"BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!"

Close-up of the Lamb of God medallion on our altar.

One of the events listed on our erase board yesterday was the placement of the Lamb of God medallion (sculpted in marble by Sr. Mary Grace, O.P., of our Corpus Christi Monastery, Bronx, NY) on our altar. Due to the noisy and dusty nature of the work, the Blessed Sacrament was moved into our chapter hall after Mass, where we prayed the Office and continued our Rosary Guard until Vespers. No one minded the temporary arrangement because our Eucharistic King was so very close to us, enthroned in our exquisite, custom-made monstrance.

Anthony, Sr. Denise Marie, and Sergio around the Lamb.

Sergio, and his assistant, Anthony (a student at the Art Institute of New York) showed up a little after 10 a.m. and quickly got to work on sanding, smoothing out, and polishing the hammered marble background surface of the empty medallion in the front of the altar, a long and painstaking process. The existing border also had to be trimmed. Then, in the afternoon, three holes were drilled into the altar, and three steel rods cemented into the Lamb medallion so it could be inserted (and plastered) into the altar.

Sacristan Sr. Judith Miryam traveled out to the sanctuary several times to check on the work's progress. When the medallion was in place, Sister was so happy that she felt like blurting out, "Behold! the Lamb of God!" However, she restrained and confined herself to a very wide and radiant smile. Afterwards, a few of the sisters peeked out to see the Lamb, all marveling at its beauty and "rightness." One sister expressed it best when she said, "It looks like it has always been there." The Lamb is not only lovely to behold close up but is also very striking to see as you enter the chapel.

Another view.

We invited Ellie Culver, our volunteer on duty in the
front office that afternoon, to take a closer look.
Ellie, an artist, declared the Lamb to be
"absolutely beautiful!"

Sr. Judith Miryam was prepared for a major clean-up of the sanctuary but there was barely any dust to be seen, and the little dust that was present was expertly vanquished by a dynamic duo of "Dustbuster Nuns," Sr. Denise Marie and Sr. Angela.

Sr. Denise Marie is ready for some
serious dustbusting action!

"Who ya gonna call? DUSTBUSTERS!"

Fastest dustbuster in the East!

Even Sr. Maria made a small contribution!

We are thankful to Sr. Mary Grace and our sisters at Corpus Christi Monastery for this magnificent Jubilee gift, and grateful for the excellent craftsmanship and professionalism of Sergio and Anthony. Blessed be God in all His gifts!