Cossock

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Yeoman

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I’m posting this here, as I can’t figure out where else it might go. So, if its in the wrong spot, my apologies.

This Sunday one of the Parish priests here, who was not the one offering the Mass, but who is the Pastor of the church, was wearing a Cossock while greeting people at Mass. I’ve known this priest for over 20 years and I’ve never seen him wear a cossock before. Indeed, in thinking on it, I’ve never seen a Priest wear a cossock.

Does it mean anything special if a Priest (as opposed to a Bishop) is wearing a cossock?
 
no any priest can wear a cassock. prior to vatican ii it was the normal thing for priest and those training for the priesthood to wear. altar servers (Boys only, as girls could not serve) wore them also. it is just a preference of the priest really. you can wear a cassock or the shirt thing. i personally like the cassock. it looks more traditional and “priestly”. its just my opinion though. the newer generation of priests coming out is also leaning more towrds reviving the casock once again and i have seen many priests, especially younger ones, wearing them.
 
padrepio_2012 said:
no any priest can wear a cassock. prior to vatican ii it was the normal thing for priest and those training for the priesthood to wear. altar servers (Boys only, as girls could not serve) wore them also. it is just a preference of the priest really. you can wear a cassock or the shirt thing. i personally like the cassock. it looks more traditional and “priestly”. its just my opinion though. the newer generation of priests coming out is also leaning more towrds reviving the casock once again and i have seen many priests, especially younger ones, wearing them.
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yes, you are right, and i LOVE that! All of the seminarians in my diocese where them 95% of the time, as opposed to just the shirt and roman collar. orthodoxy is cool again! I am excited too, because i will (God willing) be in seminary this time next year and rocking my cassock too!
 
Our FSSP Priest always wears his cassock and I admire that because it serves as a visible witness to Catholicism. Nowadays, some priests don’t even wear a Roman collar. You’d never know that they are ordained Catholic Priests if you saw them in public. I think Roman blacks and a collar is the official norm for Priests, though I may be mistaken.

mda
 
As others have said, any priest can wear a cassock. Some priests wear them regularly, others don’t. Diocesean priests don’t have any kind of uniform or habit, usually they do wear clericals (black with roman collar) when they are working though.

If it was cold in your area on Sunday, your priest might have just been staying warm. 😉 Or he may have simply just not changed if he celebrated an earlier Mass. 🤷

Priests around here wear the cassock regularly so I am used to it.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
As others have said, any priest can wear a cassock. Some priests wear them regularly, others don’t. Diocesean priests don’t have any kind of uniform or habit, usually they do wear clericals (black with roman collar) when they are working though.

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Generally speaking, a priest is always working.
 
I just want to point out that a Cossack and a cassock are two very different things… and at first I wasn’t sure which one you were trying to say with “cossock”. 😉
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Generally speaking, a priest is always working.
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Regarding that, I thought it was the general regulation that (except when there’s some other good reason) Priests were always subject to a dress code. That is, during an average day, they’re’ always dressed as Priests.

There’s an entry up above suggesting otherwise, so now I’m wondering about that.
 
Our priest wearing a cassock made a come back about 23 years ago. At that time our young pastor (we only have one priest) wore his cassock every day to and from Mass. The next pastor wore his cassock occassionally. Our current pastor wears his cassock every Sunday and on special occassions. And at some Services outside the Mass, our pastor wears a surplice over his cassock. All three of them wore their Roman collars out in public. And they are all diocecean priests.
 
Bran_Stark said:
I just want to point out that a Cossack and a cassock are two very different things… and at first I wasn’t sure which one you were trying to say with “cossock”. 😉
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Lol. I thought the same thing. Then I thought,
“I sure hope Father was not wearing a Cossack!”
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Generally speaking, a priest is always working.
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Somewhat true. Diocesean priests do have scheduled days off and vacation time. They are not required to be in the parish or dressed as a priest during those times. Certainly many might still wear a collar, and hopefully all would respond to an emergency, but none of them are required to do so.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
Somewhat true. Diocesean priests do have scheduled days off and vacation time. They are not required to be in the parish or dressed as a priest during those times. Certainly many might still wear a collar, and hopefully all would respond to an emergency, but none of them are required to do so.
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If there is an emergency, the priest is required to respond. That’s right in Canon Law.
 
Yeoman said:
I’m posting this here, as I can’t figure out where else it might go. So, if its in the wrong spot, my apologies.

This Sunday one of the Parish priests here, who was not the one offering the Mass, but who is the Pastor of the church, was wearing a Cossock while greeting people at Mass. I’ve known this priest for over 20 years and I’ve never seen him wear a cossock before. Indeed, in thinking on it, I’ve never seen a Priest wear a cossock.

