Do Priests where the Skull cap?

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AJV:
Why doesn’t he wear it? :confused:
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'Cause God is inside him and men aren’t permitted to cover their heads in acts of worship…That isn’t my position, or probably the Church’s but it would be his logic anyway…
 
twiztedseraph said:
'Cause God is inside him
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Moses veiled his face.
=twiztedseraph him and men aren’t permitted to cover their heads in acts of worship
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Men indeed are not allowed to cover their heads in acts of worship- which is why the bishop removes his mitre before reciting, for example, a collect. The zuchetto is also removed before the Euicharistic Prayer. Even in the ‘Tridentine’ Rite, priests would not wear birettas while praying although they were put on at several times during High mass (when the priest was not praying).

The priest is parying when he recesses out?. Most praiseworthy. I see he takes to heart the Apostles command to “pray without ceasing”. 🙂

Anyway, what I meant was that since he takes the trouble to wear it to mass, why not during the recessional (which is one of the few times it can be worn- the others being the sermon, and processional- have I left any out?).
 
Hard to remember. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a priest wearing a biretta. But I thought that they used to wear them while entering, and while leaving, but not during, Mass.
 
So concretely when can a priest wear a biretta or a zucheto? At what parts of the liturgy? Someone stated that he cannot wear it in front of his superiors, is this true? Can he wear it in the confessional?
 
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Hegesippus:
So concretely when can a priest wear a biretta or a zucheto? At what parts of the liturgy? Someone stated that he cannot wear it in front of his superiors, is this true? Can he wear it in the confessional?
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As stated a priest may wear the biretta when not praying at mass. In the new rite typically, AFAIK, this limits it to the processional, recessional and the readings (OT, epistle and psalms NOT the Gospel) and sermon. In the older irite (High Mass) it could be worn at the above times, plus at various other times such as when the priest had finished reciting the appropriate text at the altar and then sat down and waited for the choir to finish singing it. According to custom the biretta is doffed at the Name of Jesus, and the name of Mary and the saint of the day. The priest can wear it in the confessional.

A slight tangent-I hope you will indulge my liturgical curiosity, I tend to get over interested sometimes in these things…but anyway, the use of the biretta in the processional is generally a custom of the secular clergy. In the old Dominican Rite for example when processing to the altar, the priest followed the older custom of covering his head with the amice. A relic of this is custom is found in the ‘Tridentine’ rubric which directs the priest to temporarily place the amice on his head before slipping it down to his shoulders.

The amice Integrated Publishing - Your source for military specifications and educational publications

The zuchetto cannot be worn AT ALL for mass- not even for the processional/recessional (I’m referring to a priest- bishops of course wear their zuchettos).

The colours for the biretta are normally- black for priests/decons/seminarians , violet for bishops and red for cardinals. Priests and bishops can wear pompoms/tassels on their birettas if they so desire but cardinals and deacons and seminarians cannot. Moreover, there are variations- for example, monsignors wear black biretta with a violet pompom, the judges of the Roman Rota have red trim and red pompoms (I think!) ,some religious orders wear white birettas, the ‘Spanish’/‘German’ biretta had four corners (or ‘horns’) instead of three, etc.

The zuchetto colours are: black for priests, violet for bishops and red/scarlet for cardinals. The Pope wears a white zuchetto. I have also heard that priests cannot wear silk zuchettos but another poster will know whether this is true or not.
If you want detailed information on the zuchetto, biretta or any other lliturgical vestment, a good book is James-Charles
Noonan’s The Church Visible (which I sadly have not been able to receive and thus read), Perhaps another poster who has read it could enlighten us further.
 
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AJV:
As stated a priest may wear the biretta when not praying at mass. In the new rite typically, AFAIK, this limits it to the processional, recessional and the readings (OT, epistle and psalms NOT the Gospel) and sermon. In the older irite (High Mass) it could be worn at the above times, plus at various other times such as when the priest had finished reciting the appropriate text at the altar and then sat down and waited for the choir to finish singing it. According to custom the biretta is doffed at the Name of Jesus, and the name of Mary and the saint of the day. The priest can wear it in the confessional.

