Did anyone notice?

[mercygate]

What you have said is a serious issue with regard to white vestments at a funeral.
All too often today, survivors are more concerned with “celebrating the life” of the deceased than they are with praying for that person’s soul. There is a time for both, and there is a need for both. But the Requiem Mass (and every Mass for the dead) is a time to pray “for” the dead.

White vestments and Easter hymns are an attempt at a very positive expression of our faith–that the death of a loved one should and must be viewed in the light of the Pascal Mystery. We can never deny nor make too much of this.

However, often people go to the extreme and attempt to deny the reality of the pain of death (brought about by Original Sin). At the tomb of Lazarus, “Jesus wept.” Is it wrong then for us to do the same? Are we denying our faith in the Resurrection when we take our example from the One Who rose from the dead?

Grief at the loss of a loved one is a necessary part of who we are as human beings. When we try to externally deny that grief, we are only deceiving ourselves.

Approaching a funeral exclusively as a time of celebration without also addressing the fact that we are in grief and the deceased is in need of our prayers is a very selfish attitude. We place our own desire for comfort above the need for prayers for the dead; we deny the dead the only thing we can give them that has any meaning–our prayers “for” them, not our prayers “about” them.

The Church teaches us that we must conduct funerals in light of the Pascal Mystery. Sometimes we forget that the Pascal Mystery is not only the Resurrection of Christ, but the Pasion and Death as well. We cannot have resurrection without death. Funerals must address both.

Thanks to EWTN for broadcasting a Mass for the dead employing black vestments. Thanks to the original poster for bringing this to our attention.

Who are you and will you please move to the Archdiocese of Newark?

 

[Aramis]

The Maronite Church (Syriac Rite), which is in union with Rome and has been as long as it has been in contact with Rome, used Cassock and Surplice for choir dress for over a century, and for altar servers longer than that. It was a latinization, and appears to be one that is being somewhat retained; I’ve seen recent video of a Maronite Liturgy with altar servers in Cassock and Surplice.

The Byzantine equivalent is the Dalmatic over the Cassock; one of our servers has been granted the cassock by the bishop (he’s a deacon-candidate), and wears his dalmatic over the cassock; our other servers wear just a dalmatic.

 

[brotherhrolf]

BTW, I was never an altar boy but my younger brother was during that same time and I called him and asked if he remembered and he too said that they wore black. Isn’t there a white part that goes over that cassock?

For the priest? Yep. He wears an alb over his cassock and then his chasuble is black worn over the alb.

Everyone is confusing the alb with the current vestments worn by the altar servers. Technically, the alb was reserved to the priest way back when. It was bound by the cincture. Our choir wears albs but they are not bound by the cincture. Our altar servers wear albs which are bound by a cincture. So much has changed.

It wasn’t like this when I was a kid. Altar boys wore a black cassock and a surplice. Albs were restricted to the sub-deacons on up.

The only ones who wore dalmatics when I was a boy were the deacons and sub-deacons. Altar boys served on the altar but I don’t believe we had the position of an “acolyte” since that was the first “order” that a man enterered when seeking the priesthood.

I can’t even begin to speak about the Eastern Church, Aramis. That’s a whole different world for me.

 

[elts1956]

The Mass is not the place to make political statements.

In this instance, where would political and spiritual/faith/belief, begin and end? Since the very strong belief in the Sancitity of Life permeates the Catholic Church, I find it hard to separate the two. To me it wasn’t a political statement to vote Pro Life, but an act of belief in what the Church teaches.

Sorry to get this off topic and although I think the priests wore black in honor of the dead, that would include the unborn also. However, I really don’t think the unborn were the primary intentention.

 

[CapIV]

Black vestments were used here in Charleston.

 

[student_of_God]

I don’t know this for a fact, but I’ve heard that red is actually the color of mourning in Rome (from a cultural perspecitve). I’m not sure, I’m just saying that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t remember exactly, but was red used at the funeral of JP2? I seem to think that it was a very deep, dark red. Can’t recall. Any help?

Red is used for funerals of the Pope and Cardinals and is not permitted at any other funeral