Author: Bellshill Central

Bellshill Central Parish Church is extremely fortunate to have many beautiful stained glass windows.

The four central windows were gifted by Matthew Corbett, in memory of his son Sergeant James Brownlie Corbett of the Royal Air Force, who was shot down and killed over Holland on 26 May 1943. These windows were designed and fitted by the Abbey Studio probably designed by JA Crombie. They were dedicated on 7 October 1962.

The Christmas Window.

second window on east or left side as you enter from the main door

The whole Christmas Story is told in this window.  At the top left hand side, the Angel Gabriel can be seen speaking to Mary: (See Luke Chapter 1, verse 26; starting on Page 73 in the Pew Bible)

“The angel came to her and said, ‘Peace be with you!  The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!’  The angel said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.  You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus.”

The window pane below that moves on to Luke Chapter 2, beginning at Verse 8.  This is a section of the Christmas story which many ‘older people’ can recite by heart using the King James Translation:

 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.   And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.   For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.   And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.   And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

At the top right hand side of the window, we see Mary and baby Jesus as the shepherds would have found them (verse 16).

Below that, the story moves to Matthew Chapter 2, verse 10 (page 4 in the Pew Bible) where we read about the wise men (or kings) following the star until they found Jesus.

“When they saw it (the star) how happy they were; what joy was theirs!  It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  They went into the house and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him.  They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

The bottom pane of the window shows the escape into Egypt.  We remember how Joseph was warned in a dream that Herod planned to kill Jesus.  Matthew 2, verse 14:

“Joseph got up, took the child and his mother and left during the night for Egypt where he stayed until Herod died.”