Saint Francis of Assisi was born in 1182. As a youth he was wild and worldly, but during an illness he retired from his workday life and devoted himself to the Service of God. As he knelt before the crucifix, a voice said “Francis, repair my church.” He began to raise money and practiced such austerities that he was thought to be mad. He wandered about barefoot with the stars, flowers, and birds for companions. He soon had many followers. Absolute poverty was his first rule but his happiness continued in his new life and he was known as “God’s Troubadour.” In 1210, he founded the Franciscan Order, which expanded rapidly. After a visit to Egypt, he retired to the mountains, devoting his life to prayer. Here he had a vision of Christ crucified and received the “Stigmata” or five wounds in his hands, feet, and side. He is represented by the Franciscan brown habit, knotted cord, the “Stigmata”, and also the church, flowers, and birds, and animals.

This window is dedicated in 1904 to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Louis Sanford Schuyler, Priest (1834-1878), the half-brother of the longtime Rector of St. Peter’s, Rev. Philip Schulyer, who died fighting a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis.

Saint Gregory was born in Rome 540 A.D. He was a lawyer before he took the Benedictine habit. When Pelagiuis died, he was made Pope against his will. He had a love of peace and a hatred of slavery. He supervised the services of the church, thus the famous “Gregorian” chants. Here he is represented by the Pope’s miter; the Dove – the Holy Spirit – appropriately above his head; and with a book, his Homilies, in his hand. 

This window was given shortly after the church was built in memory of Rudolph Oliver Goldsmith (1862-1905), a choirmaster of St. Peter’s.