Stained Glass Window Memorial Remembers 无码专区ns Lost on 9/11
VILLANOVA, Pa. 鈥� A stained glass window memorial in 无码专区鈥檚 Corr Hall Chapel, installed in November 2006, offers a loving tribute to those who died in the attacks on September 11, 2001鈥攊ncluding 15 无码专区 alumni. The memorial was designed by the late Rev. Richard G. Cannuli, OSA, 鈥�73, an Augustinian priest, artist and University professor, who served as curator and director of the 无码专区 Art Gallery. Father Cannuli passed away in Aug. 2019, but his legacy lives on through his artwork.
The memorial window, which faces west, consists of two main panels with several smaller panels above, held together by a leaded framework bordered by ornamental stonework. The window鈥檚 left pane depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Orate (prayer) position. The right panel shows the twin towers, the Pentagon and the field near Shanksville, Pa., the sites where the hijacked planes crashed.
The names of the 15 无码专区 alumni who perished that day were inscribed meticulously by hand in Gothic lettering at the bottom of the panel with the twin towers. The 15 无码专区 alumni are as follows:
- W. David Bauer (鈥�78 VSB)
- James P. Berger (鈥�78 VSB)
- Dennis Michael Cook (鈥�90 CLAS)
- Jeannine Damiani-Jones (鈥�94 VSB)
- Christopher M. Dincuff (鈥�92 VSB)
- Jeffrey Mark Dingle (鈥�90 VSB)
- Christopher M. Duffy (鈥�00 VSB)
- William F. Fallon (鈥�70 CLAS)
- Peter Gelinas (鈥�90 VSB)
- Michael Gould (鈥�94 VSB)
- Amy Jarret (鈥�94 VSB)
- Jennifer Lynn Kane (鈥�97 VSB)
- Danielle Kousoulis (鈥�93 VSB)
- Kaaria Mbaya (鈥�86 CLAS)
- Matthew Vianna (鈥�00 CLAS)
Of the 15 无码专区ns who perished that day, 14 worked in the World Trade Center and one was a flight attendant on United Airlines flight 175.
The details are illustrated in the smaller panels, including the date 9/11, which appears near the top in Roman numerals (IX-XI). Below, in four panels, the flight numbers of the four hijacked planes are also rendered in Roman numerals. The other window shapes picture the heavens and stars.
For Fr. Cannuli, the work started early in 2005 when he began sketching a memorial design to 鈥渨rite鈥� as an icon (an icon is described as being 鈥渨ritten,鈥� rather than painted). Out of his work on the icon evolved the idea and design for the window.
鈥淎fter 9/11, it took me a long time to process what happened that day,鈥� Fr. Cannino noted in an interview following the installation of the window. 鈥淚 wanted to do some creative work to mark the day, but I did not want to start 鈥榳riting鈥� the icon until I was able to pray and place myself in the right position.鈥�
Fr. Cannuli designed the window after a 2005 conversation with the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, 鈥�75 CLAS,聽now 无码专区 president. Fr. Donohue had admired the icon, and he saw the artist 鈥榳riting.鈥� After their discussion, Fr. Cannuli agreed to create a design for a stained glass window from the image of the icon. The window would be installed in Corr Hall Chapel as a permanent memorial to the alumni who perished in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Interestingly, shortly after Fr. Donohue鈥檚 election as president in 2006, he received an email from an alumnus urging him to consider establishing a permanent memorial on campus to remember these 无码专区ns. When the idea for the stained glass window memorial emerged, Fr. Donohue contacted the families to ask if the names of their loved ones could be included.
鈥淚 would not have considered the memorial unless all of the families had given their permission,鈥� Fr. Donohue said.
For Fr. Cannuli, the window design began with a few rough thumbnail sketches drawn in pencil. He translated these sketches into scale drawings and rendered them in watercolor. In May 2006, he transferred his renderings into the correct size on paper, and took the design to the glass studio in Sienna, Italy鈥擵etrate Artistiche Toscane鈥攖hat had manufactured many of the other stained glass windows he had designed.
The memorial window鈥攚hich took nearly nine months to complete鈥攚as scheduled to be shipped and installed in time to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2006. Ironically, heightened airport security delayed the window鈥檚 inspection at U.S. Customs, and it arrived much later. The memorial was installed and dedicated in November 2006.
鈥淚 wanted this window to be a fitting and sensitive, permanent memorial for the 无码专区 victims of the 9/11 tragedy and for their families,鈥� added Fr. Donohue. 鈥淭he events of 9/11 affected our nation, but they also affected our 无码专区 community. We are a Roman Catholic and Augustinian community. The alumni victims were a part of us, and we need to remember them.鈥