Johnny Goes to Ireland

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amthomson/3538275283/in/photostream/ 

According to Wikipedia (as of right now), St. Margaret-Mary Alacoque is on the left and St. John the Evangelist is on the right. 

Wikipedia is wrong, according to all other sources I can find. 

A website dedicated to the artist who made the window says it’s John Eudes, as does the website of the parish itself. The artist, Harry Clarke, is evidently well-known to a certain degree since a bridge is named after him and anthologies of his work are on Amazon. 

In Wikipedia’s favor, it is indeed impossible for Clarke to have depicted St. John Eudes when he made the window because in 1919 SJE was not yet a saint. Titles aside, though, there are several tells that would militate in favor of it being Papa Eudes. 

First, the window was commissioned by the Vincentian Fathers. St. Vincent was a contemporary of SJE and even shared a spiritual director for a time (Fr. Condren). Thus, the fathers would have been well aware of SJE and his contribution to the adoration of the Sacred Heart, from their formation in the history of their own order. 

Second is the thorns. Unlike one or two of Clarke’s other Sacred Heart depictions, this one doesn’t have thorns. Look closely (on this image or a better one, if you can find it), and you’ll see. Rather than the Suffering Heart emphasized by St. MMA’s late 17th century visions, the heart depicted is simply luminous and burning. This is the 13th Century Furnace of Love written about by St. Gertrude the Great.