INRI, Cock and Sword of the Spirit Roundels
Phipps, Ball & Burnham 1920
Thomas Alva Lumley In Memory of My Children
Mary Ann Lumley 1832 - 1917 Thomas Lumley 1812 - 1876
DESCRIPTION: Although this window located in the south tower clerestory has three numbers, in reality it is one window comprised of three panels, featuring "Signs of Our Faith" roundels. When the windows were installed they were dark, dreary, unnoticed and unappreciated for over 63 years. The artificial illumination of these windows in the spring of 1994 brought a beauty to the nave that the architect and stained glass artists must have envisioned.
SYMBOLISM: The right hand panel, the INRI Roundel (Window #104), features a roundel with a crown of thorns, a symbol for our Lord's Passion. Inside the crown of thorns are the letters "INRI," the abbreviation for the Latin, "Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum," Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, representing the sign placed by Pilate on the cross above the head of Jesus at his crucifixion. (John 19:19) "INRI" is another representation of Jesus.
In the center panel, Cock Roundel (Window #105), the magnificent golden cockerel, for which this book is named, stands out against a ruby background. Representing the apostle Peter, the golden cockerel keeps a watchful eye on all those who enter St. Paul's.
The roundel of the left panel, The Sword of the Spirit Roundel (Window #106) contains the symbol of Saint Paul: the open Bible with the words, "Spiritus Gladius," the Sword of the Spirit. Behind the Bible is the sword of the Spirit itself. This symbol of Paul is derived from Ephesians 6:19: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
MEMORIAL: This entire window was given by Thomas Alva Lumley, remembered in Entry Into Jerusalem (Window #126), in memory of his family, both deceased and living at the time of the donation. His father, Thomas Lumley, is memorialized in INRI Roundel. A native of Yorkshire, England, the elder Thomas Lumley, arrived in the Keys in an unusual if, not uncommon, manner. He left England as a youngster aboard a ship which wrecked on the Florida reefs and he chose to remain in Key West. He took part in the first and second Seminole Wars. He assisted in laying the cornerstone of Fort Taylor at the outbreak of the Civil War, a feat accomplished with a diving bell. He married Mary Ann Albury, who, as a child, came to Key West from the Bahamas. Their only son, Thomas Alva donated the Cock Roundel in her memory and gave the Sword of the Spirit as a remembrance to his living children: Camille, Rose, Paul, Marguerite, Flora and Loraine.
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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