A slight tangent-I hope you will indulge my liturgical curiosity, I tend to get over interested sometimes in these things…but anyway, the use of the biretta in the processional is generally a custom of the secular clergy. In the old Dominican Rite for example when processing to the altar, the priest followed the older custom of covering his head with the amice. A relic of this is custom is found in the ‘Tridentine’ rubric which directs the priest to temporarily place the amice on his head before slipping it down to his shoulders.

The amice Integrated Publishing - Your source for military specifications and educational publications

The zuchetto cannot be worn AT ALL for mass- not even for the processional/recessional (I’m referring to a priest- bishops of course wear their zuchettos).

The colours for the biretta are normally- black for priests/decons/seminarians , violet for bishops and red for cardinals. Priests and bishops can wear pompoms/tassels on their birettas if they so desire but cardinals and deacons and seminarians cannot. Moreover, there are variations- for example, monsignors wear black biretta with a violet pompom, the judges of the Roman Rota have red trim and red pompoms (I think!) ,some religious orders wear white birettas, the ‘Spanish’/‘German’ biretta had four corners (or ‘horns’) instead of three, etc.

The zuchetto colours are: black for priests, violet for bishops and red/scarlet for cardinals. The Pope wears a white zuchetto. I have also heard that priests cannot wear silk zuchettos but another poster will know whether this is true or not.
If you want detailed information on the zuchetto, biretta or any other lliturgical vestment, a good book is James-Charles
Noonan’s The Church Visible (which I sadly have not been able to receive and thus read), Perhaps another poster who has read it could enlighten us further.
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Great info
Thanks a lot 👍
 
According to custom the biretta is doffed at the Name of Jesus, and the name of Mary and the saint of the day.
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Actually, the custom is for the biretta to be doffed only at the name of Our Lord. The wearer simply bows his head ever so slightly at the name of Our Lady and the saint of the day, retaining the biretta.
 
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JimG:
He would probably want to wear a full cassock with the biretta on his head and the beretta under the cassock. Wait a minute–is that a priest, or James Bond in disguise?
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Do you people live in South Central L.A.?
  • Kathie :bowdown:
 
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Chatter163:
Actually, the custom is for the biretta to be doffed only at the name of Our Lord. The wearer simply bows his head ever so slightly at the name of Our Lady and the saint of the day, retaining the biretta.
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Thanks for the information Chatter. I don’t know- the AC’s on the net that I read about either doff the biretta for all three or sort of touch and partially rotate it for one or both of the last two. (the names of Mary and the saint). Or is that another Anglo-Catholic excess? Also have you heard of the rule that the biretta should not be doffed more than three times-is that correct or just a custom that has crept in?

And what is a “slight bow”? I always assumed that Our Lord, lady and the saint get a simple bow of the head (although I know some places do moderate bows for the Lord outside of the Gloria)
 
Thanks for the information Chatter. I don’t know- the AC’s on the net that I read about either doff the biretta for all three or sort of touch and partially rotate it for one or both of the last two. (the names of Mary and the saint). Or is that another Anglo-Catholic excess? Also have you heard of the rule that the biretta should not be doffed more than three times-is that correct or just a custom that has crept in?

And what is a “slight bow”? I always assumed that Our Lord, lady and the saint get a simple bow of the head (although I know some places do moderate bows for the Lord outside of the Gloria)
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  1. Yes, that is likely an AC excess, as even the Anglican Ritual Notes lists the use that I mentioned.
  2. The three-time rule (also five times, in some places) is a common, but informal, custom for doffing the biretta during the sermon. If the preacher makes overly frequent references to the Holy Name, clergy begin bowing their heads, without removing the birettas. There is no law about this, and one will find a variety of practices. This is limited to the sermon and not any Mass texts.
  3. Head bows may be slight (the tiniest lowering of the chin) for Our Lady or the saint of the day (sometimes also for the Roman Pontiff), or moderate (head moves further down, but still without shoulder movement) for Our Lord.
 
