A Gift Between Friends: Stained Glass for the Heart of Mary in Posavska Mahala

Some clients become friends, and some friends keep coming back. This church in Posavina was one of those returns.

A village in Posavina

Posavska Mahala is a village in the municipality of Odžak, in the Posavina Canton of northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the flat, fertile country near the Sava river. Its parish church is dedicated to the Heart of Mary and belongs to the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, the Archdiocese of Sarajevo. It is a bright church with a wooden ceiling, pink trimmed walls and a row of tall windows down each side.

An old friend

The pastor here was don Ivan Ravlić. Our studio had worked with him in Sarajevo, on the windows of the Holy Trinity church in Novo Sarajevo, and the friendship lasted. When his new parish needed stained glass, he called Atelje Stanišić (Stanisic Studio) in Sombor again.

The order covered 11 windows:

1. 9 windows of the saints along the nave, each about 2 ft 9 in wide and 6 ft 5 in high, under a pointed top light. 1 of them, the Heart of Mary, was a gift of don Ivan Ravlić and our studio together.
2. A round window above the choir loft with Saint Cecilia, the patron of church music.
3. A small window in the sanctuary, about 2 ft 5 in x 2 ft 4 in, with a Christian symbol, a gift of our studio.

The windows were installed in June 2012.

The Heart of Mary

The church's own window shows Mary with her heart crowned with flames and roses, in a red gown and a blue green mantle. Beside it is the Assumption, Mary rising on a cloud with her arms raised to heaven.

The Heart of Mary, gift of don Ivan Ravlić and our studio The Assumption of Mary

The saints

Every window shares one frame: a border of golden braid and red and white checks, clear pale glass around the figure, and a pointed top light like a small crown of pink, gold and blue. Each figure stands full length, painted by hand, with its name and the name of the family who gave it at the foot.

Saint Anthony of Padua holds the Child Jesus and his lily, and Saint Joseph carries the Child and a lily too.

Saint Anthony of Padua Saint Joseph

John baptizes Christ in the Jordan under the dove of the Holy Spirit, and the prophet Elijah stands with his book under the words "Na slavu Božju", to the glory of God.

Saint John the Baptist Saint Elijah

2 windows bring the saints close to home: Saint Leopold Bogdan Mandić, the Capuchin confessor of Padua, born in Herceg Novi, and Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb, holding a palm branch.

Saint Leopold Bogdan Mandić Blessed Alojzije Stepinac

Saints Peter and Paul, the 2 pillars of the Church, share one window, Peter with the keys and Paul with the sword and the book.

In the studio and above the choir

Before it travelled north, every window was laid out in our studio in Sombor, where the hand painting could be checked piece by piece under the light.

Above the choir loft, the round window is divided by a cross into 4 lights, with an angel and Saint Cecilia, the patron of music, watching over the singers.

See more of our stained glass commissions and sacred art.

Church: Church of the Heart of Mary, Posavska Mahala, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pastor: don Ivan Ravlić
Work: 9 stained glass windows of the saints, a choir window with Saint Cecilia and a sanctuary window with a Christian symbol
Fabrication: Stanisic Studio, Sombor, Republic of Serbia
Installation: June 2012