RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Vessels, Sacred Vestments
having three to five naves. The free plane surfaces are of both simpler and richer disposition. To crown all, there are‘one or more turrets (hence the designation turricula). The effect of richness is enhanced by settings of pearls and precious stones.
The Greek liturgy prescribes the presentation of
the elements mingled in the chalice, for which purpose there was in use, froma quite early 4. Spoons; times, a metal spoon (labis, labida), the Holy the handle of which ends in a cross. Spear; the Western Church inventories and do- Colum. nation records of the same time frequently mention spoons (cochlearia), which may have served partly for mixing water and wine, partly in administering to the poor, being still in use for that purpose in Spain. To the Greek rites exclusively belongs the sacred spear (hé hagia lonché), with which the bread is divided in the process of preparation. The Western liturgy no longer provides occasion for the colum (colum vinarium, colatortum—a strainer with a long handle, used as the wine was poured), which was widely employed in the first half of the Middle Ages, before the withdrawal of the cup from the laity.
Of sacred vessels in the more comprehensive sense the following may be briefly mentioned: vessels for the sacred oil (olewm catechumenorum, infirmorum; chrisma) of various designs; stationary censers with double covers, and the swinging thurible with chains, occasionally of beautiful artistic finish; the sprinkling-utensils used by the priest at mass, which freely affect animal forms, as the bear, griffin, or bird, together with their appertaining basins; lastly, holy-water vessels (vasa lustralia), in the form of simple or decorated little metal pails. The entire category of these lesser and greater articles, comprehended under the designation of sacred utensils, is instructive alike in relation to the history of worship and to that of ecclesiastical art. As the order of divine service became renovated according to the Evangelical conception in the sixteenth century, most of these objects naturally fell out of use; also in the Roman Church the subsequent development ran partly in other channels. Victor ScHULTZE.
Brstiograpuy: Bingham, Origines, II., xix. 17, xx. 4, VL, vi. 13, VIII., vi. sqq.; the articles on the several vessels in the dictionaries, as in DCA; and the literature under Sympouism; and WorsHIP.
VESTMENTS AND INSIGNIA, ECCLESIASTICAL.
2. Special Vestments and Insignia.
5. Sacred
Vessels in
the Wider Sense.
I. Introduction.
II. In the Roman Catholie Church. III. In the Greek Church.
1. Ordinary Vestments. IV. In Protestant Churches. I. Introduction: The clerical vestments and adornments in Roman Catholic use are almost entirely of ancient and secular origin. Until recent years their historical foundation was sought in the Old-Testament worship; but now research has discovered a different origin; yet this fact has not entirely abrogated the symbolism which attaches to ecclesiastical garments and insignia. The Church before the age of Constantine knew no distinction between secular and religious dress, although it may be understood that the latter was dignified
and rich; this is proved by representations in the catacombs. But the growth of the authority of the clergy, within and without the Church, the increasing esteem for the liturgy and its progressive development, and, not least, the continuous specialization of official dress, all combined to favor the use of richer and more varied materials and the marking of differences of rank among the clergy like that which obtained among secular officials; still, there was no question of a class distinction. The ecclesiastical garb first became peculiar in a strict sense when, under the influence of the migration of the Germanic tribes, the costumes as well as the forms of the ancient world passed away and the more convenient medieval dress was substituted, while the Church—and for a longer or shorter period, the upper classes and the higher officials also—clung to Roman or Greek fashions. Under the influence of the discovery by the liturgists of a supposed connection of the liturgical costume with that of Old- Testament worship, and then through the effect of custom and of the fashions of the beginning of the Middle Ages, a development was initiated, which did not indeed do away with the traditional usage, but transformed it more or less. Nevertheless, the history of ecclesiastical vestments in the Middle Ages shows no sharp divisions. The Renaissance and rococo periods, on the other hand, strongly asserted their peculiar taste. In the Greek Church the movement was much less marked. The Evangelical churches broke with the mode of dress which expressed the priestly and hierarchic character of the clergy, and found a modest substitute. Monuments are in this investigation a safer guide than literary sources. Yet a positive chronology can not, in many cases, be fixed for the historical evolution, and this is explained by the fact that this evolution did not everywhere follow along the same lines.
II. In the Roman Catholic Church.—1. Ordinary Vestments: A starting-point is found in the vestments worn by the priest at the celebration of the mass. ‘The assumption of the separate garments takes place according to ecclesiastical rules in a fixed order, which this discussion follows: (1) The Amice (amictus, humerale, more rarely swperhumerale) is an oblong linen cloth (at least thirty-two inches long and twenty-four wide), which is first placed upon the head and then brought down and drawn about the neck where it is fastened with cords. Originally it served as a head-covering for the priest; at present only a few orders wear it over the head on the way to and from the altar. The existence of the amice can be proved only since the end of the eighth century, and it is probably referable to some ancient priestly ceremonies. Its reference to the ephod of the Old Testament (q.v.) is purely arbitrary, as is the symbolical interpretation [faith] of liturgical writers; the attempt to explain it as a neck-cloth to protect the garment which rests upon it from perspiration is unsatisfactory. As long as the amice was worn upon the head or even projected above the other garments, embroidery or other ornamentation might be shown on it; but it gradually became hidden beneath the other vestments, so that at present only a cross is required;
Vestments