The Bisbee Vine at St. Patrick Church
The Rest of the Story . . .
The rest of the story involves the chalice, the church, matrimony, lighting and more. Originally the small church, above the grape vine, was to have represented the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. The sepia bride and groom, standing at the church entrance, have been replaced with copper lettering identifying HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS.
In a way it brings to mind the Catholic teaching that we
(The Church/humanity) are
the bride and Christ is our Bridegroom.
Most importantly,
Christ gave us His very own
Body and Blood
on the same night
He gave His Farewell Address.
A most fitting setting
for the chalice
that produced the grapes.
The unserviceable chalice that formed each of the grapes has been re-plated, cut in half and placed in the small brick church together with an unconsecrated altar bread wafer symbolizing a communion host.
The wafer, before being attached to mounting screws, was preserved in clear epoxy, then anchored
into the concrete wall above the chalice.
Picture of cross prior to being mounted in concrete above the brick church.
Lithik Construction graciously volunteered both crew & equipment to install the cross.
As it turned out it only took 2 Lithik guys, a tall ladder, and Kevin to place the cross.
Tough as it is, concrete still weathers over the years and this concrete wall already has over 100 years of weathering. Modern-day thinking suggests that a urethane-fortified-concrete-clear-protective-sealant would go a long way in pro-tecting the colors and textures of the concrete. But what would it do to the copper plaques. Who knows? Taking pre-cautions to protect the copper plaques they were covered with cardboard. This protection also kept them from public viewing until The Bisbee Vine was truly complete. Thus the message:
N OT Y E T B U T S O O N S T. P A T ’S W I L L S E T T H E DATE…… A P R I L 17
SLIDE SHOW
Holy Thursday 2025
The slide show features the unveiling of
The Bisbee Vine
done at noon on April 17, 2025
commemorating the anniversary of
HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS
given by Jesus at the Last Supper
St. Patrick Church, with the interior lights on in the evening, stands above The Bisbee Vine
