St. Hilary's Episcopal Church
307 W. Hintz Road
Prospect Heights, Illinois 60070
847-537-0590
rector@sthilaryecusa.com

Seasons of the Year:  Advent  Christmas   Easter

Areas of the Church:  Baptistry   Chapel

Stained Glass Windows: Lily   St. Hilary   St. Julian   Walsingham

This holy time of reflection marks the beginning of the "liturgical year".  It begins the first Sunday in December.  Its color blue, is indicated by the vestments worn by the clergy and the candles of the Advent wreathe.  Advent symbolizes the time of waiting for the birth of Christ and lasts the four Sundays until Christmas Eve.  

The Baptistry is located at the other end of the center aisle from the altar. The font frame stands on a raised platform easily visible from around the church. This picture was taken during the Easter season so the Pascal Candle is located near the altar rather than in the corner to the left of the font; its usual location during the remainder of the church year.

The wrought iron and oak framework for the font was fabricated in 1970, soon after the original church was occupied. The oak top contains an oak "plug" at times other than baptisms. The opening in the top of the font was sized to contain a Paul Revere pattern silver bowl which was donated to the parish at the time of the first baptism in the earlier 1960's. The parish had little furniture at that time as Eucharists were celebrated in the lunch room of the local middle school which was rented for Sunday morning gatherings. The bowl has been used at each baptism since the first.

A stylized St. Hilary symbol is found on the banner to the left of the font on the back wall. It was designed by Irene Besthoff of the parish and assembled by Irene and other members of the Episcopal Church Women. It's first use was at a convention of the ECW. The figure to the right of the font is a modern representation of the Risen Christ in pewter wash over copper. It was done by a Spanish artist and served as the corpus on the altar crucifix in the original church building. Unfortunately it was of too small a scale to serve in that location in the current church. It fits perfectly into its current location. The corpus was a memorial to Robert and Helen Brown, early members of the parish.

One can see the edges of windows to the left and right of the font. These look from the narthex into the church and serve for overflow crowds to use to view a Eucharist in progress.

A small jem of a window is the lily window placed in the doorway to the chapel from the churchyard outside. The lily long has been a symbol for the Blessed Virgin Mary and one may note that Mary is holding a lily in the Walsingham Shrine representation.

This window is a gift of Dawn Preisler in memory of her aunt and was crafted by Conrad Schmitt Studios, Inc. in New Berlin Wisconsin

The window in our Lady Chapel, to honor our patron, St. Hilary, is based on the statue of St. Hilary found just inside the shrine church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk, England. Father Crist, our former Rector, was much surprised to find this statue when he visited the shrine for the first time many years ago. Part of the surprise was because of the very small number of churches with the dedication to St. Hilary.

Research into the connection brought forth information about a school for street orphans from London, which was founded in the village and parish of St. Hilary in Cornwall. Because of the violent demonstrations by local Methodists against the Anglo Catholic ritual of the incumbant at St. Hilary and because of fear for the safety of the boys in the school, the school was moved to Walsingham and the statue commemorates this affiliation.

St. Hilary was born in Poitiers in France around 315. He was chosen bishop of Poitiers in 353 and almost immediately became involved in the battle against the Arian heresy. Hilary was in and out of "office" several times in the next twenty years as the Arian power waxed and waned. When the orthodox creeds took shape Hilary was able to return home for the last time. He died in peace in Poitiers in 367AD. His feast day, and our patronal festival is January 13.

St. Hilary was a prolific writer of hymns, but only one hymn attributed to him is included in the Hymnal. The Pentecost Hymn Hail this joyful day's return comes from the old monastic office for the day and appears as hymn 223/224.

The window was purchased through many small gifts from almost every parishioner and was fabricated by Conrad Schmitt Studios, Inc. in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

The window in our Lady Chapel, to honor Dame Julian of Norwich, is based on a similar window in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral in Norwich. Our window shows Julian facing to her right rather than left as in Norwich. The artist felt it would be better to face Julian so that she could look at the altar as she would have done from the anchorite cell in which she lived. The cat in the window is a product of artistic license as it is not known if Julian kept a cat. The anchorite rule allows the company of a cat, but only because it is a "working cat" to keep down the mouse population. Again our artist made a change from the Norwich window in the positioning of the cat. Our cat looks at the saint rather than out of the window at the viewer.

One may visit Julian's anchorite cell, reconstructed on its original foundations and still attached to the tiny parish church of St. Julian, about 1/2 mile south of the great cathedral in Norwich. On the grounds of the church are found an information center and bookstore and a convent which provides accommodations for a small number of pilgrims.

The window was an anonymous gift and was fabricated by Conrad Schmitt Studios, Inc. in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Traditionally Anglican churches dedicate the main (and in our case only) chapel to St. Mary, the mother of Our Lord. Our chapel is the site of all of the weekday services except those on major feast days and during Holy Week. Morning and Evening Prayer are read publicly almost each day and the Eucharist is celebrated Tuesday through Friday, with some exceptions, in this chapel.

The chapel is the appropriate site for the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and one of the windows features the lily, a symbol used to represent Saint Mary. During the week the Blessed Sacrament is reserved here.

Windows depicting Saint Hilary, our patron, and Saint Julian of Norwich throw colorful light on the walls as the lengthening days of spring and the shortening days of fall bring sunlight.