LITURGICAL VESTMENTS

In early centuries of Christianity the dress the clergy used for liturgical functions was the same as the ordinary clothes worn by the laity. It was the attire of Greco–Roman civilization: the tunic, an undergarment fastened at the neck and tied with a belt at the waist, and the mantle, an outer garment wrapped around the body. Even in the 4th century, though clerical liturgical vesture was frequently made of better material and in a more refined cut, it actually varied little from ordinary clothing. During the barbarian invasion there came a change in fashion, but the clergy kept to the old style. With the growing difference in costume, liturgical vesture acquired a symbolic value in much the same way that some modern secular modes of dress have become a sign of a particular profession.

In the Middle Ages vestments gradually became more ornate and colorful with the introduction of brocades. These splendid fabrics tended to be so heavy and unyielding that it became necessary to reduce the cut of the outer vestments in order to allow for freedom of movement. This had its disadvantages, however, for abbreviated garments looked less like clothing and deprived the priest of a very important means of setting off his central role in the sacred action. In the 19th century a movement to restore the ample cut was started for purely aesthetic reasons. Whereas at first (1863, 1925) the Congregation of Rites showed little favor to vestments not in current use at Rome, in a decree of 1957 it left the matter to the judgment of ordinaries.

For more information on specific liturgical vestments, see amice, alb, stole, chasuble, maniple, cope and humeral veil, dalmatic, biretta, and surplice.

Bibliography: j. braun, Die liturgische Gewandung im Occident und Orient (Freiburg 1907); Die liturgischen Paramente in Gegenwart und Vergangenheit (2d ed. Freiburg 1924). e. a. roulin, Vestments and Vesture, tr. j. mccann (Westminster, Md. 1950). r. lesage, Vestments and Church Furniture, tr. f. murphy (New York 1960). e. haulotte, Symbolique du vêtement selon la Bible (Paris 1966). c. e. pocknee, Liturgical Vesture: Its Origins and Development (Westminister, Md. 1961).

[m. mccance/

a. d. fitzgerald/eds.]