Laity Wearing Albs

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I can see this happening around here. There is “club” of “clericalized” laity trouncing around these parts. Alb wearing progressives that is. If it ever comes to the “priestesses” wearing albs for their ultra important “look at me” duties. I am going to start wearing and encouraging other like minded people to wear albs in the pew. After all they scream about including the laity in active participation.

There is nothing that prohibits people in the pews from wearing albs…similar to the hand holding argument.
 
When serving Mass, an alb is an approved alternative to the cassock and surplice, otherwise I see no need to wear one.

Some people like to see lectors and EMHCs in albs, but (just a matter of personal preference, here) I don’t. Then again, I don’t much like EMHCs period, except when Mass might be delayed by a half hour or more. At the Vatican and at Major Basilicas, I’ve never seen albed lectors.

However, I will agree that wearing the alb can be justified by those acting as ministers during Mass (lector, server, EMHC). Some people, however, like to prance around in albs when doing none of these, such as when accepting an award, speaking or giving a lesson, etc. This, we can all agree, is unjustified, and clearly clericalization.

My thoughts have always been that vesting is privilege, and we, whose lives are in the world, have no real business dressing “other-worldly”. My personal opinion has always been that altar boys should wear surplice and cassock, priests should wear the prescribed vestments, and laity should wear neat worldly attire. I never understood why lay people wanted to wear albs.
 
Judging by what I’ve seen some of the women lecturns wear…and oh my:eek: actually attempting to bow with those short skirts, I’d say the Church ought to require them to wear an alb. I want to reach over and cover my children’s eyes it gets so bad once in a while.

Did you see the Christmas mas of 2006. A lady was wearing a spagetti string top. I actually got embarrassed in my wife’s presence because she comes from a real conservative Protestant faith. They’d have asked this lady to leave the way she was dressed. People have no sense.

On a personal note. I think the “clericalized” laity will happen anyway no matter what you do. A woman in our parish wore a mantilla in a way that was to draw attention to herself and bragging about seeing the Pope on his visit. I made a positive comment to her about her mantillia saying I really liked it. She just seemed to fling her nose up at me like I was nothing. The irony is that my convert wife and I talk to our pastor constantly via email. Conversion has been hard for us. The point is that the importance is only in their heads. Giving them a good example to follow is more effective. They are drawing coals on their own heads for acting like such snobs to begin with. However, they are one of us and we must be gentle and kind …even to those that seem to be part of teh aristocracy.:rolleyes:

Pray for them. Get more involved in your parish. Start your own minsitry or apostolate within the parish, of course with your pastors approval.
 
“During the celebration of Mass with a congregation a second priest, a deacon, and an instituted reader must wear the distinctive vestment of their office when they go to the lectern to read the word of God. Those who carry out the ministry of reader just for the occasion or even regularly but without institution may go to the lectern in ordinary attire that is in keeping with local custom.”
1981 General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass, n 54.

Despite this it was reported by Catholic News Service on 3 July 2002 with headline “Pool of volunteers helps give universal feel to pope’s public Masses”:
“… While North American College takes very seriously the papal request that seminarians wear clerical dress in Rome, when they read at a papal Mass they are told to wear a suit and tie. …”. It quoted Bishop Piero Marini, papal master of ceremonies:
“The readings are read by lay people. Individual seminaries have rules on how their seminarians are to dress, but in liturgy those who have not yet been ordained to the diaconate are laymen, and they are to dress as laymen.”

I have not heard of this changing, I have not seen a change in the Midnight Mass at the Vatican. So the liturgical books say one thing, the practice is not to follow them.

This also seems to be the case with other lay ministers. In 1970 the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) n. 82, seemed clear, lay ministers were to be in vestments. The same message remains in the 2002 GIRM:
“120. Once the people have gathered, the priest and ministers, clad in the sacred vestments, go in procession to the altar in this order:
a. The thurifer carrying a thurible with burning incense, if incense is used;
b. The ministers who carry lighted candles, and between them an acolyte or other minister with the cross;
c. The acolytes and the other ministers;
d. A lector, who may carry the Book of the Gospels (though not the Lectionary), which should be slightly elevated;
e. The priest who is to celebrate the Mass.”

It was not implemented very well. I think it should have been. Even if there is an option for lay ministers not to wear vestments today, I think it is better if they do.
 
vocatio said:
Yes it does. I think it would be appropriate for many more to be forced to wear an alb when you take a look in the congregation.
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don’t tempt me I would love to have a stock at the doors of our church, and our local ‘tourist’ church for the ushers to hand out to visitors

it has been in the 90s the last few weeks, and people’s dress at church is reflecting shall we say inability to deal with the heat and humidity (keep seeing the whole congregation dressed like Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep in that movie where they are getting judged after death).
Those who carry out the ministry of reader just for the occasion or even regularly but without institution may go to the lectern in ordinary attire that is in keeping with local custom."
1981 General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass, n 54.
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God help us if the rubrics encourage lay people to dress for their liturgical roles according to local custom. ever been to South Padre Island? that is local custom here.
 
ordinary attire that is in keeping with local custom."

Ordinary attire in keeping with local custom where I live is shorts or jeans, tank tops or t-shirts, and zories – casual dress. I sometimes WISH some of those involved in the liturgical ministries would don the alb. I’m glad the altar servers do.
 
It seems eassy to run to liturgical documents to support a position, even if the result is to quote the liturgical documents out of contexts.

I’m curious as to where the assertion that the alb is the vestment of all the baptized comes from. I’ve never seen it in an official document. It seems it comes from people who want to blur the distinction between the laity and the clergy, by drawing attention to the fact that the newly baptized wore white garments.

