From Costume of Prelates of the Catholic Church According to Roman Etiquette, by the Rev. John A. Nainfa, S. S.; Baltimore: Metropolitan Press, John Murphy Company, Publishers; 1909; pp. 38-46.
In this Second Part, all the different pieces of the prelatical dress will be studied successively, each one furnishing the subject of a short and substantial chapter.
CHAPTER I.
Cassock.. — Prescription of Councils. — Two Kinds of [Prelatial] Cassocks. — Ordinary Cassock. — Choir Cassock.
The Cassock (or Soutane, Vestis, Vestis talaris, Subtanna, Subtanea) is the principal part of the ecclesiastical costume. It is a long, close garment covering the entire body from the neck to the feet, hence its Latin name, Vestis talaris, a garment reaching to the heels.1
All the decrees of Councils, legislating upon ecclesiastical attire, prescribe that the cassock is to be worn by all clerics in sacred Orders in the place of their residence.2
The decree of the Third pleanry Council of Baltimore is as follow: “^nbsp;. . . Volumus itaque et praecipimus ut omnes Ecclesiae legem servent, domique agentes vel in 39 templo, veste talari, quae clerico propria est. semper utantur.” — III., 77.3
The obligation of wearing the cassock is the same for Prelates, Priests and other clerics;4 but here we treat only of the cassock as worn by Prelates, an we distinguish two kinds of [prelatial] cassocks:
1. The ordinary or every-day cassock.
1. Its Shape and Use. — 2. Pope. — 3. Cardinals. — 4. Archbishops, Bishops and Prelates di Mantelletta. — 5. Prelates di Mantellone. — 6. Canons. — 7. Religious. — 8. Clerics Regular.
1. The ordinary cassock is that worn by Prelates in daily life, at home and in church, at private ceremonies, such as the celebration of Low Mass, etc. In Catholic countries, it is worn out of doors.
This cassock should not be mistaken for the “simar,” which will be dealt with in the following chapter.The model of the ordinary cassock, according to Roman etiquette, is the same as that universally adopted in this country. It must be noted, however, that the front part should be made of only one piece dropping from the neck to the feet,5 and not of two pieces (waist and skirt) sewed together, as is often done.
40The sleeves are wide, and are turned up with plain cuffs without buttons.
From the neck to the feet, the front part is fastened with a row of small round buttons covered with silk.
The collar (a standing collar) is cut in front, in order to show the Roman collar.
This cassock has no train; its bottom is cut round, the front and the back being of equal length. The train is the distinctive characteristic of the choir cassock.6
The garment has two pockets, one on each side. Interior pockets may be added at will, but there should be no exterior pocket for the watch, Roman etiquette forbidding any metallic ornament other than the chain of the pectoral cross. The watch may be put in the pocket of the vest, or in a special pocket on the inside o the cassock.
The ordinary cassock varies in color, according 41 to the different degrees of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
2. The Pope’s ordinary cassock is entirely white, without trimmings of any color. The material for this cassock is brilliant silk satin, in summer, and fine cloth in winter. White watered silk is ordinarily reserved for his choir cassock.7
3. The ordinary cassock of Cardinals is made of black woolen material lined and trimmed with scarlet red silk.8
4. Archbishop, Bishops, and the Prelates di mantelletta wear the same ordinary cassock as the Cardinals; except that the trimmings and lining are of amaranth red silk, instead of scarlet.9
5. The Prelates di mantellone wear also the same cassock, but with purple trimmings and lining.10
6. Some Canons (for instance, those of Montreal, Canada,) are allowed a special cassock with red or purple trimmings (purple for those of Montreal); but this cassock should never be worn outside of the limits of the diocese in which the Chapter is constituted.
7. Religious, when promoted to Cardinalate or to the episcopal dignity, lay aside the habit of the Order and wear the cassock; but for them there is no difference of color between the ordinary cassock and the choir cassock; 42 both cassocks are of the same color as the habit of the Order, as was said in the preceding chapter.11
8. Cardinals and Bishops taken from Religious Congregations or Orders of Clerics Regular follow, as regards their ordinary cassocks, the rules laid down for Prelates belonging to the secular clergy.
