Sisterhood of Saints

At the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, women are celebrated in stained glass

By University of Notre Dame

March 28^th, 2025

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame houses one of the largest collections of 19th-century French stained glass outside of France. The Basilica features 44 stained glass windows, depicting 220 scenes that visually illustrate the presence of God in the world.

The main door of the Basilica opens into the nave where visitors are surrounded by the communion of saints in stained glass. Depictions of women outnumber men in this area of the church, with a favorable review of Father Gioacchino Ventura's 1855 book, La Femme Catholique, in Father Sorin's Ave Maria journal helps explain:

"Nothing great or useful has been accomplished in the Church and in Catholic countries without the influence and co-operation of women." The irreplaceable mission of women in the Church inspired hope that Catholic women, quoting Ventura, "will worthily play the great and important role that Providence reserves" for them.

This Women's History Month, we're sharing some of the stories of those saints depicted:

St. Clare of Assisi

Patron saint of embroiderers, sore eyes, telephones, and television.

St. Clare's most defining attribute is the monstrance, which she holds in her left hand as a symbol of her complete trust in the Lord.

At 18, Clare heard St. Francis of Assisi preach which had a profound effect on her life. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, or the Poor Clares, whose members dedicated themselves to a life of prayer and acts of mercy for the poor.

St. Ursula

Patron saint of teachers, young women, students, universities and schools, Catholic education, and the Virgin Islands.

As depicted in her window, Ursula holds a palm branch and white lilies in her left hand, and the Christian Banner of Victory in her right, symbolizing her role as the leader of a pilgrimage of eleven thousand virgins to Rome.

Her coronet and fur cloak highlight her royal status, while an arrow tucked into her jacket signifies her martyrdom. The red tassels on her full sleeves share a similarity to academic regalia.

Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins were martyred for refusing marriage to the Huns. This story of these wise women inspired Angela Merici to name her teaching order the Ursulines a group that had a profound impact on education in early Canada and the United States. They were also greatly admired by Fr. Basil Moreau and Fr. Sorin.

St. Cecilia

Patron saint of music, musicians, singer, organists, composers, and the National Academy of Saint Cecilia, dedicated to music in Rome.

Illustrated in her window, St. Cecilia plays the organ while gazing toward Heaven, singing praises to Christ. The window is notably placed next to the choir loft in the Basilica.

Originally committed to marrying Valerian, a Roman pagan, Cecilia explained that she had taken a vow of virginity and that an angel watched over her as she sang. Valerian, intrigued by her description, converted to Christianity and was granted the vision of Cecilia’s angel.

Cecilia is one of eight women named in the Roman Canon of the Mass.

St. Philomena

Patron saint of young women, children, infants, priests, lost causes.

Philomena, meaning “Beloved” in Greek., was a Greek princess and can be seen in her window wearing clothing suggesting her wealth and social rank.

The story illustrated in her medallion shows Philomena refusing to renounce her Christian faith to the Roman magistrate, who sentences her to death by drowning. He is pointing to the anchor, which has become the symbol for her martyrdom, as she is seen holding in her window.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal and St. Bridget of Sweden

In the Basilica, there are six windows dedicated to women who founded religious orders, two of them being St. Jane Frances de Chantal and St. Bridget of Sweden.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal is the patron saint of forgotten people, loss of parents, parents separated from children, in-law problems, and widows.

St. Bridget of Sweden is the patron saint of widows, Sweden, and Europe.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Jane dedicated her life to charity and when her husband died, she moved into her father-in-law’s house which created an unsafe environment for her and her children.

When she met St. Francis de Sales, they became friends and together founded the Institute of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Annecy, France in 1607. Allowing anyone from the public admission at first, the Visitation eventually became a convent for elderly women, widows, and young girls.

St. Bridget of Sweden

Born into a royal and well-educated family, Bridget married at thirteen and had eight children. After her husband's death, she became a Third Order Franciscan. In 1346, she founded an abbey in Valstena, Sweden, for both nuns and monks, and established the Order of the Holy Savior, also known as the Bridgettines. However, she never became a nun within the order herself.

St. Rose of Lima

Patron saint of florists, embroiderers, people ridiculed for their piety, Latin America, and against vanity.

Renowned for her beauty, Rose wore a crown of roses that concealed a crown of thorns, as depicted in her window. She was deeply devoted to caring for the sick in Lima and joined the Third Order Dominicans, where she is shown in their habit, holding the lily of purity.

The first saint of the Americas, she was so beloved that her burial had to be delayed due to the overwhelming crowds.

St. Catherine of Alexandria

Patron saint of learning, students, philosophers, educators, preachers, young girls, the University of Paris, wheelwrights, and knife grinders.

Catherine is pictured wearing a princess’s crown and her left hand lays on the wheel built to torture her, which tradition says the wheel broke at the touch of her hand. In her right hand, she holds a palm branch and an axe.

Known for her education and eloquence, legend recounts how Catherine confronted the Roman magistrate to argue against the persecution of Christians. When the magistrate gathered all the philosophers and scholars of Alexandria to refute her, Catherine converted them all, and they were subsequently martyred.

Due to her courage and intelligence, Catherine was named the patron saint of many European universities and has long served as a role model for Notre Dame students.

St. Helena

Patron saint of empresses, converts, difficult marriages, the divorced, and archeologists.

Saint Helena is credited with finding the True Cross. Her royal purple and gold garments drape over the cross, claiming it as part of her identity. Helena was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, and their conversion to Christianity significantly shaped the history of the faith.

In the year 569, a piece of the cross was brought to the holy Queen Radegund in Tours, France. To commemorate the event, Venantius Fortunatus composed the hymn "Vexilla Regis." A line from the hymn, O Crux, ave, spes unica ("Hail, O Cross! Our only hope"), later became the motto of the Congregation of Holy Cross. The Basilica’s Relic Chapel contains a relic of the True Cross.