Christianity

Latin for "All creation (sc. omnis creatura) groans enduring hardships days and nights". From St. Ambrose's commentary on St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, on verse 8:22 ("scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemescit et parturit usque adhuc").

it may also indicate the holy grail, the chalice in which Jesus' blood was supposedly caught by Joseph of Arimethea so that the prophecy could be fulfilled, "Not a drop of his blood shall touch the ground." This would set Buck up as aligned with the feminine, and invoke Stephen/Jesus against the mother figure that will haunt in coming passages.

The bowl symbolises the chalice used in mass; introduces the "mockery of the mass" motif that will be present throughout the episode (and the book.)