The Studio Newsletter

The Studio's latest Newsletter will be sent to those on our list of contacts in coming days.  Would you like to  receive a copy?  If so, please send an e-mail with the subject "NEWSLETTER" to our address :

stbede62@gmail.com

AMDG

A Prayer for those who work to beautify God's House

This prayer has been composed to seek God's Blessings on the work of the Saint Bede Studio, but it is also intended for the benefit of all those who work for the beautification of God's House. Perhaps you will read this prayer regularly and share it with others.

That in all things God may be glorified.

Michael Sternbeck

The Saint Bede Studio

stbede62@gmail.com

Considering an order with the Studio for vestments?

Would you like to support our work for the beautification of the Church's liturgy?  Please consider placing an order for vestments with us at this time or the near future.  We would welcome your business.

Enquirers, look at this link.

This image shews His late Holiness, Pope Benedict wearing vestments made for him by the Saint Bede Studio in 2008.  These vestments, together with the matching mitre are now preserved in the sacristy of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.  Only a select few vestment-makers are given the opportunity to make vestments for the Pope and the Saint Bede Studio is among them!  We are very mindful of this immense privilege.

At the Saint Bede Studio, we are a small firm of Catholics making vestments for Catholics.

Click on the images for an  enlarged view.

AMDG.

On the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On this Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are pleased to describe this Marian chasuble which we call Ave Maris Stella,  being in the Gothic Revival style.

The decorative focus of this vestment is an orphrey braid which is based on the work of AWN Pugin.  This braid is produced in two shades of blue (lighter and darker) with figured ornament in gold.

These vestments were made from an ecclesiastical damask in the shade of ivory and lined in a Royal Blue taffeta.

Click on the image for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

WELCOME VISITORS !!!

Mirabile dictu ... Something strange happened overnight (Australian time) at this blog of the Saint Bede Studio.  Almost 9000 visits :O  Welcome new visitors.  

NEW VISITORS  Take an opportunity to look around the Studio blog and see our range of fine vestments.  We are a small business of Catholics here in Australia making vestments for the Catholic Church all around the world. 

You will also find many interesting articles and commentaries on the Sacred Liturgy on this blog.

The blog was set up for viewing on a computer monitor or tablet.  It has links to various categories of posts, about our new vestments or recent.  You might find something that interests you ... share it with friends.

Thank you for visiting us and visit again soon.

Michael Sternbeck

Proprietor of the Saint Bede Studio

Wednesday 30th August at 845am

Contact us at :  stbede62@gmail.com

ORDINANDS ! 2024

2024 is closer than we would wish, so if you are interested in commissioning vestments with the Saint Bede Studio for your Ordination next year, NOW is the time to contact us to begin discussions.

Every year - regretfully - we have to refuse work from ordinands because they have left enquiries too late for us to fit into our over-crowded schedule.

Contact us now to avoid disappointment.  

Please show this notice to ordinands who may be thinking of vestments.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Vestments for Funeral Masses

One of our customers kindly provided us with some photographs of a set of vestments made for his use by the Saint Bede Studio

The photograph was taken at the beginning of a Mass and candle-light procession for the Faithful Departed held on All Souls' night 2021 at the Catholic Chapel of the University of Maryland.

Our customer obtained from the Studio a set of vestments in the Gothic Revival style.  In this instance, instead of being ornamented in the usual silver or gold braids, this set of vestments was lined in crimson red and ornamented with a braid in colours of blue, red and gold.  The effect is most beautiful.

Read more about this set of vestments here.

Click on the image for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

Vestments for the Season "Per Annum" : 7

In this Season  Per Annum  the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present another set of green vestments, recently completed for a returning customer from the United States.

This set is in the style we call Saint Martin.  This style is the Saint Bede Studio's own contemporary interpretation of the ancient form of Roman chasuble.  It is extremely ample but, being carefully shaped, does not fall like a blanket on the wearer (as so many contemporary vestments do).  Rather it falls into the folds of the arms and gathers gracefully. 

This set is constructed from handmade dupion silk in a rich shade of green, and it is lined in a lovely shade of blue taffeta.  The ornament in the traditional Saint Andrew's Cross is formed from a reproduction of a mediaeval braid, in colours of crimson, straw-gold and white upon a blue background.  This is one of the Studio's unique braids called Saint Raymund.

