Hosanna House Windows' Appeal

Fr Michael Byrne ,one of Brother Michael’s earliest Lourdes Companions and founder Trust Chaplain of HCPT, always nursed a fervent hope that the Chapel at Hosanna House would one day be enhanced, and made even more compelling as a place of contemplation and worship, by its upper windows being filled with stained glass depicting the Risen Christ in an Easter Garden. A fortnight before his death in 2006 he established a Trust Fund to enable that vision to be realised. The trustees of that fund have commissioned a design by stained glass artist, Eleanor Bird. After visiting Hosanna House, before Christmas she presented her design to the trustees and to the trustees of HCPT and it was greeted with great enthusiasm and satisfaction.

Eleanor has written “During my visit to Hosanna House I felt a great sense of the friendship and healing that a pilgrimage at Hosanna House offers the visitor. I wondered how I could depict this feeling through the resurrection theme in designs for new stained glass. The answer came through a conversation with Br Michael Strode who suggested the story of Mary Magdalene meeting the Risen Christ”.

By Maundy Thursday Fr Michael’s vision should be joyously fulfilled when the Easter Garden window is installed above the altar in the Hosanna House Chapel. The Trust Fund will more than cover the cost. To either side are three windows for which the window trustees have pledged to raise at least a further £13,000 before Easter 2012, so that they can be filled with complementary stained glass designs depicting symbols of Palm Sunday and Pentecost.

Donations to the Window Fund will go directly to realising this exciting enhancement of the Chapel, fulfilling Fr Michael’s dream and perfecting his generosity. Any excess will help finish other improvements to this Chapel that all pilgrims and visitors to Hosanna House use and love to this day, and to which he was so devoted in prayer.

A copy of the full Appeal depicting the designs and a donation/Gift Aid form can be obtained by calling: 01788 564646 or emailing: fandc@hcpt.org.uk