You may have noticed as the Tabernacle doors were closed at the end of the 1st Mass of the Resurrection at the Great Easter Vigil, that 2 angels now guard the presence of God on the High Altar. For many years I saw those Tabernacle doors as a place that needed just the right art to draw our attention to the Tabernacle as being the counterpart to the Ark of the Old Testament. The Ark had angels hovering above it to protect its contents. In the Old Testament we learn the Ark contained the Stone Tablets of the Ten Commandments and the jar of Manna from the wilderness journey of God's People. The Ark was kept in a Tent called the Tabernacle.

Our parish Church High Altar now has 2 angels on the Tabernacle doors. It was quite by accident that I saw these angels, which are of Spanish-Philipino artistry. The Angel on the left as you face the doors is holding a scroll which is reminiscent of the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God and in modern Synagogues they keep their treasured Scrolls of the Torah, God's Word written, behind such doors. The second angel, on the right as you face the tabernacle, holds a fish. The fish is an early symbol that Christians used to designate if there were other believers in the catacombs. It became an acronym because the Greek word for fish is Icthus, which in the Greek alphabet is the first letter of the words for the phrase 'Jesus Christ, son of God, Lord & Savior'. They did this by drawing an arc, and if other Christians were present they'd see it and complete the symbol by making a corresponding arc which made a fish-like picture. The fish also reminded the early Church of the Miracle of the fish and loaves, a story to symbolize the Miracle of the Holy Eucharist.

Each angel could also be seen as an Archangel: Gabriel with the scroll and Raphael with the fish (from a story in the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha). To enhance the whole project our sexton learned how to do gold leafing. The practice can be seen in the beautiful tracery done on the Chapel Altar and then with great skill on the gothic tracery of the Tabernacle doors. One of the greatest compliments I heard about this work was that "I didn't even realize the angels were not always there, they look like they have always meant to be there."