At the Saint Bede Studio, we strive to avoid the idea that the designation Ordinary Time is a reason to make green vestments which are non-descript, or lacking in inspiration.  Although not elaborate, this is a beautiful and distinctive set of vestments. 

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

Vestments for the Season "Per Annum" : 6

In this Season  Per Annum  the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present another set of green vestments, recently completed for a returning customer from the United Kingdom.

This set is in the style common in the mediaeval period, being quite different in shape from the modern chasuble.  With the arms by the sides, mediaeval chasuble is almost the shape of a bell and often referred to as such, or as the conical chasuble.  

The distinctive thing about this form of chasuble - quite different from the modern chasuble - is its drapery.  When the arms of the wearer are raised, the chasuble gathers into folds from the bottom upward, not from the centre outward (as with the modern "Gothic" chasuble). 

The Studio has made many such chasubles, based upon careful study of illustrations of mediaeval chasubles and examination of modern reproductions.  Through trial and error, the Studio has developed a form of conical chasuble which is comfortable to wear, although the wearer certainly benefits from the assistance of a minister to adjust the chasuble.

This set is made from an English ecclesiastical brocade, lined in a lovely shade of crimson-red taffeta.  The ornament is formed from a reproduction of a mediaeval braid, in colours of crimson and white upon a dark background.  The perimeter of the chasuble is outlined with a quatrefoil galloon in the colours of crimson and platinum.

At the Saint Bede Studio, we strive to avoid the idea that the designation Ordinary Time is a reason to make green vestments which are non-descript, or lacking in inspiration.  In the case of this set, it might be noted that the colour gold is absent from the ornamental scheme.  This makes this set distinctive; its colours are intended to be based on the colours of nature.  

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

Gothic Revival Vestments

The Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present this set of vestments in a style we call Saint Giles, being an interpretation of the Gothic Revival chasuble.  The chasuble is ample without being of the exaggerated proportions one sometimes finds.  The Gothic chasuble was never intended to reach to the ankles.

This set is made from an ecclesiastical brocade, lined in a lovely shade of crimson-red taffeta.  

We wish to draw particular attention to the ornamentation of this set, formed from one of the Studio's unique orphrey braids, called Saint Edmund, and which is derived from the designs of AWN Pugin.  Although we have Saint Edmund braid in other colours, it has recently been woven for us in colours of blue and gold, upon a red background.  This combination allows this braid to be attractively used with vestments of different liturgical colours.

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

Vestments for the Season "Per Annum" : 5

 

Featured in this post is a green dalmatic made for a customer from the United States.

This dalmatic was made from English ecclesiastical brocade in a subtle shade of green and fully lined with red taffeta. 

This vestment is ornamented in a traditional manner with clavi : parallel stripes formed from one of the Studio's unique braids, named Saint Chad. 

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

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

AMDG 

Vestments for the Season "Per Annum" : 4

In this post, we are pleased to present a simple but elegant set of vestments recently purchased by a returning American customer.  This particular style of chasuble we have called Saint Anselm.  It differs from our usual sets in that the chasuble is unlined (although the accessories are fully lined).

The Saint Bede Studio's Saint Anselm vestments are especially designed for warmer climates; but they might also be used where there is a preference for less elaborate vestments, whilst still being worthy and dignified.  Such vestments might also be used in concelebrations or in Masses celebrated during the week.

The front and the back of the Saint Anselm chasuble is decorated with a pendant approximately 15cm (6 inches) wide.  The pendants are sewn into the chasuble neckline and do not hang loosely.  We usually construct these pendants from silk upon which is a stripe of one of the Studio's unique braids.  In the case of this set of vestments, the pendants are formed from crimson dupion silk, ornamented with our Saint James orphrey braid.

The neckline of the front of the Saint Anselm chasuble is specially shaped into a curved "V".  Sometimes we make an amice apparel to accompany the chasuble, but no form of attached roll-over collar is attached to our vestments.  Everything about these vestments is good, well-crafted and sturdy; they are easy to wear, but not fly-weight.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries.

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

AMDG

The Revision of the Roman Rite : How did it happen?

Celebration of Mass according to
the 1965 Missale Romanum.

Among the many over-reaching claims made in the proclamations of this painful Pontificate is one that stated that the revisions of the Roman Rite - specifically those which took place in and after the year 1969 - are "irreformable".  Only those who try to ignore or hide history could possibly come up with such a statement.  Graves and funerary monuments abound of those who considered their work to be permanent or irreformable.  Perhaps this is a small consolation for those suffering the agonies of the Church at this present time.

