Liturgical Vestments

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padre1986

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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but there’s sort of been a few questions I need answering but I’ll give a brief synopsis.

I’m currently studying at a Seminary, in my 2nd year of theology with only 4 more years remaining to ordination (excluding Diaconate).

As a sort of new resident in this diocese, I find all the albs have been really long or really short, so I’m considering buying one but i have no idea where to start? Should I get on with an amice or without (is there a benefit to having one with an amice?) I’ve been shopping around liturgical stores and this leads to my sort of second inquiry.

This year we have had a number of transitional deacons in house, and they have been using their own personal Cassocks and suplices in serving the Holy Hour, this is sort of a novelty to me, but it seems odd that they would not dawn on a alb, deacon stole and cope and be set. Why is there an emphasize (at least in their understanding) to put on the cassock instead?

As reason why this is intriguing but worrying is that our bishop has specifically stated that our seminary will not be using cassocks in our form of worship, yet there has been such a pattern, I’m wondering if its something I should look into and invest in the future (To be honest, I have no personal preference, either for or against the cassock but it would be interesting to read something that explained what liturgical wear was appropriate to what liturgical action [presiding in LOTH, Holy Hour, Deaconing the Mass or preaching the Word].) So any sort of website, guides, even books would be of great effort. Thank you again, God Bless. Pax.
 
If I was you I’d go for an alb and amice. In my opinion it looks much tidier.
 
go for the cassock and surplice, the traditional choir dress of the roman catholic cleric
 
Thus the complications, I’ll have to pray about this but I will definitely be getting an alb, the cassock, I will need to think about it for a while, but any documentation of proper liturgical vestments per occasion of liturgical worship would be amazing.
 
It sounds like there may be two different things going on – one mode of dress in the seminary and a different one in the parishes. This is a question you should bring up with your fellow seminarians, the deacons, the pastor at your church, your teachers, the bishop. In fact, just about anyone IRL instead of us. Don’t spend money on vestments you won’t use, or that the seminary leader/pastor/bishop prefer you don’t use.
 
You “don” garments when you put them on, not “dawn” them. (When you take them off, you might say that you “doff” them. It’s an old usage, though.)

Seminarians invent fashions for themselves, just like everyone else. Ask the faculty at your seminary to find out what is fashion, what is long-standing tradition, and what is the custom found in parishes of the diocese for which you are studying.

Our parish had a number of transitional deacons over the years, and they all had their own albs. All the priests who visit to concelebrate bring their own albs. Whether or not they have an amice depends on whether or not they choose an alb that covers their collar.

An amice is easier to clean than a whole alb, not to mention cheaper to replace. If you find you’re leaving a “ring” on the collar of high-collared albs (so that you’d have to launder yours often) or if a high-collared alb proves insufficient to protect the vestments you’ll be wearing from being soiled by your bare neck, do yourself and the altar society a favor and use an amice. Most clergy, though, wear the Roman collar under their vestments, and find that is sufficient to keep their neck out of direct contact with both their alb and their other vestments. In that case, as far as I know, it’s personal preference.

This is all stuff to ask the clergy who are actually in your area before you buy anything, because it depends on the local practice.
 
padre1986 said:
Our bishop has specifically stated that our seminary will not be using cassocks in our form of worship, yet there has been such a pattern, I’m wondering if its something I should look into and invest in the future (To be honest, I have no personal preference, either for or against the cassock but it would be interesting to read something that explained what liturgical wear was appropriate to what liturgical action [presiding in LOTH, Holy Hour, Deaconing the Mass or preaching the Word].)
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The man you need to speak with is your bishop. He will tell you the norms in the diocese, and advise you how to invest accordingly.

I also am puzzled by your in-house deacons not wearing their stoles. The alb and stole are the general proper liturgical vestments for a deacon, and a seminary is sure to have one or more in the sacristy. The deacon could also wear a dalmatic for Mass, and a cope for any other liturgy.

The layman is restricted to the alb, or where the tradition exists, cassock and surplice.

As far as I can gather from my observation, a cleric wearing a cassock also wears an alb when serving at a liturgy, but may wear cassock and surplice when in choir (a deacon conducting Benediction is not in choir).
 
The proper choir dress for priests, deacons, and seminarians is the black cassock and white surplice, with black biretta. Those entitled to wear a stole wear it in the way proper to their rank only when doing something liturgical, e.g., distributing Holy Communion, giving a homily, leading a service outside of Mass, etc. A priest may add a cope outside of Mass while doing those things, in most cases.
 
padre1986 said:
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but there’s sort of been a few questions I need answering but I’ll give a brief synopsis.

I’m currently studying at a Seminary, in my 2nd year of theology with only 4 more years remaining to ordination (excluding Diaconate).

As a sort of new resident in this diocese, I find all the albs have been really long or really short, so I’m considering buying one but i have no idea where to start? Should I get on with an amice or without (is there a benefit to having one with an amice?) I’ve been shopping around liturgical stores and this leads to my sort of second inquiry.

This year we have had a number of transitional deacons in house, and they have been using their own personal Cassocks and suplices in serving the Holy Hour, this is sort of a novelty to me, but it seems odd that they would not dawn on a alb, deacon stole and cope and be set. Why is there an emphasize (at least in their understanding) to put on the cassock instead?

As reason why this is intriguing but worrying is that our bishop has specifically stated that our seminary will not be using cassocks in our form of worship, yet there has been such a pattern, I’m wondering if its something I should look into and invest in the future (To be honest, I have no personal preference, either for or against the cassock but it would be interesting to read something that explained what liturgical wear was appropriate to what liturgical action [presiding in LOTH, Holy Hour, Deaconing the Mass or preaching the Word].) So any sort of website, guides, even books would be of great effort. Thank you again, God Bless. Pax.
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It depends on the form of your alb. You can get albs with a collar which show nothing of the garment underneath, to albs with which shows the collar of the shirt underneath, to square cut ones, whcih shows the neck and part of the chest belwo it. For those cases you would need an amice, since nothing looks more sloppy, in my opinion, that seeking a shirt collar peeking out from the alb. Alb with a collar that covers all may be more convenient, simply from the fact that there is less to remember to take with you when you go travelling. OTOH, it is easier to wash an amice when the collar gets dirty, insteady of always washing the alb…
 
AJV said:
It depends on the form of your alb. You can get albs with a collar which show nothing of the garment underneath, to albs with which shows the collar of the shirt underneath, to square cut ones, whcih shows the neck and part of the chest belwo it. For those cases you would need an amice, since nothing looks more sloppy, in my opinion, that seeking a shirt collar peeking out from the alb. Alb with a collar that covers all may be more convenient, simply from the fact that there is less to remember to take with you when you go travelling. OTOH, it is easier to wash an amice when the collar gets dirty, insteady of always washing the alb…
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not only is it sloppy, its against the rubrics
 
Instead of buying one from a company, even if it fits well, why don’t you seek out somebody either in a local parish or at the seminary that could make one for you? If you do that chances are you will get one that is of higher quality than what you may get from a store or online and a for a cheaper price.

ChadS
 
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