This chalice was designed by Fr. Michael J. Denk and commissioned by his parents as a gift for his ordination on May 12, 2007. It was complete and blessed when he celebrated the first anniversary of his ordination on May 12, 2008, at St. Barnabas in Northfield Ohio, which was his first assignment.
Fr. Michael began by making a model out of play-dough and then working with Terry to come up with the drawings and illustrations.
The drawings were all done by, then a seminarian, now Fr. Terry Grachanin.
Todd Pownell is the jeweler who fashioned the chalice. It is all hand made, hand molded, and hand engraved. Todd’s love for the material led him to make his own inquiries as an artist. TAP Studios is an active jewelry workshop where beginning students can learn the fundamentals of jewelry fabrication and advanced students can improve technical skills. He is truly gifted and specializes in custom jewelry and rings. http://www.tapbytoddpownell.com/
The entire chalice is based on scripture with the idea of the union of God and man.
The top of the chalice including the tree is based on the “Song of Songs”.
“The Song has been read as a sublime portrayal and praise of this mutual love of the Lord and his people. Christian writers have interpreted the Song in terms of the union between Christ and the Church and of the union between Christ and the individual soul, particularly in the writings of Origen and St. Bernard.”1
Every detail of the chalice is pulled from scripture.
To begin with, the chalice is made out of silver and gold: “We will make pendants of gold for you, and silver ornaments” (Song of Songs 1:11)
The silver on the cup has been darkened to resemble the darkness or “swarthiness” of the bride. The bride thinks of herself as blemished, sinful, and unlovable. “I am as dark-but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem – As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Salma. Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has burnt me.” (Song of Songs 1:5-6)
This also represents how humanity is sinful, but still “lovely” in the eyes of God. Just as the cup of the chalice is capable of receiving and holding the wine becoming the blood of Christ, so is humanity.
The dark background made a beautiful surface for the illustrations that are carved into the chalice.
The Dove is a sign of the Holy Spirit and of Life:
“Then he released a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. But the dove could find no place to perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water over all the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark. He waited yet seven days more and again released the dove from the ark. In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had diminished on the earth. He waited yet another seven days and then released the dove; but this time it did not come back.” (Genesis 8:8-12)
The dove is etched into the top of the chalice: “Ah you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves!” (1:15) The dove is often used to represent the Holy Spirit. Doves also have a beautiful cooing sound that brings peace. “For your voice is sweet and you are lovely” (v. 14)
The chalice is also flourishing with life. There are lilies blooming, a couple embracing, gazelles leaping: “My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. the flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.” (2:11-12)
The lily is an ancient symbol of the Resurrection. It is symbolic of the pureness of new life with its bright white color. The lily reminds us of new life which springs forth from the ground after winter. It is symbolic for God entering into our darkness, sin, and death and bursting forth with new, pure, and eternal life. The lily is used during the Easter Season to represent Christ’s Resurrection. God sees beyond our sins and the beauty within us. “I am a flower of Sharon, a lily of the valley. As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among women.” (2:1)
The Gazelles leaping over the mountains.
The gazelle is shown leaping across the mountain. It shows God’s power, wonder, energy and determination to reach us. There is no obstacle that God cannot overcome to reach us. There is no sin in our lives that God is not too powerful to overcome. No matter how high we build our walls, God can jump over them.
“Hark my lover – here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is a gazelle or a young stag.” (Song of Songs 2:8).
The Mountain is also symbolic of a place of encounter with God. It was modeled in the style of icons – which are a “window into heaven”. Time and time again in scripture the mountain is seen as a place of encounter with God.
“Who may go up the mountain of the LORD?
Who can stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3)
“Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD;* the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
“After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” (Matthew 14:23)
In the church the chalice placed on the altar. The altar stands in the sanctuary and is customarily the highest place in the church, representing “the mountain of the Lord.”
When we go to the altar we are going to this mountain top experience of God.
The tree is symbolic of the for the Tree of Life:
“Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9)
“He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24).
“After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him.” (Matthew 3:16)
“and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)
In the Songs of Songs it is in the shade of the apple tree that God awakens us. “Under the apple tree I awakened you.” (8:5) Once we have experienced God and been awakened we desire to constantly go back there. “As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my lover among men. I delight to rest in his shadow, and his fruit is sweet to my mouth.” (2:3)
We experience this awakening and reawakening, this rest and delight, and this sense of being “beloved” every time we receive the Eucharist.
The Tree of Life is not only symbolic of Adam and Eve, the place of awakening in the song of songs, but also the wood of the Cross.
“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,j though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30)
The tree represents Jesus’ sacrifice for us and greatest act of love his death on the cross and now his love poured out for us in the Eucharist.
In the Eucharist we become fully united with God.
The embrace of the couple in the tree represents God’s closeness with us. God is “crazy in love” with us. The embrace portrays this affection and intimacy. The bride is supported by his left hand and held tight by his right arm. “His left hand is under my head, his right arm embraces me. (Song of Songs 2:6) It echoes the desire to always remain there under the tree, in this mystical union with God… “I found him whom my heart loves. I took hold of him and would not let him go.” (Song of Songs 3:4)
The entire chalices is based on scripture and our tradition of interpreting this scripture through the mystics, the liturgy, and the councils of the Church. The entire chalice is hand made, molded, and engraved. You’ll notice that the top rim has more of an antique look with a rougher gold plating to symbolize the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) and the bottom has a more clean and polished look to symbolize the New Testament (Greek Scriptures).
The text on the rims of the chalice are written in the corresponding language of the original scripture. Since the top of the Chalice is based on the Song of Songs.
The above greek letters form the words of the first verse of The Song of Songs: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth — for thy love is better than wine.”
The mystics, especially St. Bernard of Clairvoux refers to this kiss of God as being an open mouthed kiss where the Holy Spirit is breathed into you. It is written on the lip of the chalice so that as the precious blood is taken it is like receiving this kiss and the Holy Spirit coming into you through the breath of the Consecrated Wine (Precious Blood). There is a sense of “inebriation” and “intoxication” as we receive this mysterious and intimate union with God. “And your mouth like an excellent wine – that flows smoothly for my lover, spreading over the lips and the teeth.” (Song of Songs 7:10)
The Song of Songs, meaning the greatest of songs (Song 1:1) contains in exquisite poetic form the sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. God is the Lover and His people are the beloved. Describing this relationship in terms of human love, the author simply follows Israel’s tradition: Isaiah (5:1-7), Jeremiah (2:2, 3, 32), and Ezekiel (16; 23) all characterize the covenantal love between the Lord and Israel as a marriage.
As we receive the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and hold his Word in our hearts and minds we remain in His love. We remain in the embrace of the lover and the beloved. We remain under the shadow of his tenderness, protection, and mercy. The words give life to the roots of the tree and life to us.
The bottom rim of the chalice which supports the entire chalice is inscribed with the Greek words from John 6:56
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”
This is the fulfillment of the Sacrament, that we remain in the embrace of His love, under the shadow of His Sacrifice for us on the Cross, and ultimately become Christ for the World.
The Gospel of John was chosen because John is known as being “The Mystic”.
“We think that what is symbolic is not real. But symbolic is not opposed to real. Symbolic is opposed to meaningless. The symbolic takes human words, human persons, and human events and gives them wings so they can dare to talk about the divine-which, of course, is beyond human words… The symbolic is very close to the mystical, which goes beyond the everyday part of life. Mysticism finds the presence of God everywhere. It’s like turning the slats on a venetian blind, and suddenly you see beyond the facade. I think the reason the Gospel of John is so different from the other gospels is that the beloved disciple was a great mystic. This led him and his community into a deeper appreciation of the life and ministry and death and Resurrection of Jesus.”2
The roots of the tree of life are divided into six separate scenes. Six was chosen because the number is associated with Man and his weakness and yet when God’s roots penetrate the weakness is made strong.
“God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:26-31) Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ;
“Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ;e for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Our weakness and sin is the entry point for grace.
Directly below the Tree of Life is the symbol of the Kairos which is the first two letters combined for the name of Christ. (Χριστός), with the wedding rings and the six stone jars representing Jesus first miracle of changing water into wine. We experience a miracle as the wine in now transformed Sacramentally into the Blood of Christ.
* On the third day there was a wedding* in Cana* in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.a Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” * [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”b His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”c * Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,d each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”* So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs* in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.e (John 2:1-11)
To the right of six jars is the symbol of the vine and the branches. The mystics often refer to this as the union of Christ and the Church and our need to be connected so intimately with God.
* “I am the true vine,* and my Father is the vine grower.a He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes* so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.b Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. * c Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.d By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.e As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.f If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.g
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.h This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.i* No one has greater love than this,j to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,* because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.k It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.l This I command you: love one another.m (John 15:1-17)
Continuing to the right is the scene of The Woman at the Well. It is one of the times that we hear that Jesus is tired. Though His Divinity is often highlighted in John, Jesus is fully human as well. Jesus knows what it is like to thirst. He is like us in all things but sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus knew that this woman had a thirst that wasn’t being quenched and so he asked her for a drink of water…
“He had to* pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,* near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.a Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. * The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”b (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) * Jesus answered and said to her,c “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” [The woman] said to him, “Sir,* you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”d Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”e The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:4-15)
Following to the right is the crown of thorns which not only represents His Passion and Suffering but also ties us back to the Kingship of Jesus and the Marriage in the Song of Songs. The Crucifixion was Jesus’ greatest act of love for us.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head.” (John 19:2)
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart. (Song of Songs 3:1)
The image of the washing of the feet was John’s way of remembering the Last Supper and The Institution of the Eucharist. When we receive the Eucharist we are cleansed of our sins and commissioned to go out and humbly serve as we have been served by Christ.
“…he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feetd and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”e Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” …So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.h If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.i Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger*greater than the one who sent him.j If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. (John 13:6-5)
Finally, we have the image of the beloved disciple on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper. This represents the closeness that the Beloved disciple had with Jesus and the same relationship that we are to have. In the Gospel of John the Beloved Disciple is used symbolically to represent us in a mystical way.
“One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side.” (John 13:23)
Through all of these images, we are lead to realize and remain in that closeness to Christ. It is this closeness that we experience in the Eucharist when we receive the Real Presence of God in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus.
