Post #229

Topics:  What It is Like to Serve on the Altar: Priests Prayers While Vesting...What It is Like to Serve on the Altar: Laying Out Vestments

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+I attended the Ordinary Form of Mass this morning and it was nice to sleep in till 7:30 a.m. I was wondering...remember all the doom and gloom from some quarters about the new translation being "hard" for the pew sitters and a burden in general? There was even a web page Why Can't We Just Wait?.
    From what I heard this morning a lot of folks have the responses already memorized and have adapted quite well. 
    Our local Pastor preached on sacred silence and quiet reverence in the church...which was immediately followed by loud conversation, laughter and general socializing as soon as Father left the sanctuary. Sigh.


+What do you think of the new header? The middle image is kinda bothering me cuz it sort of hints that it is the interior of St. Anthony, which it clearly is not. I'm kinda bummed because my version of Photoshop will not load on my machine anymore so I cannot edit images now! 


To post a comment, ask a question, or submit an article contact me, Mark, at bumpy187@gmail.com.

..and now for the necessaries.

Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of only two churches celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.

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Priests Prayers While Vesting
What It is Like to Serve on the Altar

You might have noticed that, after the prayers at the foot of the altar, the priest moves to the sedilia  to remove his cope and vest in his chasuble. If you look carefully he will read from a card the corresponding prayer for that particular vestment. Each article of clothing, which is donned in a predefined manner, has attached to it a certain prayer which Father recites back in the Sacristy.

The Amice: "Place, O Lord on my head the helmet of salvation, that I my overcome the assaults of the devil".

The Alb: "Purify me, O Lord, from all stain and cleanse my heart, that washed in the Blood of the Lamb, I may enjoy eternal delights."

The Cincture: "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 remain in me."

The Maniple: "Let me deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of tears and sorrow, so that one day I may come with joy into the reward of my labors."

The Stole: "Restore to me O Lord, the state of immortality which was lost to me by my first parents, and although unworthy to approach Thy sacred mysteries, grant me nevertheless eternal joy."

The Chasuble: "O Lord, Who hast said "My yoke is sweet and my burden light", grant that I may carry it so as to obtain Thy grace".

Priest's Vestments

Click Here for Larger View, 

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Laying Out Vestments
What It is Like to Serve on the Altar
So many details, so little time.

There are alot of details that have to be covered when the altar servers come in early to get ready for mass and I thought it might interest you to know some of these details specifically in how the Priest's vestments are laid out.

Each item that the priest wears is laid out in a certain and specific manner and each piece has it's own prayer that the priests recites when he dons it.

The vestments are laid out "in reverse" meaning of course that the first thing the priests puts on is the last thing we  lay out, each piece being laid on top of the other.

For Low Mass

The Chasuble - Is the uppermost vestment worn by the celebrant at Mass. It is laid front down and folded up over the table for easy vesting.

Stole - A liturgical vestment composed of a strip of material from two to four inches wide and about eighty inches long. It has either a uniform width throughout, or is somewhat narrower towards the middle, widening at the ends in the shape of a trapezium or spade. A small cross is generally sewed or embroidered on the stole at both ends and in the middle; the cross, however, is prescribed only for the middle, where the priest kisses the stole before putting it on.

It is laid in the form of an "H" laying the ends upright on the table straight and then folded back up to where the center neck portion is on the middle "x' axis and this forms the crossbar of the H.

Maniple - The maniple is an ornamental vestment in the form of a band, a little over a yard long and from somewhat over two to almost four inches wide, which is placed on the left arm in such manner that it falls in equal length on both sides of the arm. It is worn only during Mass.

The Maniple is placed in the center over the stole, straight up and down to form the "I".

Cincture - The cincture is a long, rope-like cord with tassled or knotted ends, tied around the waist outside the alb. The colour may be white, or may vary according to the colour of the liturgical season.

In the form of an "S" the cincture is laid over the stole and maniple and with the stole and maniple forms an IHS which is a monogram of Jesus' name.

Alb - The alb is the large plain garment made of white linen that is worn over the priest's clothes or cassock. Adopted from the long linen tunics that the ancient Romans wore, it is said to be the oldest liturgical vestment used by the early Christians.

It is layed on the table face down with the arms folded across each other. As it hangs off the edge of the vesting table the center of the bottom of the alb is folded up to allow slipping on easily.

Amice - The amice consists of a white cloth connected to two long ribbon-like attachments, by which it is fastened around the shoulders of the priest. It is the first vestment the priest puts on and thus the last that we lay out. When putting it on the priest rests it for a moment on his head, then lets it rest on his shoulders.

It is placed flat over everything else with the string corners at the top...the strings are folded to form a sort of "butterfly" shape.

The card with the vesting prayers is set out for Father to read.

For High Mass

The Maniple is not included in the layout because is laid out at the sedilia. Also the Chasuble is on the sedilia since the Cope will be worn into the church in the procession. Everything else goes is donned by the priest in the same order except in the layout the cincture makes a P shape and the stole makes an X

And these are some of the very small details that we see to in the Sacristy every Sunday!

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