Priests & Deacons: Would you wear black vestments for funerals if asked by the family?

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What are “old” vestments, Father? You mean like the fiddleback one Pope Benedict and a couple Cardinals wear here, just like the one my diocesan pastor wears weekly? Sort of as the one Pope Francis wears below?
 
If I were a priest, I would have black vestments for funerals and All Souls Day.
Not that many of the faithful really go for black vestments nowadays.

That was not the case in 1963, when was at a funeral as a kid. I specifically remember the black vestments as well as the black eye patch the priest wore.

I think he lost his eye in the war, and back in the day not everyone could afford a glass prosthesis like Sammy Davis Jr. had. So he wore a black patch, which was new to me as we didn’t attend there and I never the priest before.

My father explained to me that we attended mass there on Sunday, the priest had different eye patches depending on the liturgical season. But since we were at a funeral, he wore black.
 
I think black vestments are beautifully solemn. Kind of a memento mori. The parishes here in Birmingham don’t really use them unless requested, but my Oratory uses them as standard for all requiem masses, including new rite ones.
 
Hello. An “old” vestment is one that was made a long time ago (excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but that is the only answer I can come up with for your question) 😄. Depending of how well they have been preserved, old vestments will be in better or worse condition (also obvious, sorry).

Now, the ones in the pictures you posted look really well, so if they are actually old, they must have been very carefully preserved and/or restored. That is definitely not the case for the ones that I saw in my parish: they had not been used in many years, and they were not in a good enough condition to use them at Mass.
 
Seriously?

We’re in the same neck of the woods, and I can’t recall a funeral in which the celebrant didn’t wear white vestments!
 
Kind of sad… they must have been poorly made. Vestments should last forever.

You refer to the “Liturgical Reformation of Vatican II,” something I am quite unfamiliar with as the documents of Vatican II actually upheld our Liturgical traditions and despite this they have largely disappeared.
 
Not that many of the faithful really go for black vestments nowadays
That’s because white is all they know. If they attended a funeral or two, with the priest wearing black, matching what almost the entire congregation is wearing, it wouldn’t seem pretty normal and reasonable pretty quick. Solidarity.
 
If you look for the funeral Masses of cardinals (such as Cardinal George and Cardinal Bernardin), the chasubles are all white, at least for the examples I could find.

At the funerals of the Popes, the vestments have been red.
(As far as I know, the rubrics for a papal funeral are among the directives set by the Pope before he dies, including the specific rules for the enclave to select his successor. Being the chief liturgist of the Church, I suppose the Pope could probably specify whatever he wanted. Still, red seems to be the norm, judging by John Paul II, John Paul I, and Paul VI.)
 
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You refer to the “Liturgical Reformation of Vatican II,” something I am quite unfamiliar with
I’m surprised you are unfamiliar with it, since Vatican II has a whole document about Sacred Liturgy, that states in its first paragraph that " the Council sees particularly cogent reasons for undertaking the reform and promotion of the liturgy" (SC 1), and then proceeds to give reasons and guidelines for that reform (or “restoration”, both are valid translations of the latin word “instauratio”). There you can also read statements like “The Council desires that, where necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition, and that they be given new vigor to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times” (SC 4).

The name of the document is Sacrosanctum Concilium, as you probably already know. And, as you most likely also know, all the liturgical books of the Roman Rite were reformed according to those guidelines in the subsequent years, and later revised in several occasions until today.

If your concern is to stress the fact that Vatican II never denied the value of the liturgical tradition that preceded the Council, and that tradition had to be taken into account for the reform, that is of course true, as you can see for example in the sentence quoted above.

However, I perceive in your remarks a tone of suspicion, as if you were assuming I am somehow attacking Faith or Tradition and you need to defend them against me. I don’t think I have said anything that justifies being treated like that. I tried to be conciliatory in my first response, but I see you persist in that attitude. Well, I won’t tolerate it again, because you have no right to do it. If you keep answering me in that aggressive mood, I won’t respond to your comments, and I will also flag your post and report to the moderators.
 
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We only have 3 active clergy here on Catholic Answers Forums…

@FrDavid96
@edward_george1
@(name removed by moderator)
We have at least one more priest, @hwasie, who joined CAF several months ago. It’s a long time since I last saw a post from @Don_Ruggero, but I hope he is still around.
 
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I think the Don is long gone
I remember noticing that his posts tended to attract some pretty hostile opposition, though I don’t recall the details. I wonder whether perhaps he just decided enough was enough.
 
A deacon I know says he would wear them if asked but he would not buy them.
 
You left out the first part of SC 4
I left out most of the document, which is very long and says many things.
It’s a wonderful thing to actively participate in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass according to the spirit of that same document
I never said the contrary. Of course it its a wonderful thing.
when merely being questioned
You are not “merely questioning” my arguments, you are making me say things I never said and making me look as if I wanted to go against things I am not against. From my point of view, that is completely out of place in a forum where all of us come to share our faith with our brothers and sisters, not to feel as if someone was placing you in the dock and accusing you God knows why. That’s why I’m flagging your comments.
 
I’m making you say things you never said? That’s a new one. I could say more but as this is unrelated to vestments at this point I’ll refrain. Adios.
 
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