Chalices for Days

Today I will share with you all the second fun thing we got to do during J-Term. In the my post yesterday I talked about what my seminary’s J-Term is and shared with you pictures of all the cool relics I got to see. Now I want to share pictures of another great thing my class got to do – look at a BUNCH of chalices.

During our class on church art and architecture we got to visit the monastery’s sacristy where one of the monks laid out numerous chalices representing many art styles and eras from Byzantine and medieval to the romantic and modern.

The whole counter in sacristy was filled up and down with these holy cups.

Here above is a close look of the layout. And there truly was many different styles.

Some were of the a more traditional styles, which I do really like and am partial towards.

The picture does do justice to how HUGE this chalice was. Something fit only for a archbishop, cardinal, or pope at a high pontifical Mass in the biggest of cathedrals. Biggest chalice I have ever seen. How big was the pall and chalice veil for this puppy one must wonder.

A closer look at the detail. You had to be there.

And then there were plenty of modern ones, which I guess have their own sort of charm. The one in the back look like a lamp, tho.

This one really intrigued me for some reason, but I also thought about Jesus spilling out if the priest is not careful. Plus, this looks like something you sip wine out off while lounging on the beach or in your backyard during the evening.

Now, this one was kinda fun with how blue and smooth it is. Wouldn’t ever use this for Mass, however.

Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce to you the most expensive chalice both present that day and that I have ever set my eyes on and touch. The monk that laid all the chalices out and our instructor got us to guess which chalice was the most expensive. Guess after guess and chalice after chalice went by, and we just were not getting it right. Even a solid goal chalice didn’t make the cut. This more modern chalice with images of Daniel in the lions’ den was it, the most expensive one. The price? A whopping $40,000!! This was not how much it cost to buy orginaly but the value it was appraised at because it was made by a famous artist. This is all true, if I remember the details correctly from a couple or so weeks ago. Even if I am fudging by mistake, this chalice WAS worth thousands of dollars.

More of the thousand-dollar details that was on this baby.

But in reality no chalice made of earthly material and made by human hands can truly match the value of Lord’s own Blood which is made present in it.

Then there was this one. And I will just leave it at that.

Then we got to pick the chalice we would personally choose as ours if we could offer Mass. There were tough choices to make, but by the time I made my decision good chalices were disappearing and I made my pick for this beauty that was left. I have to say I made a good one choice, and I am still proud I chose it. Had the other guys looking at my choice, too. Shame I couldn’t keep it for real.

We also got to look as chasubles that were pulled out. To be honest there were not many good ones on display, but I did make sure to take shots of the better ones like the conical chasuble above and the dalmatic below.

This is another nice conical chasuble that I would definitely pull out for high Marian feast days because of the blue strips.

And there you have it. This concludes my J-Term picture sharing.

Question for you guys: What is your favorite artistic era in the West in the life of the Church as far as art an architecture goes (medieval, Romanesques Renaissance, etc)? Also, for all you vestment-lovers out there, what is your favorite cut (Roman, conical, gothic, etc)?