Priestly Ordinations 2011 part 2

On 5th May, the Rev'd Damon Sypher FSSP was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in Saint Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, by His Eminence, Cardinal Pell. The Mass was celebrated according to the 1962 Liturgical books. The adjacent photograph shews Father Sypher during the Rite of Ordination.

Father Sypher was ordained in a Saint Philip Neri style chasuble made by the Saint Bede Studio and presented to him by friends.  The chasuble was made of silver and straw-coloured silk damask, ornamented with orphreys of burgundy and straw brocade according to the Roman style.  The photograph below shews the rear of the chasuble.

A similar chasuble is illustrated here.

Please click on the photographs for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Priestly Ordinations 2011 part 1

Over the last 2-3 months, the Studio has been busily engaged in making chasubles for ordinands to the Sacred Priesthood.  At last we are in a position to post some photographs of the vestments that have been made.

Firstly, a set of vestments made for Father Matthew Hardesty of Kentucky, USA.  The vestments are made from an ivory silk damask, fully lined in gold dupion silk.  The orphrey was formed from a straw-coloured silk damask, alternating with fleur-de-lis emblems.

We are pleased to include a photograph of the vestments taken at the celebration of Father Hardesty's First Mass.  Congratulations, Father.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Patron Saint of the Studio

Greetings to all readers of this Blog on this Feast of Saint Bede the Venerable, monk of Jarrow (UK) and first historian of the Church in England.  

Read a little about the life and work of Saint Bede here.

And please say a prayer for God's Blessing on the work of the Studio.

Triple Tiara of Pope Benedict XVI

At Wednesday's General Audience in the Piazza of Saint Peter's, Pope Benedict was presented with his very own Triple Tiara. Although small scale, it is an admirable tiara, perhaps reminiscent of the tiara of Pope John XXIII.  Happily, it tends more to the shape and appearance of the mediaeval tiara than the baroque variety.

Read a bit more about the presentation at John Sonnen's blog.

Were the Pope to wear the tiara, I, for one, wouldn't feel scandalised (call me old-fashioned).


Click on the image for a larger view.

On Raising the chasuble at the Elevations

 
In the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the minister (deacon or altar server) is directed to raise the chasuble slightly in his left hand as the celebrant elevates the Sacred Host and then the Chalice. This direction is given in the Ritus Servandus VIII,8; the Caeremoniale Episcoporum II, viii and a decision of the Congregation of Sacred Rites no 3535.

What is the origin of this practice? It dates from that period when chasubles were voluminous and constrained the celebrant from raising his arms above his head. Lifting the lower right hand corner of the chasuble actually enables the celebrant a greater movement of the arms. Thus, the origin of this ceremonial action is purely practical. Much has been written about mystic and symbolic meanings as being the origin of this action, all of which is complete nonsense.

The ceremonial books direct that the raising of the chasuble be a very subtle action. It was never intended that the chasuble be raised half-way up the celebrant's back or - worse still - be held up by both hands of the minister, making the chasuble seem like some fantastical ecclesiastical sail. Most assuredly such exaggerated movements are distracting both to the celebrant and to the congregation.

If the chasuble is not very ample at all, there is even more reason for its raising at the Elevation to be a very modest action: just a couple of inches at most. Furthermore, this gesture only accompanies the actual Elevations, and not the celebrant's accompanying genuflections.

Attached is a beautiful photograph of a Low Mass celebrated at Prinknash Abbey (UK) in 1940, illustrating perfectly how it should be done.

A much-commented post on the New Liturgical Movement has caused me to re-post this article.

Ordination Season

To regular visitors to this Blog, apologies for the paucity of postings lately.  This year, the Season of Easter coincides with Ordinations in Australia and the USA and the Studio has been kept very busy helping Ordinands with vestments.  That work continues.

In the meantime, a small diversion.  The adjacent photograph was snapped by Dr Chris Steward in the split second when your correspondent was about to remove the mitre from the bishop's head.  It looks as if a murder were about to take place...

