Sacred Signs
by Romano Guardini

THE CHALICE

YEARS ago, and only once, I came upon a chalice. The chalice. I

had of course seen many chalices, but this one was not only

seeing; it was a meeting, an encounter. It was at Beuron when a

kindly monk in charge of the sacred vessels was showing me the

treasures of the sacristy.

The broad base it stood on adhered firmly to the ground. The

stem, sharp, spare and delicately thin, seemed to lift itself

with compressed force and carrying power. A little more than half

way up it expanded in a knob, and then at the top, first

confining its strength in a narrow ring or band in orderly

compression, it broke out into a wealth of foliation, finely cut

but strong, in which lay the cup, the heart of the chalice.

From this chalice I caught a glimpse of the meaning of the

sacrament. The sure-footed base, the long shaft molded to carry

weight, the disciplined, ingathered strength blossoming out into

a cup, open but enclosed, could signify but one thing: to receive

and retain.

The pure and holy vessel of the mystery receives and guards in

its dimly shining depths the divine drops of the gracious,

fruitful blood, which is sheer fire, sheer love.

I had a further thought, an insight or rather, an intuition. The

chalice represents the created universe. That universe has but

one purpose and one final meaning: man, the living creature, with

his soul and body and his restless heart...Saint Augustine has a

great saying: "That which makes a man to be what he is is his

capacity to receive God and hold him fast."