Sacred Vestments - Putting on Christ
The Symbolism of the Vesture of the Priest.
Very Rev. Tony Gonoude, PP
The Symbolism of the Vesture of the Priest.
The vestments, rich in symbolism and meaning, so to speak transform the weak man that wears them into a visible symbol of the Christ, whom he serves at the altar of God. In entering the vestry of the church, about to celebrate Holy Mass, the priest will bring with him the many prayers and needs of his parish, the worries and joys of his day and the specific intentions of the particular Mass to be offered. This time for him should be one of silent reflective prayer. In fact the vestry is a place of composure, quiet contemplation and a gate between the here and now, and the eternity that is to come before the altar.
The sacristy is the place of vesting and preparation. The vestments are not mere clothes or a burden. Indeed for Mass, the mistake has been for some priests not to vest properly, choosing not to wear some vestments deep in meaning or in extreme cases, to not vest at all. Mass is not pedestrian, a mere burden or casual. The vestments and actions, the words of Scripture and prayer, all point to Another who must be reflected in the appearance of the priest. Mass, while beautiful, beckons to be treated with reverence and joy.
As the priest begins to vest he will wash his hands to clean them of the impurities of the world, as they will soon touch and hold the Blessed Sacrament. He prays, “Give strength to my hands, O Lord, that being cleansed from all stain I might serve you with purity of mind and body.” His hands, purified, are given into the hands of the Lord whom he will hold up from the altar.
In a lot of cases the priest will be wearing his clerical collar and black clothing. This clothing gives witness to Christ in the daily life of the priest. The Roman collar symbolizes obedience and the colour black, poverty. Black is also a colour of mourning. For the priest, the symbolism is dying to oneself to rise and to serve the Lord as well as giving witness of the Kingdom yet to come. For Mass, he may wish to begin vesting by putting on the cassock. This garment is simple, covering the human image of the wearer with the dignity of the image of priesthood. Like the daily clothing above, the cassock is modest, allowing the image of the Lord to be reflected in the humility of the priest’s appearance. Also, this vestment confers a dignified image on the priest. It goes without saying that this symbol should be characterized by modesty, decorum, and poverty, not their opposites. Clearly, this distinction in dress gives rise to respect and suggest detachment from the vanities of this world. It can be worn not just at Mass but for many other events and the administration of the Sacraments.
An amice is usually a square piece of cloth with two cords attached that goes around the priests’ neck and covers his collar. It usually is tucked into the collar all around and then covers the shoulders while the cord is tied around the chest. The priest prays the following while putting it on: “Place, O Lord, the helmet of salvation upon my head, to repel the assaults of the devil.” Going along with the prayer, the amice is supposed to remind the priest of a helmet. His person is covered with the protection of the saving Lord whom he serves. In the past - and in monastic orders still today - it was first placed on the head as a sort of hood, thus becoming a symbol of the discipline of the senses and of thought necessary for a proper celebration of Holy Mass. The priest’s thoughts must not wander here and there, due to the anxieties and expectations of daily demands; his senses attracted not by what there, inside the church, might accidentally captivate the eyes and ears. His heart opening itself docilely to the Word of God and be recollected in the prayer of the Church, so that thought may receive its’ orientation from the words of the proclamation and of prayer. And the gaze of the heart turned towards the Lord, who is in our midst: this is what the Ars Celebrandi’ (Art of Celebrating) means: the proper way of celebrating. If one is with the Lord, then, with listening, speaking and acting, will also draw people into communion with the Lord.
Alb: The texts of the prayers expressed by the alb and the stole both move in the same direction. They call to mind the festive robes which the father gave to the Prodigal Son who had come home soiled by the emptying pursuits of pride and vanity, in rags. When the priest approaches the liturgy to act in the person of Christ, he knows and realizes how distant humanity can be from the Lord: how muddied our lives can be. God alone can give us festive robes, making us worthy, by His grace, to preside at His table, to be at His service. This is expressed in the prayer the priest says when he dons the alb. The prayer is a reference to Revelation 7:14: “Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may deserve an eternal reward”. The "Blood of the Lamb" is the love of the Crucified Christ. It is this love that makes our dirtied clothes white, that makes our clouded spirit true and bright; that transforms us, despite all our shadows, into "light in the Lord". By putting on the alb we must remind ourselves: Christ suffered for all. And it is only because Christ’s love is greater than all one’s sins that the priest can represent the Lord and witness to His eternally embracing light.