The Mass was the Easter Vigil celebrated Pontifically in the Extraordinary Form by the Most Rev'd Basil Meeking (sometime-Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand) in S' Aloysius' church, Caulfield North (Archdiocese of Melbourne).  The mitre was made by the Studio and the vestments, based on the well-known vestments of S' Thomas Becket, were also designed some years ago by us.

A Rose by any other name, but Pink

Twice a year, the Church breaks the tone of its penitential seasons by the use of rose-coloured vestments. Rose-coloured vestments were never commonplace and they still are not. Nevertheless, you will find various pronouncements these days (usually on websites) about what the real or authentic shade of rose is which is to be used for vestments.

Newsflash: there is no official shade of Rose designated by the Church, nor has there ever been. The reason for this is rather simple: only in the last century did the process of dyeing fabric become sufficiently sophisticated to ensure that much the same shade of a colour emerged from one batch of fabric dyeing to another.

Many different colours have been deemed by the Church as acceptable as liturgical Rose. Some of these are a salmon shade; some a silvery-pink, almost mushroom-colour; some close to what we would call Bishop's purple or fuchsia.

Another thing is certain: Bubblegum Pink is not Rose, nor has it been a traditional variation for use on these days. Whilst not intending to get into the argument as to whether the use of a such a vibrant pink is a fitting colour for a man to wear, Bubblegum Pink certainly manifests a lamentable lack of liturgical good taste.

At an old post on the Blog, The New Liturgical Movement, we find a number of interesting vestments in that shade of Rose commonly found in Italy in centuries past: a salmon colour. Go there and take a look.  But don't be mistaken about that particular shade of Rose being universal: it was used in Italy, but probably not much elsewhere.

Adjacent are three pictures of other shades of Rose. One is a set of vestments worn by Pope Paul VI on Laetare Sunday, 1978 (photographs of L'Osservatore Romano). The vestment is made from dupion silk of a very subdued mushroom-pink, with overtones of silver. Ornamenting it is a column-orphrey almost fuchsia in colour.  Sadly, these vestments have not been seen in Papal Masses of recent years: now lamentable sets of bright pink vestments, of rather unimaginative fabric and design, are used instead (not to be looked at before breakfast).

The other picture is the cope made by the Saint Bede Studio for the Latin Mass Apostolate in Melbourne. It has overtones of subdued red in it, yet decidedly unlike the colours used for Liturgical Red. This cope is ornamented with a brocade of forest green, and a braid of Gothic foliage ornament.

Another set of Rose vestments made last year by the Studio for the Cathedral of Atlanta, Georgia can be seen here.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Vestments for Lent: IV

A priest from Trenton, New Jersey (USA) commissioned the Saint Bede Studio to prepare a Solemn Mass set for the season of Lent, comprising several chasubles and dalmatics.  The principal chasuble was prepared in that style referred to as semi-conical: a modified cut of the ancient shape of the chasuble.  The photograph above shews the particular way in which a conical or semi-conical chasuble folds up from the lower edge of the vestment when the arms are raised: a very beautiful effect.

These vestments were made from a Roman purple brocade, ornamented with another brocade in silver and black and outlined with a narrow galloon.  To increase the sombre visual effect, a chevron in black silk was added to the chasuble.

One of the dalmatics is also shewn, ornamented more simply, but with the same scheme.


Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Saint Andrew's Abbey-Church, Bruges II

Photograph: Dirk Vde 2007

Well, here it is.  The Abbey-Church (subject of a previous post) is still intact and more glorious than I had imagined.  Thank you to several very kind readers who wrote to me about the Abbey.

A more detailed description of the Church, with photographs, will be the subject of further posts.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Please note: This copyrighted image may not be reproduced in any circumstances.

Vestments for Lent: III

This vestment (and a red one of similar design, which will be the subject of another post) was made for the use of a Parish in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.  It is in the Saint Philip Neri style now familiar to readers of this Blog.

The vestments are made of Roman purple dupion silk and ornamented with a silk brocade featuring the ChiRo emblem.  Braids in burgundy and straw colour outline the orphrey according to the Roman style.

To subdue the appearance of the chasuble,  a dark coloured lining was employed: wine-red. 

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com