Chalice

“ These are united by straps of pure gold. The stem is flanked by handles, which are inlaid with delicate arabesque in black enamel. Oriental pearls are set round the base and stem, which alternate with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. This chalice is a work of the Roman imperial epoch, and the mounts are of a later date.”
A series of Spanish chalices, beginning chronologically with specimens which date from the early Middle Ages, and terminating with the chalice, made in 1712, of Santa María la Blanca of Seville, was shown in 1892 at the Exposición Histórico-Europea of Madrid. ”

“ Page 95, fig. 25.—This design is to be seen in the chalice discovered in 1868, in a rath at Ardagh, Limerick, and described by the Earl of Dunraven (Trans. Royal Irish Acad. xxiv. Antiquities) . The chalice is made of gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper, and lead, and from the identity of its inscription and ornament with those of Irish MSS. of ascertained age, may be referred to a date ranging from the 5th to the 9th centuries. It is also adorned with squares of blue and red enamel of the same kind as that of the brooches from the Victoria Cave, figured in the coloured plate. ”

“ One can very well understand that the Church of St. Paul alone found a livelihood for thousands.
The inventory of church goods belonging to the Cathedral in 1245 exists, and is worth studying. It enumerates sixteen chalices, five of gold and the rest of silver-gilt. A chalice of Greek work had lost its paten, but retained its reed (calamus) , a [18] relic of the time when the deacon carried the chalice to the people, and each one drank of its hallowed contents through a long narrow pipe, which was usually fastened on a pivot to the bottom of the cup of the chalice. ”

“ If he has before him, on the corporal, in addition to the chalice, another vessel containing the Precious Blood, the priest places or leaves it duly covered, alongside the ciborium. Then he covers the chalice with the pall, and taking hold of the right-hand corner of the anterior portion of the corporal and lifting it up, he draws it carefully to his left, over the paten. Then over all, he spreads the silk veil. ”

“ Sepulchral brasses afford many interesting illustrations of the form of the chalice, and of the usage of its deposit in the tomb of a priest. The effigies of priests, at North Mimms, Herts, and Wensley, Yorkshire, supply very richly decorated examples. Both of these are of the fourteenth century, and a fine specimen is given by Mr. Shaw, from the memorial of a chancellor of Noyon Cathedral, who died 1358 [31] . Many other instances may readily be enumerated; most commonly the wafer is represented, placed over the chalice, and occasionally with rays radiating from it. ”

“ Such are the chalice of San Rosendo, proceeding from the old monastery of Celanova; the Gothic chalices of Tuy cathedral, Lugo cathedral, Santa María del Lucio, Santa Eulalia de Guilfrei, San Pedro de Puertomarín, and the Franciscan friars of Santiago; and the chalice and patine of Cebrero (twelfth century) , in which it is said that on a certain occasion in the fifteenth century the wine miraculously turned to actual blood, and the Host to actual flesh, in order to convince a doubting priest who celebrated service. ”

“ The chalice and the altar-vessels, which date from the very cradle of Christian worship, since without these sacred vases the fundamental services of the religion of Jesus Christ could not have been performed, perhaps owe it to this exceptional fact that they are not spoken of before the eleventh century (Fig. 21) . In truth, nowhere do we find an indication of their ordinary shape, nor of the mode of their manufacture in early times; but it is reasonable to suppose that the chalice originally was identical, as it was in times approaching nearer to our own, with the goblet of the ancients ”

“ About the same time one Purderve was put to death, for saying privately to a priest, after he had drunk the wine, "He blessed the hungry people with the empty chalice." ”

“ I have ceased to write my book—the more the pity for the world, not for me.
'June 26.—Marvellous to tell, the traitor, Ul-Jabal, has now placed another stone in the Edmundsbury chalice—also identical in nearly every respect with the original gem. This, then, was the object of his entry into my room yesterday. So that he has first stolen the real stone and replaced it by another; then he has stolen this other and replaced it by yet another; he has beside stolen the valueless stone from the modern chalice, and then replaced it. Surely a man gone rabid, a man gone dancing, foaming, raving mad! ”

“ The chalice is usually held between the hands, but sometimes it is placed upon the body, as in the figure of the priest at North Mimms, already noticed.
There is an incident in the history of our country, at a very interesting period, to which it may not be inappropriate to advert, in concluding these notices of the most sacred of the ornaments of churches. In the year 1193 the Emperor Henry had thrown Richard king of England into a dungeon in the Tyrol ”

“ In 1553, commissioners were appointed to visit the churches, chapels, guilds, and fraternities all over the kingdom and take inventories of their treasures, leaving to each parish church or chapel "one or two chalices according to the multitude of people." In Hereford Cathedral, amongst other valuable ornaments, was a chalice of gold weighing 22 lbs. ”

“ One day when he was preparing for the holy communion, a man, hideously deformed by leprosy, approached and asked to be allowed to partake of the chalice. Hesitating for a moment, he immediately called to mind the passage, ‘I will have mercy and not sacrifice,’ and permitted him to partake of it; the story adds that the Lord supplied the saint with another chalice. Molling died on 17 June, in the eighty-second year of his age. ”

“ And she seizes upon all estates of men, even upon the highest and noblest estate — the service of the sanctuary and the Divine priesthood — setting her abominable cup, as Daniel says, in the holy place, [6] and leaving scarcely a single strong man without making him to drink, either little or much, from the wine of this chalice, which is vain rejoicing. ”

“ The chalice is still more interesting, as it bears an old Lincoln hall-mark, of date about 1570; there are only eight other known examples of this period in the county.
The rectory is a commodious house, built in 1839, doubtless on the site of the former monastic grange; it stands in an extensive garden, embowered among trees of goodly growth. A fine oil painting at the present time adorns the entrance hall. It is reputed to be by Spagnoletto, and was formerly in the monastery of St. Jerome, in Lisbon. Its size is 5-ft. ”

