I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit (John 15).

This image of the vine and branches is the theme of our tabernacle which was commissioned by Jeanne and Duane Kurapka and designed by two local artists, Rick Sterringer and David Denner. Each of the leaves on the vine were hand-cut and formed to grow around the wooden base. The tabernacle was installed and blessed on June 19, 2022 for the Feast of Corpus Christi (translated means Body of Christ).

The wood and metal artwork captures the Eucharistic imagery communicated in John’s Gospel passage. It most appropriate for a tabernacle which is the sacred container that holds consecrated (blessed) bread and wine.The artwork surrounding our tabernacle is not only Eucharistic in tone, but it captures Hildegard’s theological concept of viriditas (translated from Latin it means, greening power), which permeates her writings.

In one of Hildegard’s letters to a cleric (1173 -1179), she had a vision of a tabernacle made from wood and metal among other materials. While our tabernacle is not an exact replica of this vision (for example, we do not have marble in ours), this vision serves as inspiration for ours.  In this referenced letter, Hildegard wrote,

“In a true vision, I saw a tabernacle built with marble walls, whose timbers were made of cypress exhaling an aroma suffused with myrrh, and its silver beams shone with the color of carnelian… and the foundation of the tabernacle was made of steel. The walls of this tabernacle represent a person’s moral and holy gaze which can never have enough of gazing at the sweetness of God. The timbers signify the sighs of the heart with which one sighs to God in heaven… The meaning of the foundation of steel is that all these things must be done in the fear of God, since a person who fears God also embraces God in love, taking care not to offend God…”

Many find comfort in taking time to sit in the presence of the tabernacle in meditative prayer. Through these moments of “gazing at the sweetness of God” in private adoration, one often finds peace and healing. The tabernacle light is kept burning as a reminder that God is indeed present here with us in so many diverse ways, including in the everyday elements of consecrated bread and wine.