December 2, 2009

Chalice was consecrated on the day of Pope Paul VI’s address to the U.N.

By Father John Krenzke

I was ordained in 1957 but I didn’t get a chalice at ordination. I was a religious order priest and normally that wasn’t done with Dominicans, getting a chalice as a gift. My parents couldn’t have afforded one anyway.

I saved some vacation money and in 1964 I visited at St. Thomas Seminary where a gentleman from the East Coast was showing chalices he had created for the seminarians to look at. I was happy with his work so I gave him a rough design for a chalice and paten that he could make for me, which he did.

The chalice is made of one piece of hammered silver. It’s a large cup, quite thick, going down to a base. There’s no node to it. It’s utter simplicity. Most chalices come in two pieces, the cup and base, which are connected at the node. This is made from one piece of metal. I don’t know how he did it.

The chalice is wide, but it’s twice as deep as the other cups I saw. The reason I had the cup made so large is because that year we knew concelebration was coming as a result of the Second Vatican Council, which was then under way. I wanted a fairly large chalice in case 20 or 25 people needed to communicate from the cup.

If you turn the chalice toward you and look into the cup you can see that although it is round it is not a perfect circle because it is hand done. The outside is hammered, the back of the paten is the same. It’s quite a beautiful piece.  This chalice will last three lifetimes if used every day and not wear out.

I got the chalice shortly before Pope Paul VI was to come to the United Nations in his first visit to the United States.  I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if I was to have it consecrated on that day, Oct. 4, 1965, as a memorable day in history. At that time chalices had to be consecrated by a bishop, so I asked Bishop Bernard Sullivan, retired Jesuit bishop from Patna, India, who graciously consecrated it. I thought it would be nice for me, then a Dominican priest, to have a Jesuit bishop on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi consecrate this chalice while Pope Paul VI was at the U.N. calling for peace during the then-escalating Vietnam War. That’s its claim to fame.

I looked up one of the three prayers that were used then for the consecration of a chalice and paten: Deign, Lord God, to consecrate and to sanctify this paten and chalice through the oil of anointing and our blessing in Christ Jesus Our Lord who with you lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Before the changes of Vatican II this was one of the prayers used. It may be still, but a chalice doesn’t have to be consecrated by a bishop anymore. As he read “to consecrate and to sanctify” he anointed the vessels with sacred chrism, which we use for confirmation and the ordination of priests.

I’ve discovered that the chalice is worth 10 times today what I paid for it then. On the base is engraved, in memory of my parents, their names and the names of friends. All my friends are remembered in my daily Mass when I use that chalice.

Father John Krenzke is a former Dominican who was incardinated into the Colorado Springs Diocese in 1985. Retiring in 1996, he resides in northwest Denver and serves as chaplain for the Denver Archdiocese’s permanent diaconate program. He recently published his second book, “Why Didn’t God Answer My Prayer” (St. Walburga Press), which is available at local Catholic bookstores or through the publisher.

Year For Priests Holy Hours

 All begin at 7 p.m.
Dec. 14: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 5450 S. Lemay Ave., Fort Collins; 970-226-1303
Jan. 19: All Souls, 4950 S. Logan St., Englewood; 303-789-0007
Feb. 19: St. Anthony, 331 S. Third St., Sterling; 970-522-6422
Mar. 15: Our Lady of Loreto, 18000 E. Arapahoe Road, Foxfield; 303-766-3800
May 17: Holy Trinity, 7595 Federal Blvd., Westminster; 303-428-3594
May 27: St. Mary, 215 Capitol St., Edwards; 970-926-2821
June 7: Our Lady of Lourdes, 2298 S. Logan St., Denver; 303-722-6862