The Light Within

The St Arnaud Anglican Church, which is also known as Christ Church Old Cathedral, acquired some very beautiful windows mostly during the 50 years it was a cathedral. To celebrate their beauty, we will turn on the lights in the church to illuminate the windows for the 2 weeks before Christmas, between 9pm and 11pm so that people going around town enjoying the Christmas lights of the town, can also enjoy them. There are 18 picture windows altogether. To find the Christmas window you will need to go to the far side of the church around the corner from the front door. The window shows Mary in her blue robe and Joseph in his red robe. Blue and red make purple the royal colour of a king, and there between them is the Jesus in the manger, a tiny baby and yet Christ the King. There are no wise men or angels or shepherds in this picture but the star that the wise men followed is shining there in the sky. A lamb is looking up at the baby and an ox looks down from above Mary.

The windows are made to be read from inside the church which is usually open during the day.

The writing tells us that this window was presented by the Edwards Family in 1964 in memory of their grandparents James and Susan Thornton, among the founders of the church, their parents Herbert and Jemima Thornton and their brother John Thornton who died in active service 12-8-1915.