‘Can you drink the cup?’
KERNERSVILLE — A love of clay and his Catholic faith served as inspiration for local artist Peter Strafaci to create 100 unique, hand-thrown pottery chalices.
His 2016 collection, the “One Hundred Chalices Exhibit,” has been displayed at parishes, Christian churches and faith-based conferences.
The chalices feature variations of colored glazes, and no two are the same. Chalices hold a special place in Christian worship, as Jesus offered the chalice to His disciples in the upper room during the Last Supper, just hours before His crucifixion.
Strafaci offers a presentation – “Can You Drink the Cup?” – for those interested. It is based on both a book he read with the same title by Father Henri Nouwen and on Matthew 20:20-23. In this Scripture passage, Jesus questions the sons of Zebedee: “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?”
“The cup that Jesus speaks about is neither a symbol of victory nor a symbol of death,” Strafaci explains. “It is a symbol of life, filled with sorrows and joys that we can hold, lift and drink as a blessing and a way to salvation.”
Artist Peter Strafaci throws some pottery at his studio in this undated photo. (Photo provided)Strafaci says the chalices took about 10 months to create. He threw the stems and cups separately, in batches of 12 or 13 at a time. “They were created with very little mishap,” he recalls. “I sensed the Lord blessed this work, as I have been working with pottery for over 50 years.”
He estimates it took at least 40 minutes to create each chalice on the potter’s wheel and additional time to glaze each one before firing it in the kiln.
Strafaci admits he did have one providential mishap when he was transporting the exhibit in 2016 that has reaped unforeseen spiritual benefits for his audience. A box of chalices was damaged, and four of the chalices used in the exhibit were broken.
“It dawned on me to take the four broken chalices and make them still part of the 100. This represents the brokenness in each of us,” he explains. “I’ve kept those four chalices to use them to illustrate this point.”
Strafaci says that for smaller groups he begins his presentation by inviting participants to select one chalice to take back to their seat to hold during the presentation for contemplation.
Reactions to the exhibit over the years have been very positive. Mary Martha Douglas, Women’s Bible study coordinator of St. Leo Church in Winston-Salem, helped bring the exhibit to the parish last February.
“I found your talk to be thought provoking, reflective, healing, comforting, inspiring and grounded in Scripture,” she wrote to Strafaci after his presentation.
“Ultimately, you left us with a message of hope and peace for which we are most grateful.”
Now that parishes are resuming normal activities in the wake of the pandemic, Strafaci hopes to share the exhibit with more people across the diocese.
“I’m not there to sell my pottery,” he emphasizes. “I just want to share the exhibit and encourage them with my talk if requested.”
— SueAnn Howell
Host the exhibit
Host the exhibitIf your parish, group or ministry would like to host the “One Hundred Chalices Exhibit” (with or without the presentation), contact Peter Strafaci at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 336-402-8639.
Visit www.peterstrafaci.blogspot.com to learn more about his work.
Music amid death
Music composed during World War II encompasses an extraordinary amount of works spanning the globe, from the Seventh Symphony (the “Leningrad”) of Dmitri Shostakovich to Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time,” but music played by concentration camp orchestras may be the most poignant and heartbreaking.
Several prominent Jewish composers and musicians persecuted by the Nazi regime fled Europe, but many were imprisoned and/or murdered in the concentration camps. A small few were able to survive by playing in musical ensembles.
This month, the Church celebrates the feast of two saints who perished in Auschwitz: St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) and St. Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942). It is nearly certain both heard the orchestral ensembles there before their executions. (Worth noting also is the recently canonized St. Titus Brandsma (1881-1942), a priest murdered in Dachau, whose feast day is July 27.)
Auschwitz housed two separate “Lagerkapellen” (camp orchestras) – one each for men and women. Unlike the men’s orchestra, which was comprised primarily of professional musicians, the “Mädchenorchester” was mainly amateurs. The women were not assigned to a work detail because their time was dedicated to rehearsing under their primary conductor, fellow inmate and acclaimed violinist Alma Rosé, the niece of Gustav Mahler.
Cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch has spoken extensively of her time in the orchestra. In numerous interviews, she explains that the ensemble’s location was Block 12, near a crematorium. The music was clearly audible by the new arrivals as well as those directed towards the gas chambers – likely the music St. Teresa Benedicta heard in her final hours. One of Lasker-Wallfish’s most well-known stories is a personal request by Dr. Josef Mengele, the “Angel of Death,” for “Träumerie” from Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen.”
The men’s orchestra played light German marches while the other male prisoners were marched out to work details. Because they were professional musicians, they did not have extensive rehearsal time and following the morning procession, they, too, were sent on work details. Undoubtedly during St. Maximilian Kolbe’s short time in Auschwitz, he heard this ensemble in this capacity each morning and evening. Less likely to be heard were the weekly Sunday concerts, which were reserved for guards and high-ranking inmates.
Szymon Laks, a composer and violinist, published his experiences in the “Auschwitz Orchestra in Music of Another World.” Laks was eventually saved from work detail when he became a “Notenschrieber” (music copyist). Later, he became the conductor of the orchestra. In his writing, he explains the difficulty in arranging music for an ensemble that was consistently changing due to severe illness, gassing or suicide. Another challenge, according to Laks, was communication between musicians since the personnel spoke numerous languages.
Oftentimes, it is assumed that music brought great comfort and brief respites from the horror of camp life. While this may have been somewhat true for the musicians, the players of both ensembles state this was not the case for the other inmates. In “Children of the Flames,” Judith Yagudah, a Hungarian twin experimented on by Mengele, recalled “Mengele took us to a concert once. I still remember it – because it was so awful. It was held just outside our compound.
The orchestra was made up entirely of women prisoners. Listening to them play was heartbreaking. It reminded us so much of normal life ... the life we’d had before ... the life that other people still led.”
Yagudah survived the Holocaust but for other countless souls, these orchestral pieces were the last music they would hear on earth.
While reflecting on the lives of Sts. Maximilian and Teresa Benedicta, the latter’s words remain timeless: “Each finite creature can reflect only a fraction of the divine nature; thus, in the diversity of His creatures, God’s infinity, unity and oneness appear to be broken into an effulgence of manifold rays.” She reminds the faithful to truly love our neighbor – not in spite of our diversity, but because of it.
— Christina L. Reitz
Pictured: An undated photo of a prisoners’ orchestra during a Sunday concert for the SS guards at Auschwitz. The orchestra was probably conducted by the inmate Franciszek Nierychlo. (Photo courtesy of Music and the Holocaust)
Learn more
At www.holocaustmusic.ort.org: Learn more about music during the Holocaust, including original works, talented composers and artists, and the memory of concentration camp orchestras
Listen online
Listen to a piano performance of “Träumerie” from Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen”