Chalice Roundel
Phipps, Ball & Burnham 1920
7'2 1/2" x 39"
Sarah J. Pierce
Lewis E. Pierce
DESCRIPTION: A chalice with a host suspended just above the rim is encircled with the words "Sanctus, Sanctus." On the host are the letters "IHS."
SYMBOLISM: This roundel represents the Bread and Wine of the Lord's Supper. The word chalice is Latin for cup or goblet. The goblet is the classical style used to administer the wine at Holy Communion. "Sanctus" is Latin for Holy. The letters "IHS" on the host, or Eucharistic bread, above the chalice is a monogram representing Christ. "IHS" are the first three letters (iota, eta, sigma) of the Greek spelling of Jesus, and is the way Christ's name was spelled in the Middle Ages.
MEMORIAL: The window was given in memory of Sarah J.Pierce and Lewis E. Pierce. Lewis E. Pierce, 25, married Sarah Jane Albrey, 19, on June 23, 1848 in Key West. Both bride and groom were born in the Bahamas.
In the 1860 census, Lewis is listed as a ship's carpenter and Sarah as a seamstress. In the 1870 census the children living in the home were Lydia, Charles, Albert, Amelia (Cornelia) and Anna. Lewis E. Pierce, Jr. is not mentioned as he was probably living elsewhere.
During the Civil War, Lewis E. Pierce, Sr. and his son, Lewis E. Pierce, Jr., are listed as members of the Union Volunteer Corps. This must have led to interesting discussions, if not tensions. According to Stan Windhorn and Wright Langley in Yesterday's Key West, although the island was occupied by a Union army garrison and was the site of a major Union naval base during the Civil War, a majority its citizens were secessionists in their sympathies.
In his book, Key West the Old and the New, Jefferson B. Browne writes that "Young" Lewey Pierce was an accepted champion with his fist and "is now a sedate retired capitalist at Miami."
The Chi Rho Roundel (Windows #15) and Alpha and Omega Roundel (Window #17) are also dedicated to family members related by blood or marriage. Together with Chalice Roundel, the three comprise a single window on the lower level of the south transept.
Source: The Golden Cockerel: The Art, Symbolism & History of the Stained Glass Windows, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Key West, Florida by Winifred Shine Fryzel.
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