The following article is the first of a 2 part series written by Rev. Dr. Bill Doggett. It is in response to some recent questions from parishioners.
One of the things I do in my spare time is design and make vestments and paraments for churches that commission me. The beautiful things we use to decorate our churches and worship leaders are also strange – unlike anything we wear or use in daily life, and they have an interesting history.
Vestments, of course, means “clothing,” and religious vestments are the many articles of clothing that are particular to worship. There are many types of religious vesture, and each item has its own story. In addition, vestments get caught up in several of the great theological controversies of the church, particularly during the Protestant Reformation. The use of vestments today varies widely throughout the Episcopal Church and the Worldwide Anglican Communion, and some practices are still controversial in some places. I will describe the broad norms of vesture in the church, but bear in mind that what you find in practice may be quite different from what you read here.
Basic Vestments
The primary item of Christian vesture is the Alb. This is the white robe that is worn by worship leaders. Its name comes from the Latin word for “white,” Albus. In the early church, people were robed in albs immediately after their baptism as a sign that they had been cleansed. Because of the deep connection between Baptism and Eucharist, albs are normally worn by both lay and ordained persons in the altar party for a Communion service. The traditional Albs is a lightweight cotton robe worn over a Cassock, but these days you are more likely to see a twentieth-century garment that combines the two and is known as a Cassock-Alb. Albs may be bound at the waist with a Rope Girdle, which can be tied in a variety of ways.
The Cassock is a fairly recent addition to the liturgical wardrobe as well. It is a long robe with sleeves that buttons down the front in single- or double-breasted fashion. Since ancient times, clergy continued to wear long robes even when they were out of fashion, so in a sense, the cassock is a continuation of that ancient tradition. But the modern cassock derives from an eighteenth-century coat, which old-fashioned clergy continued to wear after men in other professions switched to the more fashionable cutaway. Cassocks are usually black, but Bishops and cathedral staff wear purple, and choirs and acolytes often wear red or blue cassocks. Clergy cassocks some-times have a tiny band of fringe at the hem as a kind of symbolic fraying, meant to be a sign of humility. The Cincture, a wide belt of cloth with two fringed hanging bands at one hip in black or contrasting color may be worn over the cassock.
Both the cassock and the alb are worn by lay and ordained people alike when they have leadership roles in worship.
Besides albs, two other kinds of vestments are worn over cassocks: the Cotta and the Surplice. Both are white, full-sleeved shirt-like garments. The cotta, which may be worn by acolytes and vested choirs, is square-necked and about hip-length, and less full than the surplice. The word “cotta” is Italian for “cut off,” and the cotta is indeed a shortened version of the alb. The surplice, which is worn by the leaders of non-Eucharistic services, is knee-length or longer, much fuller than the cotta, and has a round neck. The word “surplice” comes from the Latin for “over the furs” – its fullness allowed it to be worn over warm robes in an unheated cathedral.
Instead of cassock and surplice, for non-Eucharistic services a Bishop wears a Rochet and Chimere. This white robe with cuffed sleeves and long vest were, in the fourteenth century, street wear for bishops, but by the time of the Reformation became liturgical vestments. Historically, bishops with a doctorate of divinity wore red chimeres, while those without the degree wore black, but that distinction has largely vanished.
Bill Doggett+