Wednesday 2 December 2009

Advent I




Just to share some quick snaps from the Sacristy after Mass last Sunday, where the new folded chasubles were premiered. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Aidan Harkers, assisted by Fr Philip as Deacon and Br Andrew as Subdeacon.

Just to steal an observation made by Rubricarius, as any Bishop who uses his vesting prayers should know, the dalmatic is the "garment of salvation, and the vestment of joy" and the tunicle is the "tunic of joyfulness". Surely then, the use of the Dalmatic and Tunicle in Advent is entirely inappropriate?

11 comments:

  1. Hello there!
    I hadn't seen stitched-up chasubles for a while... I'm impressed!
    I know about the vesting prayers thing. However, the 'joy' they symbolize is the joy of being servants to God's people and also the joy of the faith in the Resurrection. I don't think these joys are thrumped by advent or lent or requiems.

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  2. No but I think the Roman rite has a specific and rich liturgical vocabulary which has been lost by the reforms. For instance, Requiems and Good Friday are both black, but at a requiem you wear Dalmatic and Tunicle because the resurrection is, in a sense, made present by the Sacrifice. On Good Friday, the Sacrifice isn't offered.

    Advent and Lent share a "liturgical vocabulary" with other liturgies in violet, such as the votive masses for the propogation of the faith or for peace, since violet has those connotations of "expectation" or "watching", but equally these seasons are differentiated by the folded chasuble, an explicitly penitential vestment.

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  3. Personally I prefer the Henry VII chasuble from The Field of the Cloth of Gold.

    Kindly consider yourself duly blog-spammed.

    Rory

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  4. I wonder if this is the kind of rig that'll be worn in the Anglicanorum Coetibus Ordinariate(s)? You certainly won't find any in a 'normal' Catholic parish. Aside from the fact that they look ridiculous, they don't do the Anglo Catholic cause any favours. Most RCs just look at that and think "I told you so!". It's a shame, really. But, I suppose it's really not that important. Hmm, something for me to ponder I think.

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  5. The Henry VII chasuble is beautiful, as is the cope which goes with it. Br Roger Houghton, in the 1950s, did much restoration work on them.

    I thought that if 'folded' chasubles were to be worn that the Deacon's had a much shallower fold than the Sub Deacons?

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  6. Thank to Anonymous 1 and 2.

    You'll notice below posts the option to post "comments", with no expectation that they will be relevant or appropriate. So to answer the question that many blog followers will now be asking themselves: yes, ex fide does approve any non-offensive material, even if it's completely innane.

    Anonymous number two......I've personally never read anything about a shallower fold for the Subdeacon, please feel free to research that and let me know!

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  7. Well done on 'coming back to the fold!'

    A shame most RC Traditionalists are stuck in the early 1960's style of liturgy.

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  8. I do hope the broad stole was employed.

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  9. Fr, what do you take us for!

    Yes, the broad stole is being used, it's very broad and also very long, so it looks a bit like the deacon's won a VERY important beauty contest.

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  10. Mea culpa - I should have never doubted!

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  11. Will THIS Roman Catholic traditionalist certainly does not think folded chasubles are stupid and I certainly hope that they will appear more frequently in Catholic churches.

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