Cincture: Over the alb and around the waist is placed the cincture, a cord made of wool. All those who wear albs must also wear the cincture. The cincture represents the virtue of self-mastery, which St. Paul also counts among the fruits of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22). The corresponding prayer, taking its cue from the first Letter of Peter (1:13), says: (Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity, and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me). The priest is called to remind himself to pray for this purity and wrap himself in obedience to Christ.
The Maniple is similar to the stole but is not as long. During the celebration of the Holy Mass in the extraordinary form, the celebrant wears the maniple on their left forearm. This article of liturgical garb perhaps derives from a handkerchief, or "mappula," that the Romans wore knotted on their left arm. It was used to wipe away tears or sweat, medieval ecclesiastical writers regarded the maniple as a symbol of the toils of the priesthood. This understanding found its way into the prayer recited when the maniple is put on: May I deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow in order that I may joyfully reap the reward of my labours). With the toils of the office also come great fruits as the prayer says.
The Stole is the distinctive element of the ordained priest and it is always worn in the celebration of the sacraments and other sacramental functions. It is a strip of material that is embroidered, according to the norm, whose colour varies with respect to the liturgical season or feast day. It is the vestment of most importance as a symbol of the Cleric. As he places the stole on, the priest prays “Lord, restore the stole of immortality, which I lost through the collusion of our first parents, and, unworthy as I am to approach Thy sacred mysteries, may I yet gain eternal joy”. Like the wedding garments of the redeemed, there is the element of the Lord’s image and presence reflected in this vestment and the light of Christ it radiates in the wearer who holds the office of priest.
A brief word on the Chasuble. The traditional prayer when one puts on the chasuble sees it as representing the yoke of the Lord which is imposed upon us as priests. And it recalls the words of Jesus, who invites us to take his yoke upon us and to learn from him who is "gentle and lowly in heart" (Mt 11: 29).Taking the Lord's yoke upon us means first of all: learning from him. It means always being ready to go to his school. From him we must learn gentleness and meekness: the humility of God who shows himself in his being a man. St Gregory of Nazianzus once asked himself why God wanted to become a man. The most important and for me the most moving part of his answer is: "God wanted to realize what obedience means to us and he wanted to measure everything on the basis of his own suffering, on the invention of his love for us. In this way, he himself can directly know what it is that we feel - what is asked of us, what indulgence we deserve - calculating our weakness on the basis of his suffering" (Orationes 30; Theological Talk IV, 6). At times we would like to say to Jesus: Lord, your yoke is far from light. Indeed, it is tremendously heavy in this world. But then looking at the One who bore everything - who tried out on himself obedience, weakness, suffering, all the darkness -, then these complaints of ours fade. His yoke is that of loving with him. And the more we love him and remain with him and become loving people, the lighter becomes his seemingly burdensome yoke.
This is what the Lord does, "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men; and being found in human form he humbled himself..., even unto death on a cross" (cf. Phil 2: 6ff.). Jesus dresses himself in our human weakness and fills the threads of our sins with the embroidery of his glory. His Priesthood is robed in the swaddling clothes of the manger, in the sandals that walk the streets of history, in the robe of the cross and in the garments of resurrected light. In giving us the traditional garments of the priestly office, Christ calls upon every vocation to dress in his light and love, to dress themselves in him, with him and for him, to be him. Every vocation reaches its zenith when it is dressed in the imitation of the Lord who empties himself in love. I hope in
We have looked at the clothing that speaks of the Divine. If you feel called to the Priesthood, know that these vestments are not for our glory but for His, that these vestments represent the focus and ideal to which you strive. Through these vestments you seek to put on the Lord Jesus (cf. Romans 13:14). That these vestments are rooted in meaning and prayer. That these vestments show us the Lord, with the towels around his waist, washing the feet of our human frailty (cf. John 13: 1-17), only to lift us up with the robes of glory he now wears in the heaven of eternal life (cf. Revelation 1:12-20). These vestments call you in Him, answer that call and wear the priesthood of Christ. Amen.
These texts are the reflections of Fr Tony Gonoude with reference to the General Instruction to the Roman Missal and from the Chrism Mass, Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Saint Peter's Basilica, Holy Thursday, 5th April 2007.
Ordained in 2007, Fr Tony Gonoude is Parish Priest of Ballynacarrigy, Co. Westmeath and serves as Vocations Director for the Diocese of Meath.