All of God’s created world offers a part of themselves for the offering of the Holy Mass. So far, we have seen how animals and plants give their fruits and even their very selves to worship God. Let us now see how the earth and all the non-living but purposefully created bodies and objects within our universe make an offering to God.

Starting with the most tangibly heavy thing: marble and other natural stones. These stones, known for their weight, natural beauty, and ability to be sculpted and cut into patterns, are used to adorn and construct our sanctuaries and altars, the pedestals God incarnate is placed upon and resides. Their weight is symbolic of the Church’s firm foundation in Christ and as an anchor in the turbulent times of our lives.

Brass and bronze are utilized to create altar furnishings such as candlesticks, bells, crucifixes, and other objects to create durable and beautiful fixtures for the church.

Gold or silver are melted down and purified and used to plate the vessels that come into direct contact with our Lord, such as the chalice, ciborium, paten, and tabernacle. Just as the Magi gave gold to the infant Jesus to recognize his Royal Kingship, we do likewise, giving him a throne of precious metals and gems to sit upon.

Salt is used by the Church to bless things, especially physical locations, as a guard against demonic forces. The salt is first exorcised and blessed by a priest and then is either sprinkled around inside a building or planted in the ground. This exorcised salt can also be mixed into holy water as well to create exorcised holy water.

Chalk is blessed and put to work by the church to bless things, primarily doorways, each year on Epiphany, inscribing a blessing prayer on the lintel or horizontal beam above a door, alluding to the symbolic and scriptural importance of doorways’ lintels.

Finally, sunlight. It gives life to all of God’s living creatures, and it illuminates the stained glass we install into our holy spaces, filling the interiors of a beautiful array of colors. The church uses sunlight and its absence in very symbolic ways throughout the liturgical year, from the sunrise at a Rorate Caeli mass in Advent to the natural darkness of the Easter Vigil, lit instead by the flame of the Paschal Candle. Light and dark.

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