{"id":259324,"date":"2026-06-08T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/259324\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T16:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:20:08","slug":"st-luke-church-celebrates-history-of-stained-glass-art-in-queens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/259324\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Luke Church Celebrates History of Stained Glass Art in Queens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"\u201cA lot of it was music we have sung before. But some of it was brand new to them,\u201d Jessica Tranzillo Smith (left), who leads the St. Luke\u2019s\u00a0 choirs, told The Tablet of the songs they sang to reflect the history of the church\u2019s stained glass windows. (Photos: Paula Katinas)<\/p>\n

WHITESTONE \u2014\u00a0The\u00a0stained-glass windows\u00a0of a church can\u00a0do more than serve as a beautiful backdrop\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0celebration\u00a0of\u00a0Mass. They can also deepen\u00a0one\u2019s connection to their Catholic faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was the idea behind\u00a0\u201cWindows of Faith,\u201d a\u00a0special afternoon\u00a0concert presented at St.\u00a0Luke\u00a0Church<\/a> in\u00a0Whitestone\u00a0on June 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0purpose of the\u00a0concert,\u00a0which featured both\u00a0the St.\u00a0Luke\u00a0Adult and Children\u2019s Choirs, was\u00a0aimed at\u00a0helping\u00a0parishioners\u00a0understand the meaning\u00a0of the\u00a0church\u2019s\u00a0stained-glass windows in their midst and to\u00a0learn to appreciate\u00a0their beauty and artistry,\u00a0said Jessica\u00a0Tranzillo\u00a0Smith, the church\u2019s music\u00a0director.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The combined choirs offered musical reflections on 18 of the church\u2019s 50\u00a0stained glass\u00a0windows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tranzillo Smith, who\u00a0serves\u00a0double duty as the church\u2019s music director and cantor, carefully selected the songs and hymns to match the theme of each window.\u00a0The concert featured a variety of musical styles, from spirituals to soaring hymns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese windows\u00a0sparkle on a sunny morning.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0just unbelievable\u00a0how beautiful they are,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0very lucky. I get to look at them five or six times a weekend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Brownsville Church Opens Window Into One Family\u2019s History<\/a><\/p>\n

When asked if she thought the concert would\u00a0encourage\u00a0parishioners\u00a0to\u00a0take a closer look at the windows\u00a0the next\u00a0time\u00a0they attend Mass, she replied, \u201cHow could they not? There is so much\u00a0beauty here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was also the hope of Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto<\/a>, who\u00a0resides\u00a0at St.\u00a0Luke\u00a0Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to church on Sunday and they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0always take notice. They are so used to the environment,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut now, with this exposure to the windows in song, it might\u00a0bring them to appreciate more what we have here, the gift that we have in these beautiful windows.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"As one enters St. Luke Church, the left side reveals a series of windows dedicated to the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.<\/p>\n

Parishioner Christine Campbell\u00a0said she\u00a0often looks up at the windows when she walks into church on Sundays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always do it. I really appreciate the windows,\u201d she said, adding that her personal favorite is a window depicting\u00a0Jesus with small children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stained-glass windows at St. Luke Church were installed at\u00a0various times\u00a0throughout\u00a0the church\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Luke\u00a0Church\u00a0was\u00a0originally\u00a0constructed in\u00a01898, and the windows in\u00a0the nave were installed when the church was built.\u00a0These windows include depictions of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary on the left side and scenes from the life, death, and Resurrection\u00a0of Jesus on the right side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Turning Darkness Into Light \u2014St. Boniface Prepares for Change as New High Rise Builds in Brooklyn<\/a><\/p>\n

St. Luke Church<\/a> added a transept\u00a0to the building\u00a0in 1939-1940\u00a0and\u00a0windows with\u00a0solid\u00a0blue glass\u00a0\u2014 with no scenes from Scripture \u2014\u00a0were installed\u00a0in what was supposed to be a\u00a0temporary\u00a0measure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, that temporary measure lasted\u00a0several\u00a0decades until 2010, when the church commissioned\u00a0a series of\u00a0eight\u00a0windows.\u00a0Five of the windows depict scenes from the Gospel According to St. Luke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The Visitation is the theme of these scenes from the Joyful Mysteries, in which an expectant Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. The choir sang, \u201cYour Servant I Will Be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Msgr. John Tosi, the pastor at the time, invited eighth graders from St. Luke Catholic Academy to\u00a0suggest themes for each of the\u00a0new\u00a0windows to bring St. Luke\u2019s Gospel to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The kids chose such themes as Luke 5:1-11, in which the saint\u00a0described Jesus telling his disciples to cast their fishermen\u2019s nets out into the deep water to catch fish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Father John Costello, the church\u2019s current pastor, said he hoped parishioners\u00a0would come away from the concert with a deeper faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the history of the church,\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0used many different means to try to convey our faith, to teach\u00a0the Scriptures. And when you walk\u00a0through this church and you look at the stained-glass windows that tell the stories of the\u00a0Joyful Mysteries, the different passages from St. Luke\u2019s Gospel, with the\u00a0different parts\u00a0of Jesus\u2019 life, they all tell a story,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great gift because we\u2019re surrounded by this beauty all the time,\u201d Father Costello added.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cA lot of it was music we have sung before. But some of it was brand new to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-259324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}