Explore The Church
THE SEALE WINDOW
Move from the south transept past the font and into the nave, and you will find three windows set into the south wall. The first of these was given in memory of Thomas Seale, Rector of St Clement from 1729 to 1746 and, like the great east window and the Le Maistre Window, was made by Ward & Hughes of London in 1881. It has two panels and shows two groups of women.
In the left-hand panel we see two sisters, Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-41). Mary listens to the words of Jesus while Martha is distracted by many things. Mary, Jesus says, has chosen what is better. In the right-hand panel, a woman is about to anoint Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume in the house of Simon the leper (Matthew 26:7-13). In response to the disciples’ anger at the waste, Jesus replies that the poor will always be with them, but not Jesus.
Together, these two windows remind us that while Christians are called to love their neighbours as themselves, they are also commanded to love the Lord their God with all their heart (Matthew 22:37-40). Many people do good works, but followers of Christ are also called to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Luke 4:8).
