Our Tabernacle Door's Twin

The Book of Kells is Ireland's greatest national art treasure. It is an illuminated manuscript that presents the Four Gospels in Latin accompanied by a dazzling array of decorative ornamentation, iconography and illustration. It was created by the monks of St. Columbkille's order and it is possible that St. Columbkille himself did some of the work.

Artist John Lajba suggested that one of the images from the Book of Kells be digitally painted onto brass for the chapel side door of our tabernacle.

That was not a simple task. You can't just scan a page from the Book of Kells. So first John had to acquire the best image he could get from Ireland. Then he oversaw the process of digitally enhancing the image to fully bring out the details of the image in the size we needed.

Before this was painted on brass, John did a test page of the same size for approval.

This "test sheet" has been framed and will be offered as an Auction Item at Columb's Ceili on Saturday, March 2nd. It truly is a one of a kind piece.

The Feast of Blessed Fra Angelico

Today is the feast day of Blessed John of Fiesole who received the nickname Fra Angelico (or "Brother Angel) from his peers.

One of his first big projects was in Florence decorating the Dominican Monastery of San Marco. When he was called to Rome in 1445, he left the completion of the works to his assistants. But, before leaving, he completed one of his most beautiful works in a nondescript upstairs cell that may have been his own. It's an Annunciation painted high on the wall against the vaulted ceiling. Not a lavish rendition of the holy event it strikes us as deeply religious in its simplicity instead. Like the man who painted it, the scene can best be described as simply "holy." The angel Gabriel is positioned near the center of the arched composition, enlightening Mary of God's favor while off to the left, in one of several one-point perspective niches, stands Saint Dominic. The effect is that of a vision within a vision as Saint Dominic's prayers conjures up the vision of the angel and Mary and the whole painted scene is that of a vision seen by the occupant of the cell.

This image influenced John Lajba as he sculpted the angels which are on the inside of the sanctuary-side doors of our tabernacle. Their arms are, likewise, in a position of humility.

The image of the angel on the inside of the chapel-side door to our tabernacle is by Fra Angelico.

Now We Get To Use It

At the 5 p.m. Mass Saturday, the Prayers of the Faithful finished with a blessing of the new tabernacle.

After the distribution of communion, a Eucharistic Procession was made around the sanctuary.

After the Eucharist was placed in the tabernacle, it was incensed. Then Fr. Damian temporarily moved the old tabernacle candle to the new one.

After Mass, the hanging tabernacle candle was lit.

Also after Mass, Fr. Damian placed a monstrance in the chapel side of the tabernacle for Eucharistic Exposition. Adoration is now being done in the chapel. From time to time Exposition will also be done in the chapel. Fr Damian is asking some groups when they think the best time for Exposition would be.

Preparing

The baptismal font may not look any different from last weekend, but underneath the work is progressing. It should be ready for use on Wednesday.

Here's a little peek to give an indication of what the base will look like.

Today the doors of the tabernacle are open, anxious to receive the Eucharist for the first time.

After communion, there will be a Eucharistic Procession ending with the arrival of the Eucharist in this tabernacle.

That also means that the Adoration Chapel will soon be open for silent prayer.

He Takes Flesh Among Us and In Us

"And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth."

- John 1:14

Christmas is the season to celebrate the mystery of God's Incarnation. And He continues to take flesh among us -- and in us.

We can imitate our Blessed Mother and become an Ark or a tabernacle for the Word of God when we consent to the will of God and let the Holy Spirit overshadow us. St. Patrick recognized how God's Word can come to life in us, now matter how lowly we may be, as a "letter written by God."

"We are a letter written by Christ for the salvation even of the remotest parts of the earth. Although this letter may not be refined it is very strong and true, written in your hearts not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. And again the Spirit bears witness that even the plainest things have been created by the Most High."

After Mass, in particular, you are sent forth into the world carrying the powerful Word of God. He is alive inside you to transform the world.

Praise be to God for allowing us to become part of His work of salvation!

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.

