The end of spring is always marked in our calendar by priestly ordinations. This year, when they have been postponed after a very difficult year, it has been a source of hope for us that the normal rhythm of life was recovering in our Workshops, precisely while we were preparing the orders that the future priests had given us for such a transcendental day.
A few days ago, one of the ordinands wrote us some words of gratitude that touched us deeply: "Seeing how well done your work is helps me to prepare myself for these days". And that is the mission that, above all, was proposed for our company by its founder, Don Felix Granda, who was not only an artist but also a priest: "That the priest, in showing his church, his sacred vessels, his objects of art, give him the reason to speak of Christ, to whose worship they are consecrated. Let everything in the temple teach Christ."
We share today, as a sample, some of the liturgical objects that we have made for them during these months.
Pallia for an orderly, hand-embroidered in the Artisan Workshop of Los Rosales (Talleres de Arte GRANDA)
This pallia is hand-embroidered with fine gold cords, and hand-embroidered with natural silk threads. It shows two peacocks leaning over the Chrismon, symbol of Christ. The peacocks symbolize the immortal souls of the believers, since in Antiquity it was believed that their flesh did not corrupt. In Paleochristian and Romanesque art, in whose artistic forms this design is inspired, they are usually represented picking grapes, in allusion to the Eucharist. Don Félix Granda used this iconography a lot, precisely placing them around the Chrismon.
Chalice with special enamels representing John Paul II and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Enamels of St. John Paul II and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (detail)
The chalice, one of the many that we have had the good fortune to make these weeks, is made of silver and gilded silver, carved and chiseled by hand. On its base there are two enamels made especially for this piece, fired and painted over enamel. In them are represented Saint John Paul II and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
