All Saints Episcopal Church
213 Madison Ave, Lakewood, NJ 08701-3316
732-367-0933

mosaics on the South side of the Nave



+
I H S


Christogram
Jesus Holy Name

read aloud

+    +

+ IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF +
MARY + LOUISE + BROWN
JUNE  TWENTY-SECOND
MDCCCLVI +++ AUGUST
FOURTH  MDCCCLXXXV
+++ BLESSED  ARE  THE
PURE  IN  HEART + FOR
THEY  SHALL  SEE  GOD +

she was 29 years old
1856 - 1885
(NY Times reference)

+  IC  XC  NI  KA  +

+ IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF +
HENRY  HAIGHT  PIFFARD
FEBRUARY  TWENTY-EIGHT MDCCCLXIX + SEPTEMBER
TWENTY-SEVENTH  MDCCCXCII
++ FOR  HIS  SOUL  PLEASED
THE  LORD + THERE-FORE
HASTENED  HE  TO  TAKE  HIM +

he was 23 years old
1869 - 1892
(NY Times reference)



symbolism in the center

  IHS   A Christogram for the Holy Name of Jesus. The earliest example thus found was on a Byzantine gold coin (please click). In a quatrefoil, four-lobed shape, for the four perfections of God; unity, power, goodness & wisdom.  

symbolism in the left mosaic

  -in-circle   Χ Ρ, the first two letters of the Greek "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" (Christos). This motif was widespread in the Roman Empire by the 5th century.  

symbolism in the right mosaic

  ringed cross   With the letters IC XC  NI KA dates to early Christianity. The letters are a Greek abbreviation for: Jesus Christ conquers (is victorious).  

given by Mrs. Helen M. Strong
In Loving Memory of
Mary Louise Brown and grandson, Henry Haight Piffard
(about Mrs. Strong)

I could not find any references that linked the Brown and Piffard families in 1885. In the New York Times account of the accident, Irving H. Brown's 3-year-old daughter (unnamed) survived. "The injured little girl was lying on the very edge of the cow catcher." Mary Louise Brown did have a sister (Helen Louise Brown) that was almost 3 years old at this time. Interestingly, twenty-six years later, on December 31, 1912 (NY Times ref), Charles H. Piffard (Henry H. Piffard's younger brother) married Helen Louise Brown, daughter of Irving H. Brown. Helen Louise Brown is 29 years old when she marries.

these mosaics are from L.C. Tiffany Studios
a fine example of Tiffany Favrile Glass Mosaics