While this is true, it wasn’t a sign of baptism, it was a sign you were a neophyte. The garments were worn for a week and the regular attire was assumed. This is why the Sunday after Easter used to be called Dominica in albis, it was the last day the newly baptized got to wear their baptismal garments.

Until very recently, the alb was reserved to sacred ministers; that is those in major orders, and then it was only worn at Mass. This was even the case after the Vatican II, as is seem in the GIRM. With the supression of the subdiaconate and the distirbution of its roles to instituted acolytes and lectors, these ministries assumed the alb as their vestment. Since the GIRM and other documents generally assume that ministers will be instituted it came to expect that those serving as acolyte and lector would in albs, thus the option of surplice isn’t mentioned in the 1975 edition of the GIRM for ministers.

Now, we know that instituted ministers are rare, usually they are seminarians. So this lead to the question, what do those who exercise the ministries of lector and acolyte in a deputied fashion wear? Are they permitted to assume the vestments proper to those ministries?

Generally is seems that only servers do this based upon the custom of altar boys assuming the cassock and surplice when serving. In some parishes, especially where both men and women serve, they often wear albs. I have never is seen it common for readers or EMHC to wear an alb. Nor would it seem advisable, inspite of the seeming permission given in the American adaptation of the GIRM.
 
jbebeau said:
I have never is seen it common for readers or EMHC to wear an alb. Nor would it seem advisable, inspite of the seeming permission given in the American adaptation of the GIRM.
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I’ve checked another translation of the GIRM and it clearly gives permission to the Bishops’ conferences to allow/disallow the alb for the various ministers.
 
I think people are splitting hairs here. Christians wearing albs is no different than deacons wearing clerics. Personally I’d prefer to see deacons wearing some kind of distinctive cleric to know who they are for respect purposes. Not only that but they have made a lifetime commitment that dictates something special to that office and should be given the proper respect. It seems that the fact many do not wear clerics by direction from the local bishop is really a reflection of the laity poisoning the minds of everyone by sort of laicizing unofficially the clergy to reflect the Protestant preachers/ministers.

Just something else to throw in the pot while we’re kicking appropriate attire around. Gotta put my white robe on…going back to work.😉
 
vocatio said:
I think people are splitting hairs here. Christians wearing albs is no different than deacons wearing clerics. Personally I’d prefer to see deacons wearing some kind of distinctive cleric to know who they are for respect purposes. Not only that but they have made a lifetime commitment that dictates something special to that office and should be given the proper respect. It seems that the fact many do not wear clerics by direction from the local bishop is really a reflection of the laity poisoning the minds of everyone by sort of laicizing unofficially the clergy to reflect the Protestant preachers/ministers.

Just something else to throw in the pot while we’re kicking appropriate attire around. Gotta put my white robe on…going back to work.😉
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Good points all.

I am aware of some diocese that have allowed for deacons to wear clerics, requesting they wear shirts that are not black - most going with grey. Not a terriblie idea, but you have a lot of men running around that many would first guess to be Lutheran, Methodist or Episcopal!

Something I have never seen - maybe some here have? - are married deacons who (in choro) where cassocks, surplices and stoles. It is their right but I have never seen it done - most favor the alb, cincture and stole which for decades seemed to be the more popular option… (Not a big deal to me, I take my victories where I can get it, I am pleased to see dalmatics appearing in places they had never before been seen!)

It is well above my paygrade and competence to discuss the matter of alb-wearing beyond my general impressions in what I have observed. (I should note, I see this A LOT LESS than I used to). I also admit to a bias based on where I first saw this practice widespread - in gradeschool, in a parish that had three priests in residence, our school principal “Sister Jenny” liked to preside over paraliturgical “afternoon prayer” services which were essentially like non-Eucharistic Masses:
  • Opening Hymn
  • Opening blessing from Sister Jenny
  • Confiteor
  • Gospel
  • Old Test. Reading./Responsoral Psalm/Epistle/Gospel - HOMILY
  • Closing Blessings, Closing hymn, etc.
All the while in her custom made alb - I am guessing it was custom, she was short and it fit well and was “fabulous”. Even at age 11, it was kind of obvious what was going on to me - she was trying to teach 600+ grade-schoolers that women could be good priests too. (I know here is where some will jump in and offer that she was likely just a prayerful woman who wanted to pray… You can have that opinion. If she wanted to pray so bad to have afternoon services as such, one wonders why we didn’t have an all-school Mass that took exactly the same amount of time.)

At school Masses she was quick to don it to be a EEM - always taking her place next to the priest…

As a result of this plainly agenda-driven sister, I perhaps have a natural aversion…
 
Years back we had the EMHCs wear albs and process in with the celebrant. However, that was stopped because the powers that be wished to emphasized that the EMHCs were laity coming from the congregation.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Years back we had the EMHCs wear albs and process in with the celebrant. However, that was stopped because the powers that be wished to emphasized that the EMHCs were laity coming from the congregation.
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Now I think that is appropriate… I’m an EMHC…let’s spell it out…“Extra-Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion” the word Extra modifies “ordinary”. I’m being a bit sarcastic I realize. But I’m still getting to my point. They are NOT the “Ordinary” ministers of Holy Communionl. In fact, the the word Eucharist is not used to insure that the term “Eucharistic Minister” is not used. It’s not supposed to be. But we know that many if not most do use that term. But I don’t beat people up over it.

I believe that lecturns and EMCHs should wear normal clothing. Altar Servers are basically discerning vocations. We, adult laity, are helping out. I see why we have them, but I’d prefer to see more deacons assigned to each parish to fill in the gap instead.

I’m considering becoming a permanent acolite. I feel called to the diaconate, but until that happens I want to do more, serving during the mass. I wish that only the ordained were able to distribute holy communion. But I have to admit that most of the laity in our parish do a good job of it with much respect.
 
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