Why Tobias?

A friend at church asked me last weekend “Why Tobias?”  Meaning, why did the Jenkins family choose to depict the story of Tobias in the church’s rose window? 

A rose window, as Wikipedia explains, is a typical feature of gothic churches.  It is a circular window, with mullions and traceries generally radiating from the center, and filled with stained glasses.   The term “rose window” may come from the English flower named rose.    The most beautiful examples of rose windows are to be found in the Ile de France and the adjoining provinces, Picardy and Champagne. The west rose of Notre Dame of Paris (c. 1220) is considered the most beautiful of all.

At Corpus Christi, the rose window is found high in the front façade of the church, above the organ, underneath a pointed arch.  The window was designed and created by the John Hardman & Co., and installed before 1891.  It was installed in memory of the founders’ great grandparents: Michael Jenkins (1736-1802) and Charity Ann Wheeler (1743-1820). 

In the center image, St. Raphael appears leading the youthful Tobias.  St. Raphael is depicted here in his representative character as Prince of the Guardian Angels and the Protector of travelers.  He carries in his hands a pilgrim’s staff and the fish, which is his special emblem.  The city in the distance, the Rages of the story of Tobias, is typical here of the Heavenly City to which all, under his guidance and protection, are traveling in this vale of tears.   On a scroll beneath is written the comforting text, He hath given his angels charge over thee.

The story of Tobias is told in the Book of Tobit.  It was unusually popular among Old Testament themes during the middle ages.  I found a short synopsis at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Tobit, a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722/721 B.C., suffers severe reverses and is finally blinded. Because of his misfortunes he begs the Lord to let him die. But recalling the large sum he had formerly deposited in far-off Media, he sends his son Tobiah there to bring back the money. In Media, at this same time, a young woman, Sarah, also prays for death, because she has lost seven husbands, each killed in turn on his wedding night by the demon Asmodeus. God hears the prayers of Tobit and Sarah and sends the angel Raphael in human form to aid them both.

Raphael makes the trip to Media with Tobiah. When Tobiah is attacked by a large fish as he bathes in the Tigris River, Raphael orders him to seize it and to remove its gall, heart, and liver because they are useful for medicine. Later, at Raphael’s urging, Tobiah marries Sarah, and uses the fish’s heart and liver to drive Asmodeus from the bridal chamber. Returning to Nineveh with his wife and his father’s money, Tobiah rubs the fish’s gall into his father’s eyes and cures him. Finally, Raphael reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit then utters his beautiful hymn of praise.   Before dying, Tobit tells his son to leave Nineveh because God will destroy that wicked city. After Tobiah buries his father and mother, he and his family depart for Media, where he later learns that the destruction of Nineveh has taken place.

The most likely reason the Story of Tobit was chosen by the Jenkins family is the fact that is emphasizes the family-oriented virtues of honoring parents, giving alms, and encouraging marriage.  In Chapter 4 Tobit tells his son:

 “Son, when I die, give me a decent burial. Honor your mother, and do not abandon her as long as she lives. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her spirit in any way …

Give alms from your possessions. Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that 

God’s face will not be turned away from you … Give in proportion to what you own. …  For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps one from entering into Darkness …

Be on your guard, son, against every kind of fornication, and above all, marry a woman of your own ancestral family …

And so when Tobit dies, Tobias buried him with honor.  And when Tobiah’s mother died, she was buried next to Tobit. 

Sound familiar?