Saint Joachim's Church

The Sanctuary is the heart of the church, the "Holy of Holies," the center of every liturgical celebration where the altar is located. It is set aside from the rest of the church structure and is reserved for the priests and the ministers directly involved in the liturgical service.

In the Temple of Jerusalem the Sanctuary was separated from the main body of the Temple by a curtain which hung from the ceiling to the floor. Behind the curtain was situated the altar of sacrifice, the Ark of the Covenant, the staff of Aaron, and a jar of manna. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter. When Jesus died on the Cross, the curtain of the Temple "was torn from top to bottom" as all three synoptic Gospels point out. This symbolic occurance has been interpreted by the Church to signify that the death of Jesus removed the veil of mystery separating God from men, thus allowing man to have free access to Him as to a father.

The main altar in our church is one solid block of granite from Norway. This emerald pearl altar weighs 11 tons and was used for the first time on Easter Sunday 1958. Relics of the martyrs are sealed in the four corners of the altar while a relic of the Holy Cross is in the center. These relics call to mind the custom of the first Christians to celebrate Mass on the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs, and most importantly that the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the re-enactment of the Last Supper ("Do this in memory of me") and of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The altar of sacrifice is always in the form of a table since this is our family table around which we gather to receive our spiritual food and drink, the Body and Blood of Christ. The solid block of granite is symbolic of Christ, "the stone which the builders rejected."

The art work and sculpture of the main altar is by the Brioschi Studio of St. Paul, Minnesota. The face of Christ in front of the altar is the exact reproduction of the image found on the Holy Shroud of Turin.

Beyond the altar, flanked on either side by six emerald pearl columns, is the Tabernacle, spheric in shape and made of rare Peloponnesian white crystalline marble. It was designed by the architect Kazuo Goto, produced by Italian artists and installed in 1966. The big "V" for Victory above it points to the tabernacle where Jesus Christ still lives among us, just as He had promised. "And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!" (Matt. 28:20)

The Tabernacle was the special "tent" in which God chose to dwell among his people as they journeyed for forty years in the desert. (Exodus 25:8; 26:1-35) In Catholic church architecture, the Tabernacle is the place where the Blessed Sacrament, the living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, is reserved. According to present church law, "the one tabernacle should be immovable, be made of solid and inviolable material that is not transparent, and be locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is prevented to the greatest extent possible."

The spheric form of the Tabernacle in our church indicates the earth, the world, the universe, of which God is the center, living among us to support and sustain our human existence.