Avoiding Regret: Photo Essay: Blessings for the Poor in Spirit

March 17, 2015

Photo Essay: Blessings for the Poor in Spirit

Although I consider myself a recovering Catholic, and don't care much for organized religion, I do find myself comforted by churches and cathedrals, their lighted windows and the low hum of organ music. I don't go to mass anymore, but I occasionally wander in when the place is open but empty, doors unlocked. There, I bask in the solitude, the beams of sunlight, and the shadows. I do not pray, but I gaze. I do not kneel, but I feel a sense of praise.

Photo: Our Savior Parish / catholictrojan.org

I was drawn to the USC Caruso Catholic Center and the church occupied by Our Savior Parish because I'd been hearing about it since its windows were still under construction.

This was a huge project for local art glass studio The Judson Studios, which crafted and installed 18 of the 19 stained glass windows, all but two also designed by Judson (not the rose window which hasn't been crafted or installed yet, and not the "Creation" window).

The project was huge because these windows are huge, measuring 25 feet high by 9 feet wide, totaling 2,408 square feet of hand-painted, colored glass.

They were in production for five years from 2008–2013, though most of the windows are dated 2011-2013.

This massive scale of a project is hardly ever done anymore, but Judson was up to the task, having hand-crafted architectural glass works like these since 1897.

They had a little help from modern technology, using computers to create smaller renderings for approval and then blowing up the approved designs to their full scale size.