Stained Glass Windows: St. Mary Magdalene and St. Martin of Tours, Grace Cathedral

This past weekend, I took another walk up Nob Hill, to Grace Cathedral, for the specific purpose of photographing some of their stunning stained glass windows. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I love stained glass for the ethereal beauty of their glow, but the photographic endeavor is tricky, for technical reasons I won’t bore you with here. Nonetheless, I always enjoy stained glass projects, especially in a place as grand as Grace Cathedral. I only wish I had better lenses!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll post the photos of these stunning stained glass windows in their pairs. Along both sides of Grace Cathedral’s nave, each elongated window is split vertically into two, distinct, stained-glass panels, each panel depicting a specific saint. In most cases, each of these window pairs has an additional rosette window above them, depicting, I believe, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The trio of windows forms a triangle, echoing the pointed arches which form the articulated ribs of the noted Gothic cathedral.

In honor of Valentine’s day, here are the windows beneath the rosette “Love”: St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Martin of Tours.

Enjoy.

St. Mary Magdalene, stained glass window, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

St. Martin of Tours, stained glass window, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Rosette Window: 'Love', stained glass window, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

The Walk to Lone Mountain

Look up

On occasion, I’m obliged to walk up the one hundred and five steps of Lone Mountain, to the administrative offices at the top of the hill. It’s a beautiful walk — often punctuated by an occasional sighting of a red-tailed hawk circling restlessly above — but I’m embarrassed to admit that, because my head is often quite thickly wrapped in a tight gauze of work responsibilities, I frequently forget to open my eyes and enjoy the expansive views. This is, unfortunately, not a new development for me, nor, I sadly suspect, a unique one, but on occasion, if we are in a present state of mind, we are treated to the overt or covert beauty of a place, if we give it more than simply a passing glance. This happened once in college, when, deep in the middle of examination stresses, I looked up from my distracted gaze, and away from schedules, internship apps, and personal woes, and discovered, as if for the first time, the serene and spectacular beauty of the woodland university I attended with its towering redwoods and frequent sprays of sudden wildflowers. This happened again last night, while, walking toward home on a pleasant street, I remembered — as if a veil of forgetfulness were lifted from an amnesiac — that I enjoyed the blue dim of dusk, the cherry trees in the near burst of (a west coast) bloom, and the light, refreshing sprinkle of rain on a late winter day. I was lucky. I might have remained in the constrictive fissures of my thoughts, and gone home and festered on something, and awoke exhausted — but I didn’t. It’s one of those moments when I must say, audibly, ‘Thank you.’

So enjoy the following photos of and from Lone Mountain. These were taken over two separate occasions, one in the late summer, and one on a crisp, winter day last week.

And enjoy your own beautiful walks today, wherever and with whomever that may be.

The arch at the top of the South Stairs of Lone Mountain, University of San Francisco, looking up from Turk Street

Arch and Lion Fountain at the first landing of the South Stairs -- 105 steps

A view to the South East

A bench by Loyola House, and a peek at the San Francisco horizon between the trees

Click on the picture to open this wide panorama in full size

Palm Tree walk to South Stairway

Beautiful detailing on the main doors to the Lone Mountain campus

South West view above the South Stairs: Lion Fountain architecture, St. Ignatius Church spires, and Sutro Tower on Twin Peaks

Downtown San Francisco skyline, from Lone Mountain courtyard

The Marin Headlands under puffy clouds, looking north from Lone Mountain courtyard

Walkway toward K-Hall, morning