Brendan Cronin’s chalice-throwing during Mass turns his crisis of faith into a public, physical act of protest. Remembered later while he cares for Emmy, the outburst links his anger at innocent suffering to a deeper conflict: he is profoundly moved by children’s courage, but that feeling does not persuade him that a compassionate God exists.

Causes and Background

Two Sundays before Brendan’s later visit with Emmy, he had been at Mass at St. Bette’s when his rage over suffering broke through. His anger was not simple indifference to faith: he was deeply affected by what innocent children endured. Yet their courage did not restore his belief in God, nor did the possibility of divine compassion console him. The gap between his response to human resilience and his inability to believe becomes the pressure behind the outburst.

The Outburst

At Mass, Brendan hurled a sacred chalice against the wall. The act gave outward force to a conflict otherwise carried inwardly: anger at suffering, grief for those who endure it, and a faith that could not make that suffering intelligible to him. The chalice, an object of worship, became the instrument of his defiance; the gesture made his crisis visible within the ritual setting where belief might ordinarily be affirmed.

Aftermath and Significance

The memory returns when Brendan is caring for Emmy. He strokes her hair, lifts her from her wheelchair, and settles her into bed, taking care as he draws the covers over her bent legs. Her courage has moved him, but it has not answered his doubts. As he feels the same rage that filled him at Mass, he thinks that if a chalice were near, he would hurl it at the wall again. The recurrence shows that the outburst was not a resolved episode: compassion draws Brendan toward the suffering child, while anger at the suffering itself continues to strain his faith.