Tabernacle Work

The tabernacle is not ready for use yet, but from the time the granite arrived Friday afternoon, work was done so the sactuary side facing would be ready for the dedication today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

Preparing the Tabernacle

By gracing Mary as the Immaculate Conception, we understood that God prepared her to be the tabernacle for Christ. As such, today seems like a good time to look at the work for our new tabernacle.

This week Fr. Damian, Fr. Vogel, David Batter, Michelle Grzywa and Deacon David visited John Lajba at his studio where he is working on the doors for the tabernacle. He was working on the clay version. When finished, they will be used to create a mold and then cast into bronze.

The two doors facing the sanctuary will depict a scene from Luke 24:30-31 on Easter Sunday when Cleopas and another disciple recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The inside of the doors will have angels on them so that when the doors are open we will see the angels in adoration. John is basing the angels upon the work of Blessed Fra Angelico. Above Fr. Vogel commented on how well John is capturing the sense of perspective Fra Angelico used and how it matches the perspective of the table on the front.

John worked to capture the sense of surprise, wonder and awe on the faces of the disciples. He has one disciple holding a basket of bread. He was tempted to depict her dropping the basket in surprise, but felt that would distract.

 Above John adjusts Jesus's hair to better suit how Fr. Damian thinks it should look.

The chapel side doors will depict an icon from the book of Kells that may have been written by St. Columbkille. Above our guests see an actual size depiction of that door.

The figure above is what John has suggested as an angel for the inside of the chapel side door. This angel was painted by Blessed Fra Angelico.

There was also a side visit to Lambrecht Glass Studio.

Four of the stained glass windows from the previous church will be in the new chapel. They were just finishing work on the last of those. The windows are in very good shape but they were arched at the top. A few pieces have been added to the tops to make them into rectangles.

The wall of glass that will separate the chapel from the sanctuary is completed and on a pallet ready to be delivered and installed. They took one pane out for a preview of how they look.

Everything is coming along well.

Christ the King - on our tabernacle

[After our current construction] the new tabernacle will sit between the new chapel and the present church. It is being built of the same granite being used in the new altar and ambo. The tabernacle will have doors facing both the church and the chapel.

On the door facing the chapel we will be attempting something quite unique. We are planning on painting an image, taken from the Book of Kells, on a piece of brass. The image is that of Christ enthroned in heaven and may have been originally painted in the 6th or 7th century. The image is on our bulletin today. The interior of the door will have an image of an angel from Fra Angelico.

So, why the image from the Book of Kells you ask? The Book of Kells is Ireland’s greatest national art treasure. It is an illuminated manuscript that presents a Latin translation of the Four Gospels accompanied by a dazzling array of decorative ornamentation, iconography and illustration.

The book is named after the Abbey of Kells in County Meath, Ireland where it is believed that monks from the order of St. Columbkille created its pages. There is a good historical argument that St. Columbkille himself did some of the manuscript and illustration. Which pages and images were done by him is not clear, but it is within the realm of possibility the image of Christ we are painting on the door of the tabernacle was done by Columbkille himself, since similar images began to appear in the fourth century. Most scholars believe the majority of the Book of Kells was done to commemorate the anniversary of St. Columbkille’s death. Most believe, too, that the book was begun at the monastery in Iona and then finished at Kells.

The book has had an interesting history. In the Annals of Ulster from the year 1007, we read, “the great Gospel of Columbkille, the chief relic of the Western Word, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church at Kells on account of its wrought shrine.” The book was found two months later buried under sod with its gold cover missing. It was transferred to Trinity College in Dublin in the 17th century where it remains to this day.

This image of Christ from the Book of Kells contains peacocks which are a symbol of eternal life because of the ancient belief that dead peacocks did not rot. Plus, there is the dazzling display of color in a peacock’s feathers that speak of majesty. The chalice in the image is a symbol of the Eucharist, the vines are symbols of Christ’s lineage as the Son of Man going back to Adam and the “true Israel,” he seated on a throne to symbolize his role as judge, four angels surround the throne to attest to his divine majesty, he holds the Word of God, and the entire image is framed by coils with three levels to symbolize the Trinity.

- Fr Damian, From his bulletin letter