Question regarding vesture of musicians

[CatholicNerd]

Hi everyone! As many of you are probably aware, I’ve been working very hard to bring traditional Catholic music to my parish and the effort is finally beginning to pay off Now that sacred music is actually being played/sung in the parish, I would really like the musicians to be properly vested in accordance with the directives laid out in the GIRM.

Unfortunately, the GIRM is very ambiguous when it comes to the vesture of lay ministers (still sorta nervous the idea of giving in to the whole ‘let’s give laypeople vestments, too!’ thing, but I’ve seen it done in a way that leaves no ambiguity about who’s ordained and who’s not). Here’s the quote from the GIRM:​

339: “Acolytes, readers and other lay ministers wear the alb or other vestment that is lawfully approved in each region by the Conference of Bishops.”​

So what exactly is lawfully approved? I’d like to have us all vested in server cassocks and surplices if it’s allowed. The choir at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes wore choral cassocks (sans collar and surplice) and apparently Bishop Skylstad was OK with that. At the parish where the Chant Mass I attended was celebrated, the musicians and servers were vested in double-breasted albs. Both options seem very reverent to me, and with those two options there’s no ambiguity about who is an ordained minister and who is not.

If both options are indeed permitted, I think I’d choose the cassocks out of a matter of taste… cassocks are just way cooler than albs. But are both options permitted? The GIRM specifically refers to the alb and I cannot find mention anywhere of a cassock. Servers used to wear cassocks and surplices, but I don’t see this done anymore. Has the practice been suppressed? crosses his fingers Man, I really want to wear a cassock…

 

[Deacon2006]

In my parish the choir, on occasion, wears a modified blue alb.

God Bless

 

[dantheman]

#339 of the GIRM actually states:“In the dioceses of the United States of America, acolytes, altar servers, lectors, and other lay ministers may wear the alb or other suitable vesture or other appropriate and dignified clothing.”

I would imagine that your Bishop would have a say in this. As our Bishop does not allow the choir to wear distinctive vesture. Ordinary clothing is the rule.

 

[Mary1973]

Several years ago our choir wore robes mainly because some members came to Mass in inappropriate clothing. Then we had a change in music ministers and the robes were out. But I do like the robes and I think it looks nice when everyone is uniform.

If your Bishop does not allow robes or albs but says regular dress, you can still have a sort of uniform. Most musicians seem to wear black slacks/skirts and a white shirt/blouse.

 

[alamb]

339: “Acolytes, readers and other lay ministers wear the alb or other vestment that is lawfully approved in each region by the Conference of Bishops.”​

So what exactly is lawfully approved?
Didn’t the Conference of Bishops leave the decision to the local Bishops?..

I’d like to have us all vested in server cassocks and surplices if it’s allowed. ?
I’m a bit curious as to why you feel so strongly vestments for lay ministries? Please, help me understand…Thanks

 

[CatholicNerd]

LOL. I don’t necessarily. The cassock and surplice aren’t really permitted to be worn by our clergy anymore so I’m not sure one could even consider them sacred vestments. I think they look really cool. LOL. And besides, the organist at Notre Dame in Indiana was wearing one at Mass this morning on TV. LOL

 

[baltobetsy]

I’ve sung in a number of different choirs, and have seen and worn a number of different types of vestments. Our Cathedral choir wears a red cassock with no other accessories. My parish choir wears a blue “choir alb” - pretty funny, since the meaning of “alb” is something white - with a silver cross. The choir at the parish I used to belong to has a blue choir alb with a white “scapular” piece over it - it’s about a foot wide, goes to the ankle in front and back, and has a hole for the head. The boys’ choir there wears the full English garb - red cassocks, white surplices, white ruffs, and for the head choristers on special occasions, capes. The capes look like Christmas tree skirts to me, but the boys think they’re cool. In the Episcopal church where I sing now we wear blue cassocks and white surplices - long ones with flowing sleeves. They look very nice.

Here in Baltimore, choir attire is a completely local decision - the bishops have nothing to say about it. It’s more a parish budget item than anything else. My personal opinion is that choirs who sit in a visible place in church need some kind of robes; otherwise they look like a rag-tag pick-up group. If they sit up in a loft in the back, it doesn’t matter as much what they wear. I also think choir robes (maybe a less highly-charged term than “vestments”) enhance the esprit-de-corps. It’s much less a matter of being “ministers” and wearing a vestment as such.

Betsy