Chalices?

[Ace86]

I’m really curious. How do priests get their chalices? Don’t they personally own and take care of them? How do they pay for them? Or does the parish pay for them? I know they must cost some significant amount of money, because most of them are gold or silver with jewels.

 

[SMHW]

I think chalices (and probably other matching
vessels) have been a traditional ordination gifts. I would think they still are.

And most parishes have chalices that belong to the parish. No doubt some parishes buy them using the ‘liturgical fund’ and other parishes receive the chalices as gifts. Sometimes a parishioner will give a designated monetary gift.

I don’t think there is any single answer to your question.

 

[Michael_Welter]

I don’t think there is any single answer to your question.

You are correct, there are many answers.

Every priest I know has received a nice chalice at ordination. And yes, most parishes also have their own chalices. A few years ago, our parish collected donations to buy a nice chalice as a going away present for a priest who was leaving the parish.

Keep in mind, also, that most priests receive a salary, and can also purchase their own chalice if they find one that really touches them. I saw some beautiful ones in Catholic stores when I visited Rome.

 

[lak611]

In many cases, a priest will receive his chalice and paten as a gift from his parents when he is ordained. Just like when a man gets married, his parents will give a wedding gift; the same thing will usually happen when a man chooses a vocation as a priest.

 

[LilyM]

I know they must cost some significant amount of money, because most of them are gold or silver with jewels.

Actually the only requirement is that the inside of the vessels be plated with precious metal. Which isn’t necessarily very costly - it can be a very thin coating, like with inexpensive jewellery. Otherwise the vessels can be any metal, and they vary a great deal in price. This site, for example, has them as low as $50 for a chalice and paten (the plate that the priest places the host on)

 

[Brendan]

Actually the only requirement is that the inside of the vessels be plated with precious metal. Which isn’t necessarily very costly - it can be a very thin coating, like with inexpensive jewellery. Otherwise the vessels can be any metal,

The chalice must also be made of a nobel, and unbreakable material.

 

[Brain]

Not a law, but as a practical matter, a “good” chalice has a base wider than the bowl and a bowl that is relitavely deep and a bowl with very sudden (not curly) lip so you can drink out of it as these things minimize spilling of the Precious Blood.

 

[jlr247]

Wow… my parish uses a bunch of glass wineglasses (except for one gold chalice that the priest uses); I didn’t know about all this stuff…

 

[mystified]

The Knights of Columbus have a tradition of providing chalices, in memory of deceased members, to priests who need them.

 

[pnewton]

The chalice must also be made of a nobel, and unbreakable material.

We received at our parish a beutiful set of porcelan chalices in memory of a deceased member,… a month before Redemptonis Saramentum came out. We had already given the others away to some mission. To the priest credit, he started scratching for money and bought a new gold set in a few months.

 

[CRW]

I’m really curious. How do priests get their chalices? Don’t they personally own and take care of them? How do they pay for them? Or does the parish pay for them? I know they must cost some significant amount of money, because most of them are gold or silver with jewels.

A lot of good answers. At our Church, many have been donated in memory of decease family members.

Cecil

 

[introibo]

All the priests I’ve ever known personally have received them as ordination gifts from their parents (as stated earlier). A dear priest friend had his parents’ wedding rings affixed to the base of his chalice, interlocked, after they had both passed away.

 

[Gentile]

We received at our parish a beutiful set of porcelan chalices in memory of a deceased member,… a month before Redemptonis Saramentum came out. We had already given the others away to some mission. To the priest credit, he started scratching for money and bought a new gold set in a few months.

Good for your priest. Too bad someone did not advise those who bought the other chalices. The GIRM has long specificed chalice particulars, well before RS.

 

[FrCorey]

I’m really curious. How do priests get their chalices? Don’t they personally own and take care of them? How do they pay for them? Or does the parish pay for them? I know they must cost some significant amount of money, because most of them are gold or silver with jewels.

they are mostly owned by the diocese or the church they are in.

 

[wannabee]

The RC Church I used to attend had several Chalices that belonged to the Church but each Priest had their own as well.

The personal ones were usually Ordination presents .

It was also the practice that when a priest died his personal Chalice was either left in the Parish or was given to his family . Many times though, these chalices were given to some Priests before their ordination if they were unable to get their own - or the family could not provide them as gifts

 

[Bobby_Jim]

I happened to see a catalog of church supplies recently with communion cups chalices… they ranged from about $50 for a simple pewter or brass cup, maybe $200 for pewter/brass with a thin gold plating on the cup, all the way up to $5000 or more for a really nice decorative gold chalice with jewels and all.

Most priests I know do have one nice chalice that they received as a gift. If the Precious Blood is to be distributed to the faithful during Mass, the church usually has a collection of simpler matching cups. As a matter of practicality/cost I think pewter is pretty common these days, and although it can be attractive I don’t think it counts as a “noble” material. But from far away, it can be hard to tell if you’re looking at pewter vs. sterling silver, or brass vs. gold.

 

[mgy100]

They’re gifts, or owned by the parish, or bought by the priest.
Sofrino makes some wonderful chalices at a decent price if anyone is thinking about a gift to their parish.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Years ago, the parish I attended was celebrating their centennial. They asked all the parishioners to donate their old jewelry, in order to have a special chalice made. There was a company that would take the jewelry and melt down the gold and create a new chalice and then they would glue in the precious stones around the outside. It was beautiful!

Jim

 

[lak611]

Years ago, the parish I attended was celebrating their centennial. They asked all the parishioners to donate their old jewelry, in order to have a special chalice made. There was a company that would take the jewelry and melt down the gold and create a new chalice and then they would glue in the precious stones around the outside. It was beautiful!

Jim

Too bad you don’t have a picture of that chalice.