The Season of Lent 2026 : 7

In this post we present a simple set of violet vestments ornamented with a column at the front and the back.  The columns are decorated with one of the Studio's unique braids Saint Dunstan in colours of violet, taup and white upon a red background.  This braid was specially developed to ornament violet and rose-coloured vestments. 

The braid is laid upon an orphrey panel formed from red dupion silk. 

This set of vestments is in the style we have called Saint Anselm; it is not elaborate, but neither is it just thrown-together.  It is well-designed and of dignified appearance.  Note that the column is made from a red-coloured dupion silk, which complements the colour of the braid.  We also find that the column is not of exaggerated width, but of substantial appearance.  

There is much to be said for vestments of simple dignity.  These vestments are well-made and will be serviceable for a number of years if treated respectfully.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 6

In this post a set of vestments is presented in the Studio's nod to contemporary styles.  This style we call Saint Martin.  It is both long and wide and is especially designed to fold up beautifully when the arms of the celebrant are elevated (as is shewn in the adjacent image). 

Tasteful contemporary vestments are made by certain studios in Italy, France and Germany, but we also make them here in Australia at the Saint Bede Studio.  This set has a simple dignity and is made from high quality fabrics.

A violet broacade is lined in burgundy-coloured cloth and is ornamented with a contrasting brocade in colours of burgundy and old gold.  The ornament is very simple : a TAU in the front and a column at the back.  

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 5

The vestments described in this post were commissioned some years ago by an esteemed customer of the Saint Bede Studio, from a Diocese in Canada.  Since then, we have made several similar sets.

Adjacent is pictured the set of vestments in the Gothic Revival style.

This elegant set of vestments was made from a violet-coloured ecclesiastical brocade and lined in Royal Blue taffeta.  The orphrey was formed from one of the Studio's unique braids, Saint Chad, augmented with a narrow braid in blue and gold.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 4

During this Holy Season, the Studio is pleased to present these vestments, made from dupion silk and lined in a subtle lavender shade of taffeta. 

The orphrey of this chasuble is formed from one of the Saint Bede Studio's unique  braids called Rosa Antiqua.  The braid has been especially designed for use with Rose and Indigo-violet vestments.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 3

In this post, the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present this very rich set of dark violet vestments in the Gothic Revival style.  This particular variant of the Gothic chasuble we have named Saint Austin.  It is pointed at the front and the back and reaches to the elbows.

The vestments were made from a beautiful ecclesiastical brocade, woven in the United Kingdom.  Lined in a beautiful shade of deep rose-coloured taffeta, the vestments were ornamented with one of the Studio's unique braids.  This ornate and beautiful braid Saint George is derived from elements of the designs of AWN Pugin and is woven in burgundy and taup upon a red background.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 2

This is a set of vestments in a very different shade of Lenten purple.  It is not a blue-violet, but the colour of a grape, a deep shade, but slightly redder.  

Made from dupion silk and fully-lined in taffeta, the chasuble is ornamented with a geometric braid in colours of red, blue, straw and white, being a reproduction of a design by AWN Pugin. 

The chasuble is in the Studio's Saint Martin  style, which is very ample and folds beautifully when the arms of the wearer are elevated.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season of Lent 2026 : 1

In this Holy Season of Lent, we are pleased to make a further presentation of a set of vestments in a distinctive decorative scheme.  The vestments are constructed from ecclesiastical brocade in a darker shade of violet.  

The braid used to ornament these vestments is called Saint Norbert, a new braid in the Studio's range of unique braids.  This orphrey braid, in colours of slate grey, black and white, was specifically designed for use with violet or black vestments.

These vestments are a variation on the Gothic Revival style, which we call Saint Austin.  The lining of these vestments is of taffeta in a slate-grey colour, a subdued blue.  Perhaps it may be noted that these Lenten vestments do not incorporate any trace of gold ornament.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Feast of S. Peter Damian

On this Feast of the Confessor and Doctor of the Church, Saint Peter Damian, we are pleased to present a distinctive set of vestments in the primitive style sometimes referred to as "conical". 

If any chasuble of the Roman Rite is rightfully to be referred to as "Traditional" then the ancientness of this form earns that designation, since it was used for the Eucharistic celebration from the first centuries of the Church and for fully a thousand years thereafter. The ancient form of the chasuble was common in the East and the West, but the cut of the chasuble diverged at some point.

 

The primitive style of chasuble is shaped like a bell and when the arms of the wearer are by the side, it envelops the body from the neck to the chins.  But when the arms of the wearer are extended, the conical chasuble folds up from the bottom, as the image above clearly shews.

These vestments were made from a rustic silk, with a linen-like weave and in a "natural" colour.  The ornament of the front of the chasuble is very simple, but more elaborate on the back, as shewn in the image below.  These vestments were made for a Byzantine parish in a tropical climate.  The chasuble is unlined, but because of the weight of the silk, the vestment has good drapery and is not in the least flimsy. 

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Liturgical Colours of Lent

What is the colour set down by the Church for Lent?  

The Church’s liturgical books cite the colour violaceus (a Latin word), which can be translated as violet or purple.  Unfortunately these alternate translations are used indiscriminately, even though they refer to two quite different colours.

In descriptive terms, violet is tinged with blue; purple is tinged with red.  

We know that the vesture of bishops is a colour we call Roman purple.   Is this the colour intended for sacred vestments in the Seasons of Lent (and Advent)? Some say yes, some say no. The practice throughout the world and in Rome itself has differed over the course of the last several centuries.

Let’s try to identify what is a suitable colour for Lenten vestments.  The Season of Lent is penitential and its vestments ought to be distinguished by being sombre. The purple of bishops, however, is intended to be a mark of their rank, and is derived from the use (by the ancient Romans) of purple robes to denote dignity, prestige and royalty. Consequently, Roman purple or fuchsia is not intended to be penitential.

Would the darker colour, then, violet (closer to indigo)  be correct?  Although the use of dark violet is now widespread,  its development for liturgical use dates from the 19th century.  Furthermore, such a colour was not used in Rome for sacred vestments until much more recently.

There is no correct colour, nor even shade of colour for Lenten violaceus.  But sombreness is the appropriate mood for the Season, at least in the Western Church.

AMDG.

Red vestments in the Borromeon form

In this post, the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present a set of vestments made in the Borromeon form. The vestments were made from a red brocade and fully-lined in copper-coloured taffeta.

The vestments are ornamented with the TAU at the front and a column at the back, these being formed by a brocade in colours of flame-red and gold, outlined with a narrow galloon.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG