FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PARISH HISTORY: GOLD AND BURLAP

The "Saint Sebastian Chalice” was commissioned by the founding pastor Msgr. Zwisler.  He requested that the ladies of the parish who had diamond jewelry that they were no longer wearing donate the diamonds to the parish to be incorporated into a chalice.  The diamonds range from incredibly small to one of respectable size.  (I wouldn't be too excited about diamonds however - like a car it is amazing how quickly they lose their value once they leave the jewelry shop.  As one lady put it, "Call off an engagement and see how much you can get back for that diamond!”) 

Just below the cup there is a ring of 9 diamonds.  At the node there is a Chi Rho made up of 16 diamonds.  Around the node is a ring of 16 diamonds.  Around the base is another ring of 31 diamonds.  There is a circle of diamonds around a "Tau" or Greek letter "T" that represents the Cross.  The circle has 12 diamonds in it and the Tau has 3 diamonds in it.  Also in the Tau are 3 blue sapphires and two tiny pearls.  This makes a total of 87 diamonds, 3 sapphires, and two pearls.  Around the base of the chalice is the inscription, "Sancte Sebastiane ora pro nobis" or "Saint Sebastian pray for us." 

Mr. Nick Ciriello tells how one day, soon after the chalice was finished, he came across Monsignor carrying a burlap sack.  “Come with me,” he said to the young server.  “Do you want to see what is inside the sack?” 

“Sure,” he replied.

With that he pulled out the chalice.  “I keep it in that bag,” he said.  “If anybody came by to rob us, the last place they’d look for something expensive and beautiful is in an old burlap bag!”

NEW: THE ROETZEL CHALICE

This past week this chalice was given to St. Sebastian Parish.  A phone call from the grand nephew of our founding pastor, Monsignor Hilary Zwisler, called to say that the family had this chalice in their possession and now wished to reunite it with the parish.  

The chalice was donated to the parish in 1929 by Cletus G. Roetzel.  Mr. Roetzel was a lawyer in Akron and was a decorated Knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Pius XII, 1949. He served with Field Artillery of the United States Army in World War I, was a member of the American, Ohio and Akron (past president) bar associations, Akron Law library association, Catholic Service League (trustee, past president), American Legion, Izaak Walton League and a Phi Delta Theta.

The chalice, with its Celtic cross, has this inscribed around the bottom of the base; “DONATED TO ST. SEBASTIAN CHURCH BY CLETUS G. ROETZEL IN HONOR OF HIS PARENTS JOHN T AND MARY ROETZEL CHRISTMAS 1929.”

The grandnephew, Mr. Bernard George, had no idea that the parish was about to celebrate it’s 90th anniversary when he called about giving the chalice to the parish, but it made the timing so much more special.  I assured him that we would give the grand piece a mighty shining up and use it in a special way this coming year.  

Interestingly enough it came with this other little utensil pictured here with a common writing pen next to it in order to give you an idea of scale.  (Try guessing what it is before going on!)  I have never seen nor heard of such a thing before.  It seemed (to us) obviously liturgical (notice the grape and leave design on the handle) and we spent some time trying to figure out what it was.

There were a number of guesses of things with which we were somewhat familiar; items from Eastern Rite Catholics or possibly for adding salt to holy water for the old order of blessing but none of these seemed quite right.  (Why grapes if it for salt and water?)  Finally, the every handy internet came to the rescue and named a liturgical utensil of which I never heard (not an easy thing to do.)  It is called a scrupulosity spoon.  For the priest who was worried about adding too much water to the wine at Mass and thereby making it invalid, or if he had difficulties with alcohol and used very little wine and wanted to make sure that he mixed in just a very small drop of water, he could stick this tiny ladle into the water cruet and abstract that perfect amount of water.

Mom was right: You learn something new every day.

A GREATER HISTORY THAN FROM A SHELF AT KMART

One time I went to an (I am embarrassed to say this) Engelbert Humperdink concert.  (It was free and really good seats and accompanied by a great dinner.)  Anyway, at a certain part of the concert, Mr. Humperdink would swipe sweat from various parts of his anatomy with a red handkerchief and ladies of a certain age would crowd the stage and he would toss the handkerchiefs out causing a mad frenzy of grabbing.

 

I would like to tell you it is not my thing, but it is.  Not Mr. Humperdink's used hankies exactly, but i think humans tend to like things with connections.  I just took a clock to the clock shoppe (no, not that one) to have it repaired.  It belonged to my grandparents and because of that it means more to me than simply going out to Bob's Discount Clock Shop and buying another one.  Besides, it makes the story better.  Go to a flee market and the price goes up sharply when something has an interesting history.  "This once belonged to . . . "  Have two sailor's caps, one used by a sailor in WWII and another brand new - which do you think will be the greater purchase?

 

So we like things with history and Catholics are especially atuned to this, which is what made last Monday so special.  We came into possession (very temporarily) of St. Padre Pio's chalice.  As you can see below, it is a very simply piece but with some good weight to it.

We used to for Mass.  I was suprised that meant as much to me as it did.  My pinky caught on something on the bottom and a thought flashed through my head, "How many times did the saint's finger pass over the same familiar spot?" 

I was a little concerned about the authenticity of the chalice.  After all, what would his chalice be doing in Akron, Ohio?  "What good ever came out of Nazareth" right?  But it was sealed with all the proper seals and had a certificate "Certificato" of authenticity.  I spent some time trying to translate it (not too shabbily I might add) before I found an English translation on the reverse.  "This is a cup used by Fr. Pio in 1960 and shared with his brothers.  It was donated to the museum on 1977." 

So who knows how many times he actually used it.  Maybe once.  Maybe a thousand times.  It appears as though it was also used by the community.  I tried looking up an image of him using it but failed to do so. 

 

So afterwards we had an opportunity for people to come forward and venerate this second class relic.  But as absolutely cool as it was to hold onto what the saint did - to have that tie - what really gave the chalice worth is that it held, just moments ago - and at least since the 1960s, the precious Blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In that way, every chalice should instill in us a certain amount of awe.

 

(But it was still cool.)

THE STRANGE LIVES OF CHALICES II

Here is the story of another chalice.  It comes from a reader of AA who often sends remarks outside of the comment box.  I asked this person if I could share this story with you.

As things turn out she has a chalice in her possession.  “In case you are wondering what I am doing with a chalice,” she wrote, “so am I!”  As things turned out her aunt had married a Roman Catholic priest.  Of course such events are usually met with a suspension of priestly faculties and a release from the vow of celibacy so that he could marry.  His chalice, however, remained with him and sat on the mantelpiece.  It had served for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for five years prior to its stepping down from use in liturgical duties.

The chalice itself is interesting.  It was made by Hal Schremmer at the begging of his career.  Schremmer, a silversmith, also made a cross for the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. 

When the writer went to the funeral of her uncle the chalice became a topic of discussion and it was decided that it should be returned for use in the church, hopefully by a seminarian who would need a chalice.  The sticking point was the cross which contained family diamonds.  The cross was removed and replaced though the new cross was of somewhat less artistic value since the level of skill by the silversmith did not meet that of Schremmer.

A seminarian was found who was in need of a chalice.  A resident seminarian visiting from Africa, a transitional deacon, was returning home soon to be ordained a priest and would have to provide himself with all that was necessary for a priest to have.  He was unsure how he would accomplish this when news of this chalice made itself known.  So, from use at Mass, to mantelpiece, to the other side of the world this chalice traveled because somebody thought it was important to put a consecrated item back into use in the church.

 

These things come by St. Sebastian now and then.  Just recently somebody gave me a processional cross when I was walking Sebastian past a yard sale.  If you have such items, particularly those things used for the celebration of the Mass sitting around as show pieces, consider returning them for use in the Church or missions.  I’ll grant you it may be difficult if your pastor is particular (Ew!  We don’t want THAT here) but your chancery may know of places in great need.

THE STRANGE LIVES OF CHALICES

Chalices often have strange lives.  Alienated from their work by any number of means (which we will see today and tomorrow) and having some artistic value they may travel around a bit taking a sort of vacation until ending back up working for the Church again (hopefully.)

Today’s story concerns a very ornate pontifical chalice a little over a foot in height, Egyptian revival with tulip cup and sporting the instruments of Jesus’ passion.  It is currently housed in a local monastery and came to reside there after being purchased at a yard sale.  As best as can be figured out at the moment, this is how that came to be:

It is thought that this chalice began its life at a Dominican monastery.  In 1810 one of their own, Richard Luke Concanen OP was made bishop of New York.  His fellow Dominicans were so thrilled that one of their own was thus named they gave him this chalice.  Unfortunately Bishop Concanen died without the chalice ever making it to New York.

Adding further misfortune to the story, it was at this time that Napoleon was nationalizing the Church.  After Bishop Concanen died, soldiers raided his home and made off with the chalice and so for a spell it left the hands of the Church.

One of Cleveland’s Bishops, Bishop Horstmann, was known to travel to Europe going to sales and buying up whatever ecclesiastical treasures he could find.  Perhaps he picked up this chalice.  When soldiers raided Concanen’s things, perhaps this chalice fell into their hands and was later sold on the market.  In any event, the Dominicans were apparently upset that when things were returned to the Church that this chalice was not among the items returned.

Then dies Bishop Hortsmann.  His estate is divided up and perhaps his family sold the chalice causing it to go on another holiday until it ends up at a yard sale on Cleveland’s west side.  A man buys it there and wishing it to return to the Church gives it to another religious order.

A monk noting the Biumi family coat of arms (a family loyal to Napoleon) on the bottom and the initials RLC on the bottom did some research and put this story together.  It does not mean that it is an accurate story and readers are invited to speculate, but as my history professor used to say, “If it isn’t true, it should be.”

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: A MONSTRANCITY

This is another monstrance at St. Sebastian.   We tend to use it at special events such as Corpus Christi (coming up in a couple of weeks.)  It is a bit larger than the monstrance featured last week and it weighs a ton.  It does not feel too bad when you first pick it up, but go on a long procession holding it up in your arms and it becomes a test of your endurance.  This year Fr. Pfeiffer has the honor of bearing our Lord in our Corpus Christi procession. Good think he is working out.

As you can see it is topped by a cross.  Our Lord finds His seat in the middle of a sun burst, which represents His Divine Glory.  Hundreds of gold metal rays shoot our from the center (and one has to be careful not to be stabbed by one or get it caught on a passing piece of material.)

It is difficult to make out here but Our Lord is surrounded by seven cherubim angels.  Cherub, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, is an Assyrian word that means to be near.  These represent the "near ones" to Jesus who are His servants, body guards, and courtiers. 

The base is equally beautiful.  Notice the rams heads toward the top of the base.  The ram in Christian symbolism had a few meanings.  Since the ram valiantly protects its heard it is a symbol of protection - appropriately at the base of a vessel holding something we consider most dear.  It is also a symbol of sacrifice (the sacrifice of Jesus and of the Mass.)  The Latin name for ram is Aries taken from the word meaning altar and so becomes an Old Testament name for Jesus.

The silver symbol below is of the Holy Spirit.

The intertwining M and A below stand for Mary.

This symbol is a monogram for Jesus and is the first three letters of His Name in Greek "IHS".

Below is our Corpus Christi procession from last year with one of our seminarians in the lead as crucifer.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: IT'S THE MONSTRANCE MASH

This week we are looking at one of the monstrances used at St. Sebastian.   "Monstrance" means" to show" and is the vessel used for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  The center is clear and a consecrated host is placed in a holder called a luna that presents the Blessed Sacrament to the faithful for adoration.

Below is the monstrance used most often at St. Sebastian.  It is a nice piece but I find the images a bit odd in their selection - mostly because there are repeats. 

The monstrance forms a cross with a sort of a fancy halo that draws attention to the Eucharist.  It is topped by a more easily recognized cross

There are four images at the ends of the arms of the cross that surround the opening in the center.  The "halo" contains four additional images.  Below shows the upper four.  At the top of the cross is Saint Matthew and at the left arms is the symbol for Saint Luke.  Between them is a saint holding a saw.  Traditionally this is the symbol for St. Simon the Zealot - which this could be but why he was singled out for this honor on this piece is puzzling.  To the far right is Saint Peter holding the keys.

Here are the bottom four saints.  At the bottom of the cross is the symbol for Saint John.  But interestingly enough just to the left of that is another depiction of Saint John.  Why this would be I have no idea.  To the left of the eagle is St. Andrew holding his Saint Andrew Cross and finally at the far right is the lion, symbol of St. Mark.  We can see that the four points of the Cross make up the evangelists.  I cannot explain the other choices.

This is the stem that is held during benediction.  As you can see there are some grapes depicted here.

Here is the base.  There are four faces and it is killing me at the moment that I cannot think of what these particular type of art is called.  Arg!  If you know please put in the comments. 

The picture facing the people is the Sacred Heart.  To His left is is mother, the Virgin Mary.

The depiction facing the priest (or deacon) as he lifts the monstrance for the benediction is of St. Joseph.  Lastly, and again interestingly is Saint Peter - a different depiction that the one above - but once again it is him holding his keys.  What he merits a repeat also is a mystery to me.

This monstrance can be seen in use at St. Sebastian most of the time there is adoration - most notably on Tuesdays from 8:30AM to 8:00PM

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: KEEPING IT IN USE

This is a ciborium; a vessel in which, among other things, one reserves the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in the tabernacle after Mass. This one belongs to me and I use it whenever a sacristan happens to put it out for use.  It came into my possession during my first assignment at St. Ambrose.  It sat black and unused on a bookshelf in my pastor's (the Rev. Bob Hilkert) parlour.

One day I told him he should shine it up and use it.  He let me have a go at it and it turned out rather swell.  When I brought it back he said, "You take it.  I'll never use it."  Of course I protest - feebly - and soon relented and have been using it ever since. 

At one point it was knocked to the floor by an accidental swing of the arm of a parishioner and at that point it had to be repaired and so I also had it replated.  Not too long after that it was dropped again (you would be surprised how often that happens) and now the cross is a little cockeyed.  But it is still serviceable.

As you can see there is much ornamentation but little of it symbolic. 

It is difficult to see here but just below the cup and above the node is a grape and vine design.

The base is quite nice.  There are six figures.  They were made separately and then attached.  Above the figure shown below is an ornate Greek cross barely visible through the glare.  This is the side that faces the priest during the Mass.  The figure below it is an angel holding a scroll on which nothing is written.  (Interesting.)

Moving around the base of the ciborium to the right there is Saint Matthew, Saint John, the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, Saint Mark, and then Saint Luke pictured below.

There are no markings on the bottom of the base to indicate from where it came, how old it is, or whom it may have belonged.  Unfortunately I did not get the information before Fr. Hilkert passed on.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: ORPHAN CHALICE

This sacred vessel came into the Saint Sebastian cavalcade of chalices through Fr. Pfeiffer.  When he came here I told him that he needed to get a nice chalice and that I would help him get one.  Fortunately his parents beat me to it.

The chalice was purchased from the collection of chalices that became available due to the closing of parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland (not from one of the parishes that is re-opening.)  We went to the place where these things are stored and saw a table full of chalices.  Fr. P went around scoping them out and handling them and settled on this one above.  He had it cleaned up and replated and now Sebastianites can see this chalice regularly on the weekends when Fr. P is celebrating.  There are no marks or engravings on it so it is difficult to say from where it came.

As you can see there is some beautiful work on the cup.  There are three medallions with three different phrases in Latin on winding banners such as the one you see above.  One says, "O crux spes unica" or "O cross, our only hope", and "Ecce panis angelicus" or "Behold the Bread of Angels."  There is one more but it is so worn as to be unreadable.  Perhaps it says "Alleluia".  The base has a grape and grape leaf design.

Between the medallions are these scenes.  The one pictured above is difficult to make out but I believe that it is the presentation of Mary.  The other two are The Resurrection and the part of the story of Jesus walking on water when Peter comes to Him and starts sinking and cries out to Jesus to save him.

The base also has three medallions.  This first scene above is Jesus before Pilot which is interestingly set against the scene below which is the young Jesus teaching the Scribes from the "Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple."  The third medallion is Jesus being taken down from the Cross.

You know, I was thinking that these are somewhat odd scenes to choose for a chalice - not necessarily individually but as a whole the are interesting choices.  It did not occur to me until a few moments ago the reason for the scenes.  The scenes on the cup correlate with the medallions on the base.  Mary in the Temple mirrors Jesus in the Temple.  The Resurrection mirrors the taking down form the Cross.  I am not entirely sure how the last two fit together save that in both the walking on the water and the trial before Pilot show a distressing situation in which Jesus is still in control - shows Himself to be God.

This chalice came from one of the closed parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland.  If you think you recognize it and can give us any background information it would be greatly appreciated.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: THE MEDIN CHALICE

Today's sacred vessel is the Fr. Joseph Medin chalice.  Fr. Medin was a man of Slovenian descent that served at Sacred Heart Parish in Barberton, Ohio.  It was a nationality parish that served the immigrants that moved to the "Magic City" looking for work in the early 20th century.

My mother was young when Fr. Medin served at my home parish.  Apparently he came from some sort of aristocratic family in Europe.  He served in Barberton during the depression and was very helpful to struggling parishioners.  Mom tells the story of the huge car he used to drive and that he would go about the neighborhood picking up all the kids and bringing them to the church for the catechism classes.  Apparently he also helped many people who were experiencing difficulties out of his own resources.

He was very well loved and remembered.  Apparently he enjoyed his stay in the Magic City and had this chalice made and gifted to the parish as a parting gift.  (A rather unusual occurrence and pays tribute to his generosity.) 

Unfortunately the parish no longer exists.  It was suppressed and merged with St. Mary Polish Parish, given boundaries and is now named Prince of Peace Parish.  The new entity seems to be thriving.  As a matter of fact they just completed and expansion of the church.  The chalice was replated and given into my care at my ordination to carry on the memory of the Slovenian people that once made up Sacred Heart.

Here is a picture of the chalice.  Thanks to Mr. Mike Palko (and the person who recommended him) for the higher quality photos.  There's a lot going on and it is still difficult to see but I'll try to walk you through it.

Set in the golden cup is a silver band with enamel inlay lettering and design.  In Latin in says "Accipiam calicem salutaris" or "I will take the chalice of salvation" from Psalm 116 "I will take up the chalice of salvation and call on the name of the Lord."  The points above the silver band are grape leaves and the there is a grape and grape leaf design toward the bottom of the cup.

All down the stem there is a grape leaf design.  Both the main node and the minor node below are "lace work."  Some sort of red minor gem stones are set in the middle of six flowers that decorate the minor node.

The base is really the show piece of this vessel.  The base flowers out into six peddles.  Three of the peddles are a grape and grape leaf design and three are scenes from the life of Christ.  I am told that what makes this chalice so special is that these scenes would have been tapped out by hand by an artist unlike modern chalices that would most likely have a machine stamp them out.  The scene pictured below is what would face the celebrant during the Mass.  It is of the crucifixion of Christ.  There are four other figures in the scene; St. John, St. Mary, and the two other Marys.  It appears to be the moment when Christ was entrusting His Mother to St. John

This is a scene of the Annunciation.  St. Mary kneeling in prayer has her head turned over shoulder as if taken by surprise by the angel who, holding lilies in one hand and extended a blessing with the other, is presenting her with the possibility of becoming the Mother of God.  The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, sends His rays down upon her.

The final scene (not pictured) is of the Ascension.  Six disciples look on as Jesus ascends into the heavens.

This is the bottom of the patten (a little worse for wear.)  It has been dropped by servers and sacristans (not at St. Sebastian!) that the last time it was repaired they smith said that it was probably the last time that it could be repaired.  The ornate scene at the center is of the Last Supper.  The engraved lettering which is becoming almost unreadable states, "Presented to the people of Sacred Heart Church of Barberton, Ohio - by Father Joseph Medin in appreciation of his pastorate - January 1931 to July 1940 - GOD BLESS YOU ALL"  The bottom of the chalice has a very crude scratching in it that states, "Joseph Medin 1924"

The people of St. Sebastian Parish will see this chalice in use for weddings and on other celebratory days on which the St. Sebastian chalice is not in use.  It will be my Sunday chalice of use for the rest of the Easter season.

For more information on this chalice go here.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: THE SAINT SEBASTIAN

Believe it or not there are about 6 safes and vaults at St. Sebastian.  Some of them have been abandoned and are used for storage more than anything else.  When I first got here we were digging through one in the rectory and way in the back in a black box was this chalice.  We brought it over to the church and had it cleaned up. 

I am told that this is the "Saint Sebastian Chalice."  It was commissioned by our founding pastor Msgr. Zwisler.  He requested that the ladies of the parish who had diamond jewelry that they were no longer wearing donate the diamonds to the parish to be incorporated into a chalice.  (If anybody can collaborate or correct this account it would be appreciated.) 

 That the diamonds were donated from various pieces of jewelry would explain why they differ in size so.  The diamonds range from incredibly small to one of respectable size.  (I wouldn't be too excited about diamonds however - like a car it is amazing how quickly they go down in value once they leave the jewelry shop.  As one lady put it, "Call off an engagement and see how much you can get back for that diamond!) 

Just below the cup there is a ring of 9 diamonds.  At the node there is a Chi Rho made up of 16 diamonds.  Around the node is a ring of 16 diamonds.  Around the base is another ring of 31 diamonds.  There is a circle of diamonds around a "Tau" or Greek letter "T" that represents the Cross.  The circle has 12 diamonds in it and the Tau has 3 diamonds in it.  Also in the Tau are 3 blue sapphires and two tiny pearls.  This makes a total of 87 diamonds, 3 sapphires, and two pearls.  It is very striking

Around the base of the chalice is the inscription, "Sancte Sebastiane ora pro nobis" or "Saint Sebastian pray for us."  Below you can see the paten which is very simple.  There is the interwoven monogram "IHS" for Jesus.  Once again you can see me taking the picture in it.  Thanks to our sacristans for keeping things so well polished!

Saint Sebastianites will see this chalice on feast days that are particularly important to the parish such as on St. Sebastian Day.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: CHANGE OF HANDS

This weeks chalice is one that is in my possession at St. Sebastian.  When a class in our diocese is about to be ordained, we are taken to the diocesan archives and are shown a number of chalices that we may use during out time as a priest in the diocese (and we also assume the upkeep.)  When my class went to the archives this was clearly the nicest chalice that was set out.  I did not get it.  My classmate laid hands on it.  But it sat on his bookshelf black as black could be.  I threatened to take it away from him if he did not start taking care of it.

As it turned out I did not have to steal it - he freely handed it over since he was heading to the missions and would not have use for it.  Since then I had it cleaned, fixed, and replated and it is in use mostly on Sundays during ordinary time. 

There is not much by way of symbolism but there is plenty of ornamentation.  Around the bottom is the inscription, "Calicem salutaris accipiam et nomen domini invocabo" which translates, "I will take the chalice of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord"

On the bottom of the chalice there are a couple of inscriptions.  The first is "Made in Germany."  The second reads, "Donated by Mrs. Julia Humza January 1930." 

As you can see there is some enamel inlay and some what I suppose you might call filigree work.  On the inside is a silver bar that covers the long screw that holds the whole chalice together that is supposed to shine through he cut out work.

Which brings us to a very important topic.  Chalices should never, ever be submerged in water.  They are usually made up of at least a couple of parts or many such as the one above.  Water becomes trapped on the inside and the whole thing can rust from the inside out.

The paten is very plain.  Just above the image of me taking the picture you can make out a Greek cross that is on the bottom of the paten.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: HE TOOK THE CHALICE IN HIS HOLY AND VENERABLE HANDS

I thought for a spell that we would take a look at some of the sacred vessels used here at St. Sebastian.  Rarely do people get to have a very close look so maybe you might find it interesting. 

This is a chalice of my possession (some will belong to me, some to the parish, and some to Fr. Pfeiffer) that I inherited from the Rev. Robert Hilkert.  He was my first pastor as a newly ordained priest and just an overall great human being.  I am very thankful that he was there to be my first mentor.

This was his main chalice that used most regularly on Sundays.  For its size it is quite heavy.  He was in his 80s when I was with him and he had to use both hands to lift it up and even then he could only lift it so high.  It was also black as black could be.  I told him I would clean it for him but he thought it fine just the way it was.

Its provenance is unknown.  (Did he buy it?  Did he get from another priest?  Did he have it commissioned or was it one of many?)  All I know is that being entrusted to me the first thing I did was send it away to be cleaned.  I told the company that I thought it was not that special of a metal being heavy and completely back as it was.  It was later that I was informed that it was silver.  Solid silver.

When the chalice was cleaned I had this inscribed on the bottom:

The Rev. Robert . Hilkert

Tu es sacerdos in aeternum

Ordained 1912

Died 2005

I apologize for the quality of the pictures.  My camera just does not seem to be taking as good of pictures as it once did (is that possible or are my expectations rising?)  Anyway, you can see that there is a lot going on here.  At the base of the cup (above the blue node) there is a depictions of the Holy Spirit as a dove, olive branch in beak (peace) whose wings are holding the base of the cup.  The Holy Spirit is perched on a blue and white stone that is rather reminiscent of the planet Earth.

The base below the stone is a flame of fire - another symbol of the Holy Spirit rising from the crown of thorns (The Passion) which encircles the base of the chalice.  In the center front of the chalice is a cross with a diamond at its center.  The inscription around the base reads, "PAX NOSTRA CARITATE CHRISTI REDEMPTORIS" or "OUR PEACE, THE LOVE OF CHRIST REDEEMER."

It is thought that the paten (plate) that came with the chalice is not original.  This chalice may not have been commissioned with a paten.  Shown here (sorta - again, sorry for the quality of the picture) is the Lamb of God sitting in the book with seven seals (from the book of Revelation) holding the flag of victory and the word PAX or PEACE.

I like to use this chalice in advent and lent and for funerals.  St. Sebastianites will notice this chalice during this Lenten season at all of my Masses.  Rest in Peace Fr. Hilkert.