarah. I find the window lovely in itself and deeply moving for what it commemorates.
DeleteWhat a heartening story behind the gift of that window....and how dreadful to take oneself back to the sixties and that community so surprised that anyone white could care...
ReplyDeleteHelen, though of course I knew the facts of the bombing I knew nothing of the window when I first found this photo. I was just looking for a suitable image for my Good Friday post. When I discovered the history behind it I was very deeply touched that ordinary people an ocean away could care so much.
DeleteHappy Easter, Perpetua! This weekend they are forecasting sun today on Good Friday and rain on Easter Sunday. It seems it ought to be reversed, with stormy weather today and beautiful sunny weather on Easter, but...
ReplyDeleteIt's been glorious weather today for us also, and though it won't be so sunny over the weekend, no storms are forecast. I hope you have a happy Easter whatever the weather.
DeleteI hope you have a wonderful, meaning filled Easter weekend, Perpetua.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kristie and the same to you and your family. It's been good to be able to be with others this year, rather than stranded at home as we were last Easter.
DeleteWhat a beautiful window, given on the occasion of a terrible tragedy. Happy Easter to you, Perpetua.
ReplyDeleteAnd a happy Easter to you too, Jennifer. I knew the history of the bombing in Birmingham, but it was very moving to discover the story of how the window was given by the people of the little country I call home.
DeleteYes: that lovely hymn says it all, really. Very moving window too.
ReplyDeleteWas it last Holy Week you were snowed in? Hard to believe, after today's glorious sunshine. I hope you have a very blessed, happy and sociable (!) Easter this year.
being a Northener, oratorio has always been essential to me at the major festivals, DB. It was indeed last year that I was snowbound for the whole of Holy Week and missed the observances for the first time in decades. This Easter is proving incredibly sociable. :-) Easter blessings to you and your family.
DeleteI was touched to tears by this evocative stained glass image and your link to the story behind the window, and the giving spirit of the people, especially the children, of Wales.
ReplyDeleteThe bombing was a despicable act of what we would now call domestic terror, but, back then, many people, even here, had not realized were happening. The church bombing was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement, in big part because the world was now watching. That the schoolchildren of a small country across the pond would care so deeply about this injustice and that the artist would render such a stunningly beautiful window is a perfect lesson in forgiveness. I see from one of your responses that you happened upon the story behind the window. Isn't it wonderous how these things happen? While I am not reading this on Good Friday, the message registers all-the-same. Thank you, Perpetua, and a Happy Easter to you.
Penny, I'm glad to have brought you this touching story, which I feel testifies so strongly to human compassion and solidarity in the face of such cruel and wanton killing. I'm grateful I came across it in time to be able to share it at this Easter season, when we celebrate Christ's triumph over sin and death. It would be wonderful to think that such a tragedy couldn't happen again, but sadly we know this isn't the case. But other things have changed in the intervening years and I do think we are more aware of injustice and willing to fight it. A very happy Easter to you and Tom.
DeleteWishing you a Blessed Easter, dear Perpetua. Other visitors have commented on how much the story from Birmingham adds poignancy and depth of meaning to the stained glass window. I'm deeply touched, and reminded today of why Easter has such a profound significance. Thank you, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debra and Easter blessings to you and Jay also. It's a wonderful story and I feel very proud of Wales for making such a lasting gesture of sympathy and friendship to a community which had been so deeply hurt. This reaching out across an ocean to people you will never meet is a lesson to us all.
DeleteDear Perpetua - whilst I was away I recorded last Sunday evenings Antique Roadshow from Gregynog . On the programme a young women turned up with the original John Petts drawing for the cruxcifiction of the black Christ. She had bought it at a car-boot sale for £1! I wondered whether or not you had seen it? If not, you might be interested to watch it on catch up TV.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for letting me know about this, Rosemary. What a coincidence! We don't have TV in Scotland, but I've just downloaded the programme on iPlayer and look forward to watching it once we've finally sorted everything out after our return home.
Delete