The stories they tell

DE PERE – This year, the Norbertines are marking their 100th anniversary as an established Abbey, and in conjunction with the centennial the Abbey is releasing The Liturgy in Stained Glass — a book featuring the Abbey’s storied array of stained-glass windows.

Though the Norbertines arrived in 1893 and expanded to De Pere in 1898, they formally requested to be raised to “Abbey status” in 1924 and were approved by papal decree on Feb. 10, 1925.

The Norbertines resided on what became the St. Norbert campus until a new facility was built across the Fox River.

Fr. Stephen J. Rossey, O. Praem, 91, who compiled and edited the book, was there for the transition to the new facility.

“Abbott (Bernard) Pennings died in 1955, and we had that great number of people. The place was just far too small for the number of people; we were living double and triple in rooms. So under Abbott (Sylvester) Killeen — the successor of Pennings — ground was broken here in 1956, and we moved in here in February of 1959,” he recalled.

“When we dedicated the building in 1959, I think only the main window was in place and one of the north clear story windows. I think there were only two windows in for the dedication.

“And then, between 1959 and at least 1962, the windows went in.

“Abbott Killeen, of course, sent out letters to various glass studios, and I suppose his letter would have said, ‘We’re looking for stained glass windows for an Abbey church and would you care to submit samples of what you would do if you were here?

“Most of the designs that came through were what we would call traditional windows — Saint figures and stuff like that. And one of the men said, ‘You know, we gather in the church for the liturgy many times during the day, and we have to look at these windows every day, and you get kind of tired looking at Saint figures every day. Can you give us something that we can look at for a lifetime and never exhaust?’”

Enter Francis Deck of Emil Frei & Associates in St. Louis, Mo., whose bid the Norbertines secured for the project.

Deck was a Washington University graduate who began work with the studio while still attending high school and later became the company’s vice president.

The designs selected are abstract images that convey the Abbey’s dedication to the liturgy and are filled with symbolism in an array of messaging that provides thought-provoking images in an ever-evolving manner.

The Abbey’s stained glass windows are made by hand, of mouth-blown, full antique stained glass — a method used since the Middle Ages.

According to the book, the windows are considered to be the Abbey’s greatest treasures.

Fr. Rossey has loved art since he was young and went on to earn a master of art degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1966.

He also founded the art department at Archmere Academy — a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school.

He calls the book that took him several years to produce “a labor of love.”
The Liturgy in Stained Glass is a 133-page book featuring unique glossy pages that accentuate the stained-glass photography and graphics to help navigate the stories they tell.

For more information, visit norbertines.org/windows-book.