The Chrysostom window in St Chrysostom’s Church, Manchester
We are so fortunate at St Chrysostom’s in having a delightful stained glass window of St John Chrysostom in the apse of the church – above the main altar.
He is next to St Athanasius, another great teacher in God’s Church. They are on the left hand side of the altar.
The stained glass windows are part of the notable sequence by Burlison and Grylls which we have at Church.
In the window Chrysostom holds a model of our church, reminding us that he is our patron, and prays now for us.
Above his head are the Latin words ‘Gloria deo propter omnia’ – Glory to God for all things, reputed to be his last words.
Interestingly we are not the only place in Manchester to have a stained glass window in his honour.
The John Rylands Library in Deansgate also has a stained glass window of him, as part of the Theologians window (see below).
From Ely Cathedral (Comper)
Ely Cathedral has a different representation of St John Chrysostom, in the Bishop West Chantry chapel. Here the saint is represented in a characteristic Comper style, as part of a Christ in Majesty window.
Chrysostom is popular in Oxford where there at least three different representations of him in stained glass (see below). The one at St Laurence, Cowley giving a more youthful representation than is usually found.
In several churches around the world Chrysostom is represented in different styles in stained glass. Often the windows including him are part of sequences representing teachers or theologians of the Church.
Stained glass windows of St John Chrysostom from (Left to Right) John Rylands library Manchester, St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, Mansfield College, Oxford and St Laurence, Cowley.
And because we like our Burlison and Grylls Chrysostom window so much we thought we’d include some more of their representations of him. Interestingly, the image from Holy Angels, Hoar Cross uses a photographic image of Canon H P Liddon, a famous Victorian priest, for Chrysostom’s face.
From L to R: from All Saints, East Garston, All Saints, West Dulwich and Holy Angels, Hoar Cross
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