We have now described the form and ornamentation of the different vestments worn by the clergy of the principal sections of Christendom; but we have only incidentally touched upon another and equally important matter, namely, when and how these vestments were worn, and the liturgical practices connected with them. A more extended account of these matters will be the subject of the present chapter.

The non-reformed Western and Eastern Churches alone need occupy our attention. The vestment uses of the various reformed churches are practically nil, and all available details concerning these Churches have already been given in the preceding chapter.

Vestments were obtained by a church or a cathedral in many ways. They were often embroidered for presentation to the church by ladies, {212} who found in the work of embroidery an easy and pleasant way of passing the time; or else by the inmates of nunneries as a religious work. Some were presented as expiatory offerings by conscience-stricken laymen; others bequeathed as a perpetual memorial by incumbents or prelates. Others, again, were purchased with money mulcted as compensation for sins.

The first sacred function in which any vestment took part was its own benediction. This was always spoken by a bishop, and was in form of prayers said over all the vestments of a suit together, and the individual vestments separately. The following may be taken as specimens of these dedicatory prayers; it is unnecessary to occupy space in giving all, as complete sets can be found in any Pontifical:

Benedictio omnium vestimentorum simul.—Omnipotens Deus qui per Moisen famulum tuum pontificalia et sacerdotalia ac levitica vestimenta ad explendum ministerium eorum in conspectu tuo, et ad decorem tui nominis, per nostre humilitatis servitutem pontificare ✠ benedicere ✠ consecrare digneris ✠ ut divinis cultibus et sacris misteriis apta et benedicta existant; hiisque sacris vestibus pontifices, sacerdotes seu levite tui induti ab omnibus impulsionibus seu temptacionibus malignorum spirituum muniti et defensi esse mereantur, tuisque ministeriis apte et condigne servire et inherere, atque in hiis placide tibi et devote perseverare tribue. Per Christum. Oremus.

Deus invicte virtutis auctor, et omnium rerum creator ac sanctificator, intende propicius ad preces nostras, et hec indumenta {213} levitice et sacerdotalis glorie ministris tuis sumenda tuo ore proprio benedicere ✠ sanctificare ✠ et consecrare digneris omnesque eis utentes, tuis misteriis aptos, et tibi in eis devote et amicabiliter servientes gratos effici concedas. Per Christum Dominum.

Benedictio Amicti.—Oremus. Benedic Domine quesume omnipotens Deus amictum istum levitici seu sacerdotalis officii et concede propicius ut quicumque eum capiti suo imposuerit benedictionem tuam accipiat; sitque in fide solidus et sanctitatis gravedine fundatus. Per Christum. Etc.

The vestment thus dedicated was sprinkled with holy water after each prayer.

The ritual uses of vestments may be conveniently described in two parts; discussing in the first the persons by whom they were worn, and, in the second, the occasions upon which, and the manner in which, they were worn.

The vestments were distributed among the different orders of clergy in a manner similar to that in which the early vestments of the second period were allotted (see p. 28), but on a more complex system, as befitted their greater elaboration. Some hints of this system have already been given in the preceding pages; it will be convenient here to amplify this information.

The seven orders of the Western Church are the three minor orders (ostiarius, lector, acolytus), and the four major orders (subdeacons, deacons, priests, and bishops; we may divide the last into three subdivisions, bishops proper, archbishops, {214} and the Pope). All ranks wore the alb, and all the major orders the maniple. All those above the rank of subdeacon wore amice and stole, and all above the rank of deacon the chasuble. Subdeacons were distinguished by the tunicle, deacons by the dalmatic; both vestments were added to the outfit of bishops, the latter with a remarkable distinction already described (p. 79). The stockings, sandals, subcingulum (originally), mitre, gloves, ring, and staff were peculiar to bishops and to certain abbots to whom these pontificalia had been expressly granted by the Pope.[95] Archbishops added the pall to this lengthy catalogue, and the Pope (who dispensed with the pastoral staff) reserved the orale, and in later times the subcingulum, for his exclusive use.

We now turn to the consideration of the occasions upon which, and the manner in which, these vestments were worn.

The vestments worn at the mass by the celebrant and his assistants were those which we have described under the heading of \'Eucharistic Vestments,\' and of these one, the chasuble, was worn exclusively at this service and at no other.

In Advent, and between Septuagesima and Easter, the deacons and subdeacons were directed {215} to substitute chasubles for their dalmatics or tunicles; and these chasubles were ordered to be worn, not in the usual manner, but folded, and passed across the breast like the diaconal stole. That is to say, the chasuble, which must have been of a flexible[96] material, was folded into a strip as narrow as possible, and secured over the shoulder and under the girdle of the alb. These were not to be worn during the whole service, however; the subdeacon had to remove his folded chasuble at the Epistle; at the Gospel the deacon had to cross his over the left arm, and so keep it till after the post-communion.

There is but one representation of a deacon so vested known to exist in England. It is one of a series of sculptured effigies of ecclesiastics on the north-west tower of Wells Cathedral. These have been described by Mr St John Hope in \'Archæologia,\' vol. liv. We give here the figure to which special reference is at present being made. Besides the chasuble, the effigy is vested in cassock, amice, alb, and girdle; and a book, probably meant for the Gospels, is represented as carried in the hand.

It should be observed that at the mass of a {216} feast falling within the limits of time prescribed, the ordinary dalmatic and tunicle were worn in the ordinary way.
ill-p216

Fig. 30.—Deacon in Folded Chasuble, Wells Cathedral.

This peculiar custom was unknown to the Franciscans. The deacons of this order put off {217} the dalmatic entirely upon fast-days, and did not substitute any other vestment for it; a similar practice, with respect to the tunicle, was observed by the subdeacons, so that the deacons wore alb and stole only, the subdeacons alb and maniple. This practice was not observed at the Vigils of Saints, or of the Nativity, and on a few other occasions.

When a cleric of sacerdotal rank ministered (as opposed to celebrated) at the mass, his dress was the amice, the alb, the stole, and the cope. The same vestments are worn by the priest at the mass of the pre-sanctified[97] on Good Friday.

Before the vestments are put on for the mass the priest must wash his hands, and prepare the chalice, placing over it the purificator or napkin used for wiping the sacred vessels. Above the purificator he places the paten, with an unbroken host, and covers it with a small linen cloth, over which he puts the burse. This done, he takes the vestments one by one; he first receives the amice, takes it by its ends and strings, and kisses the middle of it where there is a cross. A prelate, it should be noticed, always puts on a surplice before vesting. The amice being put in its place, the alb and girdle are then assumed, then the maniple and chasuble. Each vestment is kissed {218} before being put on, and a prayer said with the assumption of each; these prayers differ little in style from those said in the similar ceremony in the Eastern Church, and it has therefore been thought unnecessary to give them here.

In an inventory of the Vestry of Westminster Abbey,[98] the following directions are given in a late fifteenth-century hand:

The Revestyng of the abbot of Westmʳ att evensong.—Fyrst the westerer shall lay the abbots cope lowest opon the awter wᵗ in the sayd westre, nex opon hys gray Ames, then hys surples, after that hys Rochett and uppermost his Kerchure.

Hys Myter & crose beyng Redy wᵗ hys glovys and pontyfycalls.

The Revestyng of the sayd abbot att syngyng hy Masse.—Fyrst the westerer shall lay lowest the chesebell, above that the dalmatyke and the dalmatyk wᵗ yᵉ longest slevys uppermost & the other nethermost then hys stole & hys fanane and hys gyrdyll, opon that his albe theropon his gray Ames a bove that hys Rochett and uppermost hys kerchur wᵗ a vestry gyrdyll to tukk up his cole.

Hys Miter & crose beyng Redy wᵗ hys glovys and pontyfycalls And a fore all thys you muste se that hys sabatyns & syndalls be Redy at hys first cūyng whan he settyth hym downe in the travys.

This direction is important in one respect. It shows us the order in which the vestments were put on, it is true; that, however, one would naturally infer from the order in which they are {219} seen in the monuments. But it tells us also that a canon wore his canonical habit underneath his mass habit at high mass, but so arranged that it should be, as far as possible, out of sight; hence the direction to have \'a vestry girdle to tuck up his cowl.\' At Wells, Hereford, and Norwich Cathedrals are to be seen figures of canons, the almuce or amess appearing at the neck, although they are vested in eucharistic habit.

The duty of the minister, as far as the vestments of the celebrant are concerned, consists in seeing that the vestments are laid out in their proper order on a table in the vestry, or, should there be no vestry, on a side-table near the altar (never on the altar itself); the vestments for the assistant should be on the right-hand side of those for the celebrant, the vestments for the deacon and subdeacon on the left. He should also see that each is properly put on, especially that the alb is drawn through the girdle so as to overhang it and to be raised about a finger\'s breadth from the ground, and that the chasuble is straight. He must especially be careful that the assistant does not put on his cope before the priest puts on his chasuble. During the celebration he has to see that the chasuble is not disarranged by genuflexions, and to raise the chasuble so as to give complete freedom to the priest\'s arms at the elevation of the host. After the celebration the vestments are {220} taken off with similar ceremonies in the reverse order.

On Ember days, Rogations, in processions, and when the Sunday or Saint\'s day mass is said in the chapter house, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Palm Sunday, albs and amices only are to be worn by the ministers.

The dress at the ordinary offices (mattins, lauds, etc.) is amice, alb, stole, and cope; a brass at Horsham represents a priest so vested, and has the merit of showing the exact manner in which the stole should be crossed. This combination of vestments was also worn at benedictions, at absolution after a mass for the dead, and, as just remarked, by the assistant at mass if a priest, and by the celebrant at the mass of the pre-sanctified. \'The cope,\' the rubric tells us, \'is not strictly a sacerdotal vestment, but it is worn by the rulers of the choir and others.\'

The clergy in choir wear black (choral) copes, except on principal doubles,[99] and on the doubles falling on Sunday, when silk copes of the colour of the day are worn. On the vigil of Easter, and {221} through and on the octave, they wore surplices only, as also on doubles occurring from Easter to Michaelmas.

If a bishop celebrate, and if it be Maunday Thursday, or Whitsunday, he has seven deacons, seven subdeacons, and three acolytes—on other doubles only five. On feasts with Rulers, two at least; on Good Friday only one. The rulers of the choir were those whose duty it was to chant the office and Kyrie at mass, and to superintend the choristers. On doubles these were four in number, on simples two. Rulers wore silk copes of the colour of the day over a surplice, and had silver staves as emblems of office.

The Roman Pontifical lays down succinct rules for the vesting of a bishop for the different duties of his position. These are as follows:

Confirmation.—White cope and stole, amice, rochet, mitra aurifrigiata.

Ordinations.—As for high mass: colour according to the day.

Consecration of a Bishop.—The consecrator as for high mass: colour according to the day; each of the two assistant-bishops in rochet, cope, amice, stole, and mitra simplex.

Profession of a Nun.—As for high mass.

Coronation of a Sovereign.—As for high mass: colour according to day; each of the assistant-bishops in rochet, amice, white stole and cope, mitra simplex. In England all the bishops used to wear full pontificalia.

Laying the Foundation of a Church.—Rochet, amice, white stole and cope, mitra simplex, pastoral staff.

{222} Consecration of a Church.—The same till the mass, then full pontificalia (white).

Reconciliation of a Church.—The same.

Consecration of the Holy Oil on Maunday Thursday.—Full (white) pontificalia, mitra pretiosa.

At a Synod held in a Cathedral Church.—Rochet, amice, red stole, red cope, mitra pretiosa.

Procession of Palms.—Alb, amice, purple stole, purple cope, mitra simplex.

Procession of Corpus Christi.—Alb, amice, stole, tunic, dalmatic, white cope; a mitra pretiosa borne behind. In England and in France red was the colour.

Rogation Days.—Alb, amice, purple stole, purple cope, mitra simplex.

In occasional services, such as baptism, a surplice and stole are worn. At baptisms two stoles are used, one of violet, which is worn at the first part of the service, and the other of white, which is substituted for the first in the course of the office. This observance has a symbolical meaning; violet being the colour which typifies sin and penitence, and white being associated with ideas of purity, the change in the stole is emblematic of the regenerating change which the rite of baptism is supposed to work. A reversible stole, violet on one side and white on the other, is sometimes used for this service. In processions and benedictions at the altar (i.e., blessings of wax, images, etc.) the cope must be worn. In other benedictions stole and surplice are sufficient.

{223} The cope must also be worn at an absolution after a mass for the dead; the colour of the cope for such a service is black, the ministers lay aside their dalmatics, and when the celebrant assumes the cope he must lay aside his maniple. If for any reason a cope be not obtainable, these rites (benedictions, absolutions, etc.) must be performed in alb and crossed stole only, without chasuble or maniple.

Should it be found necessary to celebrate high mass without the aid of a deacon or subdeacon, the Epistle is ordered to be sung by a lector vested in a surplice.

We must now approach an important branch of this complex subject—the varieties in the colour of the vestments depending on the character of the day, in other words, the liturgical colours of the vestments.

It does not appear that the definite assigning of particular colours to particular days is of older date than Innocent III\'s time; but before him, and even as far back as the time of the fathers of the church, we find that the early Christians had symbolical associations with colours, which have formed the foundation on which the elaborate structure of later times was built.

It is a matter of common knowledge that there are associations of sentiment and colour which are practically indissoluble. Black and sorrowful, {224} white (or bright) and joyful, are synonymous terms, and similar expressions are universal.

White, in the first ten centuries of Christianity, typified purity and truth. Saints, angels, and Our Lord are for that reason represented clothed in white. As we have seen, the earliest vestments were probably white; the newly-baptized wore white during the week after baptism, and the dead were shrouded in white; the latter, however, probably more for convenience than for any symbolic reason.

Red, the colour of flame, was associated with ideas of warm, burning love. Our Lord is sometimes represented ............