Thursday 4 July 2013

Priestly Ordination 2013 : 4

Only rarely does the Studio produce vestments for Masses of the Dead, specifically, black vestments. Recently, however, four sets of vestments in the Saint Philip Neri style were completed for a priest in Ohio USA.

Previous posts are found herehere and here. Details of this unusual commission are described as follows:

Since my own ordination, my custom has been to procure black vestments as gifts for the newly ordained. My notion is to foster the normative use of black vestments, a more balanced understanding of the character of the funereal rites, an appreciation of a healthy variety of historical styles and tasteful liturgical aesthetics, but above all priestly devotion to the dead, for whom we offer our primary intention at Holy Mass most every day. 

This year there were a few especially close friends from seminary who are of a mind to make use of black vestments both in parochial and private settings, and so I elected to commission some exceptional yet functional sets to present to them. I approached The Saint Bede Studio for this commission and asked for vestments in the Studio's Saint Philip Neri style, but each one different from the other. As to both the beauty of the designs and quality of the workmanship, I am fully pleased with the results!

The last of these four sets of vestments is depicted in adjacent photographs. It is made of an English silk damask, ornamented in the Roman manner from a black and straw-coloured brocade depicting the Crucifixion. Galloons in black and gold outline the brocade. The vestments are lined in bronze-coloured silk.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Click on the images for an enlarged view.