"The first has to do with the stained glass windows, which flood the interior with mystic light.  From the outside, those windows are dark, heavy, even dreary.  But once one enters the church, they suddenly come alive; reflecting the light passing through them, they reveal all their splendor.  Many writers – here in America we can think of Nathaniel Hawthorne – have used the image of stained glass to illustrate the mystery of the Church herself.  It is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit.  It follows that we, who live the life of grace within the Church’s communion, are called to draw all people into this mystery of light" Pope Benedict XVI, New York City, 19 April 2008.