Thomas Courtney Jenkins was born on March 19, 1802,
the feast of St. Joseph. In many Catholic countries, including Belgium where
I grew up, March 19 is also Father’s Day. It comes therefore as no surprise that the
children of Thomas Courtney Jenkins and Louisa Carrell decided to include a St.
Joseph’s Chapel in the church they built to honor their parents, and that the
bodies of both Thomas and Louisa are buried in the crypt underneath the St.
Joseph’s Altar in the chapel.
A statue of St. Joseph inside the chapel depicts the saint holding a lily. This is not uncommon. The lily reflects the Virgin Mary's attribute of the lily, the symbol of her purity and virginity. It also represents Joseph's flowering staff, recalling the non-canonical tradition of how Mary's spouse was chosen by collecting walking sticks of
widowers in Palestine, and Joseph's alone bursting into flower, thus
identifying him as divinely chosen.
The window above the entrance to the chapel shows Christ instructing children of all nations and races, recalling Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” A couple of adults eagerly listen in. In the background are doves, symbols of childish innocence, simplicity and purity. The chapel features two other stained glass windows. The first one shows an angel holding a lily. The
second one depicts an angel holding a palm branch, the symbol of
victory, of Jesus' victory over death, of Christians' victory over sin,
of victory of the spirit over flesh.
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