Lexi Coffin, left, and Norah Galvin painted the windows of St. Eustace Episcopal Church in Lake Placid with messages of faith, hope, love and peace. (Provided photo — Laura Coffin)

LAKE PLACID — Though St. Eustace Episcopal Church has closed to the public due to the coronavirus, two seventh-graders, Lexi Coffin and Norah Galvin, have painted the windows with encouraging messages of peace, hope, love and faith.

Coffin and Galvin said it has been difficult missing school and church, and they knew other people have been anxious about the virus.

“It’s very different from normal school, a very new way of living,” Coffin said.

Galvin said they wanted to give others hope, to make them happier.

“When I think of church, I think of hope, faith and love,” Coffin said.

The words written on the windows are from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 13:13, in which he wrote, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

“I hope they feel calm and know that other people care about them,” Coffin said.

The two-hour job felt good for them as well.

“Painting is always relaxing to me,” Galvin said.

They said they usually paint landscapes at school and that this was the first time they had done a big window painting. They got the tempera paint from The Bookstore Plus, which is owned by Norah’s parents Sarah and Marc.

They said they would like to paint other places, too, such as Lake Placid Elementary School, but “only if they let us.” They said they will stay away from doing graffiti, no matter how positive its message.