You Never Even Call Me by My Name - Part III

Ever see a couple of priests at a church family picnic and think, “Man, that’s gotta be embarrassing…I mean, showing up wearing the same black outfit?”  Ok, well maybe you haven’t, but it does raise an interesting question:  What ARE all those crazy things priests wear?  Well, as you may have guessed by now (or you at least shouldn’t be surprised, based on previous posts on this blog), all those crazy things they wear all have special purposes, and of course, special names.  So hopefully after reading this post, the next time you see a priest, you won’t say they’re wearing “that black outfit,” or “that pointy hat,” or (cringe) “that dress-looking thing.”

Cassock (KASS-ik) – from the French (no, that’s not a typo…I said “French” on purpose) casaque, but the idea of the cassock comes from the Medieval Latin (you should’ve known Latin was going to at least make an appearance) soutane, meaning “beneath” – black cloak that fully buttons up the front (usually 33 buttons—the number of years of the earthly life of Jesus), and is the traditional daily wardrobe essential for priests.  It is also worn with a white collar called a Roman Collar which is a universally identifiable mark of a religious minister.  I use the words “religious minister” because many other faiths have adopted the clerical look of the cassock or “clerics” (see below) as their normal attire as well.  In the Catholic Faith, it is typically worn by priests, although you’ll occasionally catch a Deacon (usually a transitional deacon) or a seminarian (one studying for the priesthood in a seminary) wearing one, as well.  They can also be used (typically sans the Roman Collar) by the laity (non-ordained members of the Church) when assisting at Mass as Altar Servers.

Clerics (KLAIR-iks) – modern version of the cassock.  This is the black pants & black shirt with the Roman Collar worn by most priests these days (although the cassock has been making a pretty awesome come-back in the past decade, or so).

Now, people wonder what the significance of the black clothes and the white collar are.  If there are any priests out there who can point me in the direction of a solid definitive and/or historical document that can formally explain this to me, please do.  Until then, I’ll proceed with a couple “traditional explanations.”  The first is that black clothing is customarily a sign of mourning, and is associated with death, so when people see a priest, they are reminded that we’re mortal, and that we’re all going to die one day, so we should continuously be re-evaluating our actions.  The other is that the color black is a symbol of evil and darkness and that the priest wearing all black, and a small bit of white (the Roman Collar) is portraying the church as a bit of purity in a world letting itself be consumed with evil.  Again, I can find no proof of either of these traditions, so until someone can point us all here on The Remedial Catholic to an official Church document giving the explanation, feel free to take whichever one of those you feel best about and run with it.

Surplice (SUR-pliss) – from the Latin superpellicium, meaning “coat of skins” (really a compound word: super, meaning “above/on top” and pellicius, meaning “made of skins”) – a looser white garment worn on top of—and typically shorter than—the cassock worn during liturgical celebrations

Alb – from the Latin alba, meaning "white" – the white "robe-like" vestment worn by all clergy during liturgical celebrations meant to symbolize purity.

Cincture (SINK-sure) – from the Latin cingere, meaning “to gird” (look that one up in the dictionary…and in Ephesians 6:14) – belt made of cord or cloth rope used to tie over the Alb at the waist to serve as a sort if belt.

Stole – from the Latin stola, meaning “garment” – a  long, thin strip of cloth worn around the neck and sown the front of a priest, and on the left shoulder and across the body of a deacon, being tied or otherwise fastened at the right side.  it is a symbol of the clerical office, and also symbolic of the "Yoke of Christ" (like from Matthew 11:29 which says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my burden is easy, and my yoke is light."). I've also heard a priest give the explanation (although I've never found the literary or historical evidence to firmly support it) that the stole has the appearance that it's "pouring" down the front of the priest, which is reminiscent of Leviticus 8:12 in which Aaron is consecrated by his brother Moses with oil, by having oil poured on his head, which consequently ran down his beard and down over his body.  So the stole could be thought of as resembling oil being poured as an anointing over the priest and running down his front.  Not sure of the historical soundness of that, but it’s pretty cool to think about.

