The South Narthex: Mary and Elizabeth Window (9)
The transoms of the narthex doors are a gift to the Glory and in memory of Harriet Gilbert Erwin by her family.
South narthex: Mary is greeted by the kneeling Elizabeth. Her husband, Zacharias, stands silent in his doorway. Disbelieving Gabriel, who told him of his elderly wife's pregnancy, he was made dumb until the birth of their only child, John the Baptist. Having been informed by Gabriel of her own imminent conception, Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth (Luke I).
Elizabeth, in a fruitful green robe, wears a cloak of grey humility. Mary wears her blue with a rose cloak and halo, the passion color suggesting that in His very beginning is His end. A gold cloth tabernacle with blood-red Chi Rho cross and gold cross is behind Elizabeth; a fleur-de-lis, near Mary: colors and symbols of birth and royal death surround these pregnant cousins.
North narthex: In a red aureole, a full-body halo, Christ dominates this window, flanked by angels in green and pink. Their red wings indicate they are seraphim, but their red is not so intense as that in the aureole, indicating through color a distinction between His red of martyrdom and life and their red of ardoration. One holds an orb topped with a cross, symbolizing kingship, but not the usual gold. Rather, it is red, implying the cost of that rule. The other holds a pink rose of Sharon.