1. Its Use. — 2. Its Shape. — 3. Pope.. — 4. Cardinals. — 5. Archbishops and Bishops. — 6. Prelates di Mantelletta. — 7. Prelates di Mantellone. — 8. Chapters. — 9. Livery. — 10. Religious.
1. The choir cassock is so called because it is worn by Prelates in choir,12 at the public ceremonies of the Church. It may be worn also on some certain specified occasions on which a Prelate is called upon to vest in his choir habit.
2. The shape of the choir cassock, according to roman etiquette, is almost the same as that of the ordinary cassock. The only exception is that the choir cassock has a train, which may be let down on occasions determined by the Ceremonial.13
The materials and colors of choir cassocks differ, and thus mark the different degrees in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
3. The Pope, whenever he has to appear in his choir habit, puts on a cassock of white watered silk, over which, for ecclesiastical functions, “chapels,” consistories, he 43 puts the falda, a kind of large skirt of the same color and material.14
444. The choir cassock of the Cardinals is scarlet red at ordinary times; purple in penitential seasons, and on occasions of mourning, like the vacancy of the Holy See or when they attend a funeral; and rose-colored on third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and the fourth Sunday of Lent Laetare).15
Both the red and purple cassocks must be made of watered silk for summer, and of fine cloth for winter. The rose-colored cassock is always of watered silk, though both Sundays on which it is worn occur during the liturgical winter.16
5. As is well known, the ordinary choir cassock of a Bishop is purple, with linings, cuffs and trimmings of crimson red silk.17 But the cassock itself must be exclusively made of woolen material, as cloth in winter and merino in summer,18 unless the Bishop has received the title of Assistant at the Pontifical Throne.
45We say the “ordinary choir cassock,” because, on penitential days and occasions of mourning, funerals etc., the Bishop ought to wear a black cassock, trimmed with purple silk.19 As already noted, this black choir cassock should not be mistaken or the every-day cassock, which, as was said in the preceding article, is black, without a train, and trimmed with red silk.
The days on which the Bishop may wear his purple cassock are indicated by the Ceremonial of Bishops, Book I., chapter II.20
As the black cassock prescribed for penitential days is not used by the members of the Papal Court, the bishops who have been honored with the title of Assistants at the Papal Throne must wear, when actually living in Rome, their purple cassock, regardless of the paragraph of the Ceremonial of Bishops just alluded to. The only occasions on which they wear the black choir cassock in Rome are upon the vacancy of the Holy See,21 and on Good Friday.
6. All the regulations concerning the wearing of the choir cassock by Bishops apply to the Prelates di mantelletta; but, both in Rome and elsewhere, these Prelates always rank as members of the Pontifical Court and Household, and, as such, follow the same etiquette as is to be observed by the Assistants at the Pontifical Throne 46 when in Rome, that is, they wear a purple choir cassock of silk in summer, and of fine cloth in winter, trimmed, like that of Bishops, with crimson red silk, without regard to the liturgical season; these Prelates being forbidden to wear mourning, except at the Pope’s death, until the election of his successor, and on Good Friday.22
7. The Prelates di mantellone do not wear mourning at the Pope’s death; because they are appointed for his lifetime only and lose their Prelacy at his death. Nor do they wear the penitential costume, for they belong to the Papal Court. Therefore, they make use of only one choir cassock of purple silk in summer, and of purple cloth in winter, as is prescribed for all members of the Pontifical Household. But their cassock differs from that of Bishops and of the Prelates di mantelletta inasmuch as it is without train, and is not trimmed with red, but with purple silk of a lighter hue than that of the cassock.23
8. Certain Chapters enjoy the privilege of wearing in choir a red or purple cassock. When such a privilege is granted by the Sovereign Pontiff, precise regulations accompany the indult of concession as to the material, shape and color of he cassock, and the occasions on which it is to be used. It is the duty of the Ordinary to care for the exact observance of these prescriptions.