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Hegesippus:
Are you sure priests wear the Zucchetto. I know they have a hat that they can wear outside of Mass, and does anybody have information on this “hat”?
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Priest do wear the zucchetto… it was originaly to protect and cover the tonsure. The hat that is worn outside of mass is the biretta, but it may also be worn during mass, at certian times ( processional, readings, it is taken off at the gospel and thoughout the consecration untill the altar is cleared and the Blessed Sacrement is returned to the Tabernacle) When the Biretta is worn during mass it MUST allways be accompanied with the Zucchetto underneath. The biretta, may also be worn outside of mass but only with the cassock. The biretta is a hat that is worn from seminarians - cardinals. Some traditions remove the Pom from the top for seminarians, but it is not required. I have a biretta and I still use the pom, but I may not wear a zucchetto untill I am ordained. Priests and seminarian birettas a black with black trim, monsignors are black with redish-purple trim and pom, Bishop’s are completely purple, and Cardinal’s are red with out the Pom. The pom was removed from the cardinals to show that they are closest to the Pope. The Pope does not make use of the Biretta, instead he wears a Camauro which looks like a tobogan, with no Pom this is why cardinals do not wear the pom.
 
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HOFseminarian:
Priest do wear the zucchetto… it was originaly to protect and cover the tonsure. The hat that is worn outside of mass is the biretta, but it may also be worn during mass, at certian times ( processional, readings, it is taken off at the gospel and thoughout the consecration untill the altar is cleared and the Blessed Sacrement is returned to the Tabernacle) When the Biretta is worn during mass it MUST allways be accompanied with the Zucchetto underneath. The biretta, may also be worn outside of mass but only with the cassock. The biretta is a hat that is worn from seminarians - cardinals. Some traditions remove the Pom from the top for seminarians, but it is not required. I have a biretta and I still use the pom, but I may not wear a zucchetto untill I am ordained. Priests and seminarian birettas a black with black trim, monsignors are black with redish-purple trim and pom, Bishop’s are completely purple, and Cardinal’s are red with out the Pom. The pom was removed from the cardinals to show that they are closest to the Pope. The Pope does not make use of the Biretta, instead he wears a Camauro which looks like a tobogan, with no Pom this is why cardinals do not wear the pom.
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Dig the Zucchetto.
 
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HOFseminarian:
Priest do wear the zucchetto… it was originaly to protect and cover the tonsure. The hat that is worn outside of mass is the biretta, but it may also be worn during mass, at certian times ( processional, readings, it is taken off at the gospel and thoughout the consecration untill the altar is cleared and the Blessed Sacrement is returned to the Tabernacle) When the Biretta is worn during mass it MUST allways be accompanied with the Zucchetto underneath. The biretta, may also be worn outside of mass but only with the cassock. The biretta is a hat that is worn from seminarians - cardinals. Some traditions remove the Pom from the top for seminarians, but it is not required. I have a biretta and I still use the pom, but I may not wear a zucchetto untill I am ordained. Priests and seminarian birettas a black with black trim, monsignors are black with redish-purple trim and pom, Bishop’s are completely purple, and Cardinal’s are red with out the Pom. The pom was removed from the cardinals to show that they are closest to the Pope. The Pope does not make use of the Biretta, instead he wears a Camauro which looks like a tobogan, with no Pom this is why cardinals do not wear the pom.
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I believe that only Bishops and higher may wear a Zucchetto at Mass. Priests traditionally wear a Biretta, but the Zucchetto may not be worn at Mass.

By the way, HOFseminarian, what seminary are you at?
 
I am sorry… I am wrong, you are right… only those of episcopal rank may wear them during mass.
I am at Franciscan University of Steubenville
 
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JimG:
The three cornered hat for outside wear is called the biretta . Like the zucchetto, it comes in different colors for priest, bishops, and cardinals. But it’s not very popular anymore among parish priests.

Or, in the case of Jesuits, a four-cornered version minus the pouf. This is also called a “doctoral” or “academic” biretta.

JSA
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Where could one buy one for his priest?
He said awhile back he would like one but it is quite pricey and I would like to suprise him one day.
 
I was talking about my Biretta … it was $80… but yea you can get a good zucchetto for around 40. Sorry for the Confusion
 
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