Does it mean anything special if a Priest (as opposed to a Bishop) is wearing a cossock?
Click to expand...
padrepio_2012 said:
no any priest can wear a cassock. prior to vatican ii it was the normal thing for priest and those training for the priesthood to wear. altar servers (Boys only, as girls could not serve) wore them also. it is just a preference of the priest really. you can wear a cassock or the shirt thing. i personally like the cassock. it looks more traditional and “priestly”. its just my opinion though. the newer generation of priests coming out is also leaning more towrds reviving the casock once again and i have seen many priests, especially younger ones, wearing them.
Click to expand...
Deo_Gratias42 said:
If there is an emergency, the priest is required to respond. That’s right in Canon Law.
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Let’s not complicate things and let’s not ovesimplify things either. Traddom has a very bad habit of over simplifying or over complicating things rather than see it as the Church sees it.
  1. The cassock is NOT NOT NOT the formal dress of a priest. This is a traditionalist view. The cassock is the common dress of any cleric, religious brother, religious priest, seminarian and deacon whose superiors allow him to wear it. Not everyone whom you see in a cassock is a priest. Check out pictures of St. Andre Bisset. He wears a cassock. All of the Brothers of the Holy Cross, the Alexian Brothers, the Vincentian Brothers, the FSSP brothers, the SSPX brothers wear cassocks and some wear it with a Roman collar.
  2. In the USA the IV Council of Baltimore prohibited the use of cassocks off Church property. This ruling only applied to secular men. It did not apply to members of religious communities, since a council has no authority over religious. The law said that when leaving Church property all diocesan priests, deacons, seminarians and bishops should dress as the Protestant clergy of the time in order not to stand out. They adopted the dress of Church of Scottland, which was the shirt with the Roman Collar. The collar was called Roman, because it was part of the Roman Cassock.
  3. The prohibition was in force until 1970 when the US Conference of Bishops abolished it. However, by that time, diocesan clergy and seminarians had gotten into the habit of shirt and collar. Religious had adopted the shirt and collar as well, at the expectation of the laity. The laity did not like the fact that among religious they could not distinguish the priest from the brothers, because they dressed the same. This too was abrogated in 1970. All members of a religious community must dress the same: cassock, Roman Collar or habit. There can be no identifying external mark on their clothing.
  4. With the decrease in demand for cassocks, many of those lovely ladies who used to make them died off. This almost became a lost art. Today, most cassocks and habits are purchased from companies that make them. They are not cheap. A good cassock costs as much as a suit. Many of us prefer to wear slacks and a shirt. For the price of a cassock, we can purchase three changes of clothing. This is especially true for priests who are in parishes that pay low salaries.
  5. The Church, in her wisdom, does not require any priest or religious to wear either a cassock, Roman collar or habit. Canon Law says that this is to be determined at the local level. Religious and priests are to dress according to the custom of the place where they work and live. Whatever the clergy wears in that location is alright with Canon Law, unless you belong to a religious community that has a specific dress code. Then that dress code trumps Canon Law. For example, Mother Teresa’s Missionary of Charity Fathers MAY NEVER were a cassock. They must wear a grey Roman Collar shirt, grey slacks and sandals, never shoes. The Jesuits may wear a cassock, a Roman collar or a black suit and tie. My community may never wear a cassock, but we can wear a grey habit or a grey Roman collar and grey slacks, but never a formal suit.
The rules are not as simple as you folks think. There is a reason for not seeing the cassock around in many places. There have been legal reasons and financial reasons. I won’t mention that a cassock is the most uncomfortable piece of clothing in the summer. I prefer a habit, because habits are worn without any clothing underneath. Cassocks require a shirt and pants. Habits do not. Usually, it forbidden to wear clothing under a habit, unless you’re old or sick. In the summer it is very comfortable. A little drafty in the winter. 😃

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV :christmasrtree1:
 
JReducation said:
Cassocks require a shirt and pants.
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Priests can get away with short sleeve shirts and shorts under cassocks, and can wear a light weight one. That said, I don’t doubt that they’re not the coolest, but pants aren’t too comfy in the heat either. I can’t tell you how many times during the summer I wished I had bona fide religious reasons to wear a skirt to work so I could have a uniform skirt instead of pants.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Priests can get away with short sleeve shirts and shorts under cassocks, and can wear a light weight one. That said, I don’t doubt that they’re not the coolest, but pants aren’t too comfy in the heat either. I can’t tell you how many times during the summer I wished I had bona fide religious reasons to wear a skirt to work so I could have a uniform skirt instead of pants.
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A habit it not a skirt. It’s a closed tunic. And a cassock is not a tunic, it’s a long jacket with buttons down the front. It give you a little more exposure than the world wants to see.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV :christmastree1:
 
There sadly a small number of priests who wearing the cassock
 
JReducation said:
Check out the cost of a cassock, the discomfort in hot weather, and the difficulty in maintenance compared to a clerical shirt and slacks.
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Cassocks are expensive, but if they’re well-made and well-taken care of, like a well-made suit, they should last a long time. As for discomfort in hot weather, you haven’t experienced discomfort in hot weather until you’ve worn pantyhose in the summer. The vast majority of my dress clothes require dry cleaning, despite trying to buy everything machine-washable.

I think it’s difficult to make wardrobe woes to women. If you want to look well-put together, it’s going to cost you. My shoes for work at a minimum wage paying job were $400. Why? Because I have an uncommon foot width only available in designer brand shoes. I didn’t cringe when I bought them, though because I knew they would last and would be comfortable.
 
Cassocks are been made with fabric what is easier top wash and woman why are woman wearing cassock they where firstly design for men not woman will never become priests. My first summer of wearing a cassock it was very hot but i got use to it know or priest can buy white ones what they do in country’s where its very hot
 
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