designed by one of vermont's foremost architects george guernsey it dates from eight hundred ninety one and it reflects the guernsey style known as a robust gothic revival style there are many remarkable features of st thomas the its existence in a small vermont village nestled under mt mansfield is remarkable how did such a parish consisting of only two hundred or so irish immigrant families raise the money to build such a church and how did they attract vermont's preeminent architect to design it and where did those windows come from those magnificent windows inside their many questions like this about this church and we'll explore them in this video let's take a look inside the church as it cannot be fully appreciated from the outside the first stained glass windows you encounter are on either side of the tower entryway they were donated by the sunday school class of eight hundred ninety two the entryway windows are but a foretaste of the larger windows on the inside of the church there are total of eight vertical windows with pointed arches on the top to six petal rows windows one eight petal rows window and the smaller  god window above the sanctuary there is a clear order of progression evident in the symbols depicted in the windows as one moves towards the front of the church in the catholic religion this progression is representative of the individual's lifelong assent to communion with god the vertical windows on each side relate to the windows on opposite side of the church so for example the first window on your left depicts an anchor midway down the aisle one comes to the two six petal rose windows facing each other at the center of each window was a hard one for mary and one for jesus the symbolism of the sacred hearts complement each other is profound they represent extreme devotion love and purity of thought in words the next door windows relate to the ultimate concerns of our lives you are right as you stand before the sanctuary is a window depicting a host this symbol relates to the last supper and also to the celebration of the mass this is the sacrament called the eucharist one of the seven sacraments the catholics believe  instituted by jesus to the left you will see the image of the lamb of god jesus who sacrificed takes away the sins of the world according to the catholic teachings the final two vertical windows represent our ultimate victory over and death the one on the left depicts a crown symbolizing christ kingship over heaven and earth the one on the right as you stand before the sanctuary depicts a cross with a jesus monogram i h s at the center this window was donated by jean shannon the parish priest of st thomas at the time of the construction of the church now having completed our walk down the aisle we find ourselves looking up at a small stained glass window above the sanctuary this is the mysterious eye of god window the window has no donor's name associated with it like the rose windows it is a pointed arch with a circle in the center and at the center of the circle is a single eye looking on all that is going on below this signifies god's interest in us as well as his of innocence opposite the eye of god window just above the music loft on the western side of the church is the largest window it's the spectacular  penrose window with its by brint musical theme the present st thomas church came to be as a result of a fire that destroyed the original church in december eight hundred ninety but in replacing it the congregation reach for a church much bigger and better than the original a reach almost beyond their means and in so doing they gave us an architectural treasure lovingly maintained by the co