“…Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people: For, this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord …” (Luke 2: 10-11)

After completing the structural work on this chalice in time for Father's First Mass, I finished the details embellishing the surface and made these photographs at 5:00 a.m. on the morning of December 25th, his first Christmas as a priest.

Father had five themes that he wanted incorporated into his chalice: his devotions to Christ Crucified, Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, St. Martin of Tours, St. Anthony of Padua, and the Gospel verse: "I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

While considering various chalice profiles that could accommodate all these themes, I came across a photo of a chalice that had been fashioned for Pope St. John Paul II. I was particularly drawn to it, because several years earlier I had made a gift to His Holiness of my final project for my undergraduate degree (my first chalice) when I traveled to Rome on a pilgrimage with my choir.

From both a technical and aesthetic perspective, that chalice had been very much a mere essay in the art, but I am still pleased that I was able to offer the first fruits of my work to our Lord in the person of His vicar on earth. When I showed the photo to Father, he liked it very much, and so I patterned his chalice closely after it, employing Celtic motifs rather than the classical ones that master smith had used.

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Should that master artisan ever happen to come across these images of my version of his marvelous design, I thank him profusely for everything he taught me through the experience of trying to approximate his excellent work!