Diaconate Vestments at your church?

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Deacon Canicus:
I’m amazed by this thread.

First, the STOLE is the vestment proper to all the ordained. It is worn over the left shoulder and fastened at his side by a Deacon, over the shoulders by a priest (used to be crossed at the chest in the old Mass) and by the Bishop hanging straight down (as priests and Bishops do now). In addition, Bishops wear the pectoral Cross (should be worn under the Chasuble).

The stole is always worn and should be worn under the chasuble or dalmatic. The damatic is the vestment proper to the Deacon - not the stole. The unfortunate practice of wearing just the stole is discouraged clearly in the GIRM and in recent documents on the liturgy. Deacons have worn only the stole for reasons of simplicity or to distinguish themselves from the priest - however people still call us “father” after Mass.

The Dalmatic should be worn at every Mass, and at the other occaisions when it is specified - it cannot be banned or restricted to “transitional” Deacons - there is NO difference in the Sacrament of Holy Orders received by a Deacon, transitional or otherwise.

By the way, a Bishop, who possesses the fullness of Holy Orders, should wear a dalmatic under his Chasuble (it’s a lighter weight, Episcopal dalmatic) though this practive has fallen by the wayside.

I know they are exepnsive - but every Deacon should have some - they don’t need to match exactly - vestments are not a “uniform”, though it always looks nicer when they do.

Deacons are NOT Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. They are ordained and ordinary ministers to distribute Holy Communion at Mass.

Also, by the way, when presiding at a wake or funeral, liturgy of the hours or benediction, a Deacon would wear a stole and cope, as well as use the humeral veil when appropriate.

Amazing that after all these years we are still so poorly informed on the Diaconate.
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This was my point for posting this question. As we can see here, there are very different “rules” or practices that happen in all our parishes and diocese.

There is very little uniformity in the following about deacons: 1) vestiments; 2) clerical dress; 3) knowledge of what deacons are or do; 4) the need for the diaconate; and there are so much more- this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Catholics really don’t have a clue about their religion - I am not saying their faith - but their religion. The clergy is such a basic function that the faithful are exposed to on a weekly (sometimes daily basis) and they really don’t grasp it. Imagine what their knowledge is on the real important items of our religion.

I think we need to get the faithful back to adult CCD (call it what you want). I think we need to teach the people in the pews on Sundays. We need to get them interested in their faith and their religion. Ignorance is really not an option.

The diaconate needs to step up too. The leaders (ie. the clergy)need to decide what to do with the diaconate and whether they want deacons to truly be part of the clergy and not just a level of lay ministry. It seems some of the clergy, and the faithful seem to think as well, that the diaconate is a lay ministry.

We tend to confuse ourselves by our inaction toward clarity.http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon9.gif
 
Hmmm…my choices are not present. How about ?sticharionorarionepimanikia These are what the deacon wears in a Byzantine church. The sticharion is similar to an alb except that it is usually a brocade fabric in the appropriate color. The orarion is the deacon’s stole, but it is different from a Latin deacon’s stole in that it hangs down the front and back on the LEFT side of the deacon while still looping under the right arm. The epimanikia are cuffs that actually serve no purpose for a deacon, but are worn anyway. Oh, yeah, I forgot – the *Kalymmavchi, *the traditional Greek style hat (Slavs wear a different style called a skoufia).

Deacon Ed
 
This thread has been very informative. We do not have deacons at our parish but the next church “over” does. The deacons and non-presiding priests wear the exact same vestments - they both wear their stole crossed over thier chest diagonally (I don’t remember which direction, just that they are both the same) over an alb. It is quite confusing and from what has been written above, not exactly the right way to do things.
 
Kristine,

No, a priest should wear his stole so it hangs down in front of him while a deacon’s stole goes from his left shoulder to right hip and then hangs down.

Deacon Ed
 
Our deacon wears a dalmatic on Sunday, and it is not confusing in the slightest. If people would only open their eyes and take a peek, it is very obviously a different garment.
 
I find it interesting that two different posters mentioned that their pastors or dioceses did not ALLOW them to wear a dalmatic.

That is simply ludicrous. A pastor or bishop cannot forbid what is proper liturgical vesture for a cleric.

Now they may say that they can forbid it, but it is not true.

I know of pastors that don’t like deacons wearing dalmatics (which by the way is preposterous), but I wouldn’t waste any time in rectifying that issue if I were the deacon in their parish.

One could simply point to the relative passage in Redemptionis Sacramentum, and ask the pastor to explain to you how the bishop/diocese/pastor can forbid something that Holy Mother Church has encouraged.

Part of the lack of uniformity across our nation regarding the diaconate is the fault of deacons who do not stand up for themselves, assert their rights as clerics and clear a path through the forest for their brothers.

We (now) have dalmatics in every color, and I’m arranging for the parish to buy two more sets in cream/gold (for high solemnities) and red. We tend to have two deacons during Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Pentecost, so we are getting two matching dalmatics (and chasubles) for those days.

In the service of Him who walked among us as servant of all,
 
For those new to the Catholic Chuch where does one find a description of the vestments. What do they mean or signify? RCIA may have briefly gone over that but…?
 
My missal has the description of the vestments. But I should note that my missal is the Father Lasance Missal, which has the pre 1962 Tridentine mass. You could probably do a web search on several of the terms mentioned in other emails above: alb, stole, et cetera. 🙂
  • Kathie :clapping:
 
We don’t have deacons in my part of the world, well not enough anyway. My dad’s thinking of becoming one but as of yet there is no actual training for it. Please pray for this.
 
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twiztedseraph:
We don’t have deacons in my part of the world, well not enough anyway. My dad’s thinking of becoming one but as of yet there is no actual training for it. Please pray for this.
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I hope that your dad will get his chance to apply. There are now over 17,000 Permanent Deacons in the U.S.A. This is more than any other country.
 
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