A Glimpse of The Creation at the Basilica de Sagrada Familia

(As the rays of the sun pierce through the stained-glass windows, it seems we are peering 

through the Virgin Mary's veil.)

Surrounded by a cavernous space in the basilica’s nave as it is punctuated by the towering columns that look like trees reaching up to the heavens, I was dwarfed by both the idea and the architecture that created this place of worship that, once completed, will be the tallest church in the world.

I am standing inside the huge Basilica de Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, that has been in construction since 1882 and is expected to be completed in 2026, a hundred years since the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudi, who was hit by a tram in Barcelona in 1926.

Though the significance and meaning of the architecture and geometry of the Basilica would amaze any tourist or pilgrim, it is the intangible that caught my eye, literally and figuratively.

In churches, stained glass windows usually tell biblical stories by setting them in colored panes that come to life when struck by light.  At the Basilica de Sagrada Familia, an 87-year old Spanish artist, named Joan Vila-Grau, created stained-glass windows that, when pierced by the rays of the sun, seem to peek through Mary’s veil.

The light brought in by the stained-glass windows is just enough because, according to Antoni Gaudi, “not too much light, nor too little for both things blind and the blind cannot see”.

After roaming the nave of the Basilica, I went to sit in front of the altar for a prayer. And as it was late afternoon, the sun from the west started its descent and blanketed the Basilica with illumination, and what I saw was a glimpse, not only of the triumph of art and architecture of Gaudi’s imagination and the prisms of the stained-glass windows, but also of the sun’s declaration of God’s presence inside this place of worship.

The explosion of colors and light was man’s attempt to reenact the first day of The Creation, the day when God created Light.  

As humans, we will never be able to imagine what happened when God declared “Let there be light!”, but inside the Basilica, the colors of fiery red, orange and yellow from one window to the colors of the skies of blue and the sea of green from another that painted the walls and columns were more than just a reminder of His presence in a world where man sometimes questions His existence. 

For me, even if I was witnessing an infinitesimal percentage of what happened on the First Day - even if it were the equivalent of one sand, just one grain of sand from all the beaches in the world - as a pilgrim and a human being, this was more than I could pray for. 

Since my experience at the Basilica de Sagrada Familia, I always appreciate seeing the stained-glass windows in every church I visit. When I see light coming into the church through the prism of the stained-glass windows, I see beyond the figures and the biblical stories they portray. As light floods the church, and the illumination and colors brighten it with the presence of God, we should always celebrate because we are not just part of his Creation; we are at the center of it.

Those stained-glass windows at churches are not mere decorations or windows through which light is let in. It is not just an artwork depicting a scene in the life of Jesus.

It is a glimpse of God’s Creation, a reminder that, even if our sense of sight may limit the light and colors that we see, all we need is our faith to believe He is with us.🙏

                              *  *  *  *  *

This piece was published by the Adsum, the official publication of the Diocese of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines. 

(As originally published on the Jan. 19-25, 2020 issue of ADSUM Newsletter)