There are of course other articles of vesture that are worn. They too have symbolic (and functional) purposes but do not necessarily have vesting prayers connected with them.
A cope is worn during times of great solemnity. It is most often seen during Benediction and Stations of the Cross. The flap that hangs in the back used to be a functional hood but has been reduced to an ornamental piece today. The cope signifies innocence, purity, and d
ignity.
A humeral veil is often used in conjunction with the cope during Benediction or during Eucharistic processions. It covers the hands of the priest as he touches the monstrance. You will also notice that when the priest lifts his arms for Benediction the humeral veil has the effect of blocking the view of the priest almost completely as attention is drawn solely to the Eucharistic presence of our Lord.
A bishop’s hat is
called a Miter. It is vaguely connected to the hats worn by the Jewish high priests in ancient times which denoted their authority. It has two “horns” which symbolize the two rays of light that emanated from the head of Moses when he received the 10 commandments. They also mark the old and New Testaments. The flaps (or fanons) that hang down the back are symbolic of the spirit and the letter of the law of the Testaments.
A cope is worn during times of great solemnity. It is most often seen during Benediction and Stations of the Cross. The flap that hangs in the back used to be a functional hood but has been reduced to an ornamental piece today. The cope signifies innocence, purity, and d
ignity.A humeral veil is often used in conjunction with the cope during Benediction or during Eucharistic processions. It covers the hands of the priest as he touches the monstrance. You will also notice that when the priest lifts his arms for Benediction the humeral veil has the effect of blocking the view of the priest almost completely as attention is drawn solely to the Eucharistic presence of our Lord.
A bishop’s hat is
called a Miter. It is vaguely connected to the hats worn by the Jewish high priests in ancient times which denoted their authority. It has two “horns” which symbolize the two rays of light that emanated from the head of Moses when he received the 10 commandments. They also mark the old and New Testaments. The flaps (or fanons) that hang down the back are symbolic of the spirit and the letter of the law of the Testaments.
Deacons wear what is called a dalmatic. A long tunic like vestment with sleeves is in the form of the Cross and refers to the Passion of Christ. It symbolizes joy, salvation, and justice.
7 comments:
A humeral veil....covers the hands of the priest as he touches the monstrance.
I always thought that was so weird as a kid. What does that mean? Is it because what you're touching is sacred, or is it just to block our view of you?
Thank you mentioning the dalmatic... This is something I have been thinking about writing something up on...
I have never seen a Roman deacon wear a Dalmatic except for a priestly ordination...
In every midwestern parish I have attended with a deacon present, they have simply vested in stole and alb & cincture... As far as I can tell, that is not proper, but it is terribly common.
What is the story on that?
a simple sinnner ~ Thanks for bringing that up. I was thinking the same thing, racking my brain to consider if I've EVER seen a Deacon in a dalmatic. I didn't know that the common vestment of stole and alb is not proper.
Fr. V. ~ Thanks for going over all of this. It has made me pay more attention to the vestments at Mass, Benediction, etc.,
Sparky -
The humeral veil is used when carrying certain sacred objects out of reverence - but most importantly at benediction it covers the hands of the priest so that it is more clear that it is Christ - NOT the priest - that is giving the blessing.
Simple Sinner and Adoro - The dalmatic is the normative vestment worn by the deacon at mass. Perhpas the most universal reason you do not see them wearing one is because of the expense. It is to match the vestment of the priest. So if the priest owns his own vestments he won't have the matching piece and the deacon won't invest in it because the priest or he may eventually be transfered.
Another alternative is for the parish to purchace all of the vestments. But it may be that the parish already owns vestments without matching dalmatics. The second is that it is just plain expensive and if you are having to choose between staying in the black or deciding between a matching stole or dalmatic, many a pastor might be inclined just to purchace the stole.
Practicalities tend to trump art, aesthetics, and symbols.
UPDATE:
While searching for something else I came across this in a more recent book about the mitre. It is now thought there is NO connection between in and the Levitical High Priesthood. It is now thought to be connected to pre-Christian Greece "most likely derived from the cap worn by athletes . . ." "The Church Visible" James-Charles Noonan, Jr.
Now that I've thought about it more, I have seen the dalmatic...at St. Agnes at the Latin High Mass, and at Holy Family on Holy Thursday a few years ago. Those parishes are VERY traditional. They both celebrate the Novus Ordo, the former in both Latin and English, the latter in English only (maybe with added Latin...dunno, haven't been there lately), and I've also seen the dalmatic at St. Charles Borromeo where we have our classes. Very traditional church.
So...it seems the less traditional parishes either have them and don't use them due to the non-matching issue, or it could be financial. It seems, though, that those churches that lean towards the tradition are willing to pay the money for what's needed to honor God properly.
Just an observation.
"Another alternative is for the parish to purchace all of the vestments. But it may be that the parish already owns vestments without matching dalmatics. The second is that it is just plain expensive and if you are having to choose between staying in the black or deciding between a matching stole or dalmatic, many a pastor might be inclined just to purchace the stole. "
OF course this is a somewhat fair and reasonable consideration on the face of it... I can't help but wonder if the cost would be that prohibitive if it were a matter of adding one dalmatic a year - starting out with one as an ordination set...
I grew up in a parish were some very ugly modern polyester vestments were the norm... One wonders how much it would have cost to match to those... I also recall some expenditures that seemed less reasonable still than properly vesting the clergy for Mass.
All in all, I could see this being an issue for some of the time... For the rest of the time? Not as easy...
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