9. The purple cassock, which is worn as a livery garment, is made like that of the Prelates di mantellone. It has no train, and is trimmed with purple of a lighter hue.
10. Religious promoted to episcopal dignity or to the Cardinalate wear a choir cassock shaped like that of the habit of the Order to which they belong; the cassock of the Franciscans being ash-colored gray, as already said. Members of religious Congregations, or Clerics Regular, vest like secular Prelates.
FOOTNOTES
1 Rubric of the Missal, Rit. serv. in celeb. Miss., n. 2.
2 Council of Trent, Sess. XIV., Cap. VI., De Reform.
3 “ . . . . We wish, therefore, and we command that all [ecclesiastics] keep the Law of the Church, and, whether at home or in church, always wear the cassock, which is the proper garb or clerics.”
4 Council of Trent, Sess. XIV., [Decret] de Reform. Prooemium.
5 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit., Tom. I., p. 78, seq.
6 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, loc. cit. — GRIMALDI, op. cit., p. 53.
7 GRIMALDI, op. cit., Ch. I. — BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit., Tom. I., p. 275, seq. — Baron GERAMB, Visit to Rome, Letter X. — J. DE NARPON, Léon XIII. intime, p. 136.
8 Un Evêque Suffragant, op. cit., p. 13. — BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit., Tom. I., p. 84. We may remark here, once for all, that the trimmings of the prelatical dress consist of a number of small ornaments, the color of which is ordinarily different from that of the principal parts o the costume. These are buttons, buttonholes, cords, stitchings, cuffs and two small strips or strings, on the back of the cassock, destined to support the sash. The lining of the garment is of the same color as the trimmings, and of the same material, plain silk.
9 PIUS X., Constit. Inter multiplices (1905), nn. 16, 17.
10 PIUS X., same Constit., n. 79.
11 Caer. Episc., I., i., 4. — Cap. Clerici, 15. de vita et honest. clericorum. — FERRARIS, Bibliotheca, art. Episcopus, VII.
12 The choir is the part of the church where the clergy seat when assisting at some church ceremony.
13 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit. Tom. I., p. 275.
14 FISQUET, Cérémonies de Rome, pp. 35, 44, 55, 191, 200. . . . — BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit. Tom. I., p. 275. — Un Evêque Suffragant, op. cit., p. 274. — LEBOSEY (edition 1902, revised by A. Vigourel, S. S.), Abrégé du Manuel Liturgique, Part V., ch. V., p. 602.
15 FERRARIS, Bibliotheca, art. Cardinales.
16 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit. Tom. I., p. 275.
17 Caer. Episc., I., iii., 1.
18 Caer. Episc., I., i., 1.
19 Caer. Episc., I., iii., 2.
20 “ . . . . Videlicet a die Nativitatis Domini et per totam Octavam Epiphantae, a die dominica Resurrectionis usque a dominicum SS. Trinitatis; item per Octavas festorum SS. Sacramenti, Assumptionis gloiriosae Virginis Mariae et beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, et Omnium Sanctorum, Titularis Ecclesiae Cathedralis et Sancti Patroni civitaties, ac Dedicationis propriae Ecclesiae; item in anniversariis electionis ipsius Episcopi; die adventus alicuius magni Principil, vel cum celebrator aliqua publica laetitia; in aliis vero Octavis, ut Nativitatis gloriosae Virgiis, S. Ioannis Baptistae, S. Laurentii, dies tantum Octavarum excipiuntur: similiter omnia festa duplicia, quae per annum incident extra Adventum, Septuagesimam et Quadragesimam, sed Annuntiationis festo, etiamsi infra Quadragesimam occurrat, vestibus violaceis uti debet. (Caer. Episc., I., iii., 2.
21 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit. Tom. I., p. 276. — GRIMALDI, op. cit., ch. V.
22 BARBIER DE MONTAULT, op. cit. Tom. I., p. 276.
23 Ibid. — S. R. C., June 17, 1673 — March 30, 1675 — Sept. 12, 1840 — July 21, 1855.