Deacon Wearing Dalmatic at OF Mass

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In our Parish, we recently were assigned a new priest and permanent deacon. The first Mass I had the opportunity to attend with both was a funeral yesterday. To my (pleasant) surprise, the deacon was vested in a Dalmatic, and an older-style alb with the lace trim near the bottom. I’ve never seen that before at an O.F. Mass - usually the deacon is vested in just a plain alb, with the “sideways” stole.

So, the question I have is, how common is it for a permanent deacon, at an O.F. Mass, to wear the Dalmatic? Is that something that’s being revived in popularity, or were we just lucky enough to get a deacon who appreciates the older, traditional practices?
 
JaMc said:
In our Parish, we recently were assigned a new priest and permanent deacon. The first Mass I had the opportunity to attend with both was a funeral yesterday. To my (pleasant) surprise, the deacon was vested in a Dalmatic, and an older-style alb with the lace trim near the bottom. I’ve never seen that before at an O.F. Mass - usually the deacon is vested in just a plain alb, with the “sideways” stole.

So, the question I have is, how common is it for a permanent deacon, at an O.F. Mass, to wear the Dalmatic? Is that something that’s being revived in popularity, or were we just lucky enough to get a deacon who appreciates the older, traditional practices?
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Not sure where you live, but a deacon in a dalmatic is neither rare nor new nor “being revived” vis-à-vis the ordinary form. I’ve rarely seen a deacon “not” wearing a dalmatic in the Mass in which he assists.
 
1ke said:
Not sure where you live, but a deacon in a dalmatic is neither rare nor new nor “being revived” vis-à-vis the ordinary form. I’ve rarely seen a deacon “not” wearing a dalmatic in the Mass in which he assists.
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I’m in Idaho (Diocese of Boise), and I’ve never seen it before, even in other parts of the state, so maybe it’s a regional thing. We also just received a new Bishop this year, who came from Wisconsin (our last two bishops came from California), so maybe it’s now being done here at his direction?

Either way, I was glad to see it.
 
It might have more to do with whether or not your parish or the deacon owns a dalmatic.

The only time my parish ever saw a deacon wearing one is when the transitional deacon who spent time with us borrowed one from the Cathedral parish. Right now a deacon would have to do with an alb & stole.
 
All the Deacons in my Parish have always wore the Dalmatic for OF or EF.
 
We only really have OF Masses around here and the permanent deacons all wear the dalmatic. The only time I have seen the alb and stole is when there is a very large number of clergy at a given Mass.
 
Same here. And I would agree that it’s more about if the parish even has them.
We have 4 Deacons and they like to have everything matching the celebrant…costs a lot, even of you get people to sew them fro you. The fabrics (if good quality) are still pretty pricey by the yard.
 
SIX FOOT SEVEN!!!

Wow. You don’t look that tall online!
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::bowdown:
 
tawny said:
All the Deacons in my Parish have always wore the Dalmatic for OF or EF.
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Same here, and for the reason that Deacon Jeff outlined. Our parish has sets in all the liturgical colors ( except for black)
 
Around here deacons are as scarce as hen’s teeth which is probably the reason prishes don’t have a set lying around.
 
just an observation, but it would seem to make sense if the priest is over 6’7", that someone figure out that the vestments should go with him when and if he goes to another parish - as simply a practical matter, that a) they likely won’t fit the next priest and b) it would mean another round of purchasing, when a perfectly good set was sitting in the sacristy of the previous parish…

I don’t think I have seen a deacon in a dalmatic except at the cathedral, during the Chrism Mass out here in the west.
 
Phemie said:
We have 1 transitional deacon in our entire diocese and no other seminarians.
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That’s terrible. Will certainly pray for vocations. We tend to have around 50 seminarians in formation at any one time, and a class of around 25 Deacons beginning every year.
 
pianistclare said:
That’s terrible. Will certainly pray for vocations. We tend to have around 50 seminarians in formation at any one time, and a class of around 25 Deacons beginning every year.
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A man who wants to study for the permanent diaconate has to leave the province so it’s not something too many are lining up to do, if they even know such a thing exists. Talking to people in my parish reveals a serious lack of knowledge about the diaconate except as just another step to the priesthood. I’m not sure more than a handful know that such a thing as the permanent diaconate exists.
 
Phemie said:
Around here deacons are as scarce as hen’s teeth which is probably the reason prishes don’t have a set lying around.
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We have two ‘active’ Deacons and one ‘retired’ Deacon on our parish. The reason for the quotes is that they are all fully active in our parish life. 🙂

There is one man in our parish who will be ordained to the Diaconate this upcoming May. He will be assigned to another parish. I think there will be about 8 others ordained with him.

I myself was in formation, by stepped back when we had our 5th, and then our 6th child. It was discerned that my wife needed me more in the pews holding kids, than Fr needed me at the altar holding a chalice 😉 . I did complete the large majority of the academic work, saving the Homiletics and Liturgical practia until a point when I go back into formation.

We do have the advantage of having a Major Seminary in Detroit, so no one has to travel far to take classes.
 
Phemie said:
A man who wants to study for the permanent diaconate has to leave the province so it’s not something too many are lining up to do, if they even know such a thing exists. Talking to people in my parish reveals a serious lack of knowledge about the diaconate except as just another step to the priesthood. I’m not sure more than a handful know that such a thing as the permanent diaconate exists.
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This sadly seems to be the reality in a lot of rural Canadian dioceses :(. My home diocese in interior BC has zero permanent deacons and according to my sources, the bishop there has zero interest in setting up a formation program let alone ordaining any…don’t get it as vocations are extremely low. Thankfully things are looking up here in Vancouver. As I’ve said before on these forums, we’ve been blessed with a series of very strong Archbishops who have focused on the liturgy and vocations, not to mention a seminary entrusted to a Benedictine monastery = lots of young, faithful priests. And now, glory to God, thanks to Archbishop Miller, we are seeing our first “batch” of permanent deacons - His Grace just set up a formation program, the first and only in the province to my knowledge, a few years ago. I’m hoping we’ll see the effects trickle out to elsewhere in the province.
 
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