Installed: 1908

Memorial name: Greene Memorial Window
Dedicated to: Rebecca Andrews Browne Greene (1841-1905)

Location: Right balcony

In this window, a simply clad, shrouded angel gazes down at her bundle of leaves and berries, symbolic of the earth’s plentitude. She is flanked by two cherubs holding sheaths of palm and resting grisaille ornamented shields in a Renaissance-style design against their bodies. The clouds at the bottom of the composition echo the shape of the cloth and vegetation held by the angel. Similar to other beatitude windows in this series, the border is adorned with vines, cruciform figures, and rectangular hand-cut jewels.

This window is dedicated to Rebecca Andrews Browne Greene (1841-1905), who began her lifelong commitment to service at Arlington Street Church as a teen, visiting the sick, helping the indigent, and working with the children of the congregation. She was devoted to Dr. Ezra Stiles Gannett and remained close to the minister’s decadents after his death. During her long tenure as a church leader, she served as the vice president of the Ladies Union, selling members’ needlepoint works to raise funds for women living in poverty and was active in the in the Society of the Helping Hand, sponsoring visiting nurses in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Greene donated one of the earliest windows installed at Arlington Street Church, The Good Shepherd (window 9), in honor of her father, stepmother, and step-aunt. The combination of her extraordinary commitment to charity, service, and the care of others and her quiet, reserved, and selfless character make the “Blessed are the Meek” beatitude a fitting tribute to Rebecca Andrews Greene.

Glenn Kulbako Photography

1905 Design Gouache by Frederick Wilson