“ There stands out—because of the tranquil beauty of its setting perhaps—a talk we had in the veranda of the little pavilion near my worksheds behind Crest Hill in which my aeroplanes and navigable balloons were housed. It was one of many similar conversations, and I do not know why it in particular should survive its fellows. It happens so. He had come up to me after his coffee to consult me about a certain chalice which in a moment of splendour and under the importunity of a countess he had determined to give to a deserving church in the east-end. ”

“ These large chalices furnished with handles were occasionally suspended in churches with coronæ and other ornaments, and are termed by Agnelli calices appensorii, they may be seen in the illuminations of the Bible of Charles le Chauve, and other MSS. In many cases the calices ansati appear to have been used as receptacles for wine, in place of the stoup or flagon of recent times; being ill suited, on account of their large dimensions, for the purpose of administration. ”

“ Thus perished, by the hands of a common felon, a memorial of the spot consecrated by the labours of some of the earliest Christian missionaries to the Pagan Caledonians, and which had probably survived the vicissitudes of upwards of ten centuries. In reply to inquiries made as to the existence of any drawing of the chalice, or even the possibility of a trustworthy sketch being executed from memory, a gentleman in Glasgow writes:—"I have no means of getting even a sketch from which to make a drawing. ”

“ It is ornamented with fine filigree work, forming zones and horse-shoe arches, in a similar style to that of the silversmiths' work of Asturias, which has never been completely abandoned in Spain. The author of the life of this saint, Fr. Juan de Castro, Madrid 1688, says, p. 297, that he does not consider it was ever used for the sacrifice of the mass, owing to its great height [13 inches] . The other chalice might have been seen until very lately at San Isidoro, Leon ”

“ A large number of the old chalices were also melted down and converted into Communion cupsduring the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth. Hence of all the vast store of church plate which our churches possessed before the Reformation, at the present time throughout all England only thirty-four chalices and seventy-three patens remain. It is true that not all the ancient vessels fell into the hands of the commissioners of the king. In the churchwardens’ account books of the period we read of sundry sales of church plate. Evidently the parishioners had some presentiment of the coming spoliation ”

“ On this hand is a chalet, with a vine climbing its wall and mantling its doorway; on that is a verdant knoll, planted a-top with chestnut trees; and from amidst their rich, massy foliage, the little spire of the church, with its glittering vane, looks forth. Near it is the curé's house, buried amidst flower-blossoms, the foliage of vines, and the shadows of the sycamore and chestnut. There is not a spot in the little valley which beauty has not clothed and decked with the most painstaking care; while grandeur has built up a wall all round, as if to keep out the storms that sometimes rage here. ”

“ A little excursion that I made this evening from the village of Lichtenthal towards the Waterfall, a winding glen, narrowing as you advance; wilder too, but not less peopled; every sheltered spot having its own dwelling-place—the picturesque chalet, with its far-stretching eave, and its quaint galleries of carved wood, its brightly shining windows sparkling between the clustering vine-leaves, and its frieze of Indian corn hung up beneath the roof to dry. Leaving the carriage, I followed the bank of the stream—just such a river as in my boyish days I loved to linger by, and fancy I was fishing. ”

“ The ordinary chalet turns a broad, honest gable end to the road, and its ample roof hovers over the home in a protecting caressing way, projecting its sheltering eaves far outward. The quaint windows are filled with little panes, and garnished with white muslin curtains, and brightened with boxes of blooming flowers. Across the front of the house, and up the spreading eaves and along the fanciful railings of the shallow porch, are elaborate carvings,—wreaths, fruits, arabesques, verses from Scripture, names, dates, etc. ”

“ My little park has been admirably laid out by the architect, who has surrounded it by hedges, walls, or ha-has, according to the lie of the land, so that no possible point of view may be lost.
A chalet has been built for me half-way up the hillside, with a charming exposure, having the woods of the Ronce on either side, and in front a grassy slope running down to the lake. Externally the chalet is an exact copy of those which are so much admired by travelers on the road from Sion to Brieg, and which fascinated me when I was returning from Italy. ”

“ The beautiful furniture picked up by Felipe looks very well in the parlor, which the architect has decorated most tastefully. Everything at the chalet is charmingly simple, with the simplicity which can't be got under a hundred thousand francs. Our ground-floor rests on cellars, which are built of millstone and embedded in concrete; it is almost completely buried in flowers and shrubs, and is deliciously cool without a vestige of damp. To complete the picture, a fleet of white swans sail over my lake!
Oh! Renee, the silence which reigns in this valley would bring joy to the dead! ”

“ You will calmly answer Chaillot that you have a message for his wife from one of the monks of Citeaux and that you must see her immediately. The miller will hasten to call up his worthy spouse. She will hasten to come to the door. The old busybody has always some secret matter in hand for the hypocrites of the abbey. From there on I shall have to rely upon your own wit, Seigneur Juggler, to give some plausible excuse for your nocturnal call and to keep Chaillotte as long as possible at the door with the charm of your conversational powers. ”

“ One does not find out what a hold the chalet has taken upon him, until he presently comes upon a new house—a house which is aping the town fashions of Germany and France, a prim, hideous, straight-up-and-down thing, plastered all over on the outside to look like stone, and altogether so stiff, and formal, and ugly, and forbidding, and so out of tune with the gracious landscape, and so deaf and dumb and dead to the poetry of its surroundings, that it suggests an undertaker at a picnic, a corpse at a wedding, a puritan in Paradise. ”