In January this year Father Rafael Nieto was tasked to design the windows for the new chapel devoted to the hospice of St. Thomas of Villanova College in Salamanca.
This is a set of three windows, two sheets each. The artist decideed together with the community, to represent in one window Our Lady of Consolation and St. Joseph, in another St. Augustine and St. Monica, and finally, St. Ezekiel and St. Rita. At the top of the windows he drew three motifs to the Paschal Triduum.
Iconografía
The iconography representative of each image is the usual: The Virgin of Consolation shows in her arms the infant Jesus who offers, in turn, the black belt of the Augustinian Order. San Jose looks on holding the stick in his hand and a bouquet of lilies, symbol of purity and chastity. San Augustine, with miter and in Recollect habit and scepter, carries in his right hand the burning heart pierced by a dart. At his feet, an eagle. His mother, St. Monica, is represented by the tears in her eyes and wiped by a cloth.
The third group is occupied by St. Ezekiel Moreno in recollect habit, with the bishop's pectoral cross, and a boat of reeds that recalls his days as a missionary in the Philippines. He is accompanied by Saint Rita of Cascia, also dressed in Recollect attire, with the thorn piercing the forehead and surrounded by roses.
The craftsman who made the project in glass was Barrio Santiago. He received the designs last February and, after two months of work, the stained glass of the windows was already displayed in the Recollect residence. In this way the cultural heritage of the Order is further enriched. The Augustinian Recollects offer these artistic expressions signifying their lives as open doors to discover God who is the source of all beauty.