Chasuble (CHAZ-uh-bull) – from the Latin casubla, meaning “hooded garment” – not too sure where in history the “hooded” part got left out, but nevertheless, this is the garment which sort of resembles a poncho that the priest wears while celebrating Mass meant to resemble the breastplate of righteousness (again, read Ephesians 6…good stuff).  Another one of those untraceable historical traditions is associated with the chasuble.  See, whether you want to admit it or not, the devil exists (watch “The Usual Suspects” if you don’t believe me and pay attention to what Kevin Spacey says).  There is a war waging all around us at all times.  (Sorry if this is crazy to think about, but if you’re just thinking about it for the first time while reading this, it’s probably time you started.)  People think that the holier you are, the less the devil will want to attack you.  That’s (probably) pretty far from the truth, when you reason through it.  See, people who live lives of sin are already making the devil’s job pretty easy, so they probably don’t get attacked as much as you’d think—just egged on a little.  The holier you are, the harder the devil has to work, so the more vicious the attacks on you will be.  The holiest action on earth is what happens during the sacrifice of the Mass when God, through the priest acting in personae Christi (Latin for “in the person of Christ), transforms simple bread and wine into the Body & Blood of Christ (metaphysical explanation of that concept to come in a future post).  A holy act like this would probably be somewhere near the head of the devil’s top ten “Things I hate most” list.  Because of this, some traditions view the chasuble as the armor a priest wears when he goes into battle during this war of good v. evil.  Pretty freakin’ sweet, huh??  Man, I love being Catholic.

Dalmatic (dahl-MAT-ik) – from the Latin dalmatica, which I cannot find a definition for, but my research shows that this vestment came to Rome from Dalmatia, a region of present-day Croatia, and got its name from that region – the outer, sleeved tunic worn by a deacon at Mass (the deacon’s version of the priest’s chasuble).

Biretta (bih-REH-tuh) – from the Latin birrus, meaning “cloak” – not a full “cloak” as the Latin origin would lead you to believe…the Biretta is the square hat with three ridges called “horns” (horns were used symbolically throughout the scriptures as a symbol for power) on top (pointing from the center to the front, right, and rear), with a tuft on top (except when worn by seminarians and cardinals) traditionally worn by priests that, like the cassock, has phased itself out, then recently come back into more wide use.

Zucchetto (zoo-KET-tuh) – the silk skull cap ordinarily worn by bishops and cardinals during the Mass, except for the time beginning with the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer until after Communion.  Bishops’ zucchetto is violet purple, a cardinal’s zucchetto is scarlet red, and the pope’s zucchetto is white.  Priests may also wear a black zucchetto for daily use, but may not wear it for the liturgy.

Cope – from the Latin cappa, meaning “cape” or “cloak” – like the Latin origin implies, a cape-like vestment worn by the clergy in place of a chasuble for non-Mass liturgical services such as Eucharistic Adoration.

Humeral (HUME-uh-ruhl) Veil – from the Latin humerus, linked to the section of the arm from the shoulder to the elbow, now used for the bone in that part of the arm) – long, rectangular vestment worn over the shoulders and hands of a priest holding a sacred vessel, usually associated with Eucharistic Adoration services.

Mitre (MIGHT-er) – from the Latin mitra, meaning “head dress” – the pointed hat worn by bishops and abbots (and cardinals when in the presence of the pope) during the liturgy, which is open at the top (although some are made with a small piece of cloth to better hold the mitre on the head of the wearer), the mitre also has two ribbons of cloth that hang from the back.  These two ribbons of cloth, called lappets, are thought to be remnants of an older form of Greek head-dresses that were wrapped around the head and tied at the back with the excess two ends of material hanging down in back.

Mozzetta (mo-ZET-tuh) – although I can’t find the unquestionable Latin origin, seems to come form the Italian mozzo, meaning “cut off,” and if it’s from Italian, there’s got to be a Latin word that I just can’t find in a timely manner today – the short cape worn over the shoulders of bishops and cardinals.

Pallium (PAL-lee-um) – straight from Latin – thin band of white wool adorned with 6 black crosses, worn by archbishops, patriarchs, and the pope as a symbol of their (greater) authority. The non-silk part of the pallium is made of white wool, part of which is supplied by two lambs presented annually by the Lateran Canons Regular on the feast of St. Agnes (21 January). The lambs are solemnly blessed on the high altar of that church after the pontifical Mass, and then offered to the pope, who sends pallia made of their wool to the archbishops of the world, or presents them in person to those archbishops who attend the liturgy on the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul (June 29) at St. Peter’s in Rome.

Ok, that was a WHOLE lot of info for one post, but I tried to fit in (almost) all of the liturgical garb into one blog.  Hope it wasn’t too much, and you can come back tomorrow for the 4^th and final installment of what things are called in the church.