One of the lessons to be learned, however, from the Revision of the Liturgical books, which took place (mainly) between the years 1965 - 1970 is that changes took place in stages.

The first stage - introducing vernacular into the Rite of Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments was very dramatic and well-received.  Why it was so popular would bear a great deal of discussion, beyond the scope of this brief overview.  But there were no widespread protests against the introduction of the vernacular into the Roman Rite.  It seemed such a good idea, at least at first.  

Changes to the ritual actions of the Mass took place by degrees and - except for the innovation of the celebration of Mass facing the people at freestanding altars, went by without a great deal of handwringing or even attention, except of course for the celebrant and his ministers.  Ritually, so much was altered step-by-step in this period, that when the New Order of Mass came into effect on the First Sunday of Advent, 1969, it was seen quite clearly as just another revision amongst a continuum of revisions. That was the strategy and it was successful.

In a previous post, we presented the first of the Liturgical books to be released as a result of the decree of the Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concilium.  We will continue to examine the many Anglophone Missals which were produced between 1964 and 1968 in further posts. Retrospectively, the form of the Roman Rite which existed between these two years has become known as the Interim Rite.  During those years, of course, such a term was not known, since that would have given the game away.  Except for those working behind the scenes, no one in 1964 / 65 would have believed that the Roman Rite would have been so drastically altered, such that Old and New bear only a basic resemblance.

For a younger generation the Missals of the so-called Interim Rite are largely unknown.  They make for a most interesting study.

The celebrant giving the Blessing during a
celebration of the Mass of the "Interim Rite".
The missal resting upon the altar is one of the Latin & vernacular
editions 1965-1968.

AMDG  

Anglophone Missals of the << Interim Rite >> 1964 - 1969 : 1

Almost sixty years ago, in 1964, as a consequence of the deliberations of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, culminating in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, changes began to be introduced into the celebration of the Rite of the Roman Mass. New liturgical books which reflected these alterations were required.

On this Blog we will be examining the various iterations of the Roman Missal which were published between 1964 and 1969. These missals are often referred to as "Interim Rite" missals. Of necessity, these posts must be confined to Anglophone Interim Rite Missals.

The first of these Missals for the English-speaking world was published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company (New York) after May 1964, for the use of the Dioceses of the United States of America. Below are photographs from that Missal.

Please click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Missal handsomely-bound in red morocco leather and gold stamped.

The titlepage of the 1964 Missal.

On the reverse of the title-page, the Imprimatur of Cardinal Spellman of New York is shewn.
It also makes reference to the translation of the Scriptures which the Bishops determined for use.

In publishing this Missal, the Bishops Conference of the United States obtained a decree from the now infamous Consilium, signed by Cardinal Lercaro and Father Annibale Bugnini CM and dated 1st May 1964. The decree defined the specific changes to the celebration of the Mass which were permitted. The English language was permitted to be included in the following parts of the Mass (shewn in the photograph below) : the proclamation of the Epistle and Gospel; in the chants of the Ordinary of the Mass, namely the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei; in the Lord's Prayer; in the formula Ecce Agnus Dei before the Communion of the Faithful; in the chants of the Proper of the Mass, namely the Introit, Gradual etc., Offertorium and Communio; in acclamations, Greetings and Dialogues between the celebrant and the faithful. Lastly in the "Common Prayer" or prayers of the Faithful.

First part of the decree of the "Consilium" : May 1964.

This Missal, however, is a curiosity: it was published before the decisions regarding revisions to the rite of Mass were published at the beginning of 1965. Consequently, ritually it contains no changes from the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 typical edition of the Missale Romanum. All it admits of is the inclusion of the English language. It permits English for the use of the "Common Prayer" (General Intercessions), but no reference to these prayers is made in the rubrics of the Order of Mass. But one thing worthy of note : where these vernacular admissions are printed, no alternative in Latin is shewn. It seems that when the Consilium used the words in its decree " Linguam anglicanam adhibere licet ", it was more of a requirement than a permission.

The first page of the Proper of the Seasons
shewing the Introit and Epistle in English,
but the Collect still entirely in Latin.

The next photographs are a selection of the pages of the Order of Mass.

The Prayers at the foot of the Altar : still entirely in Latin.

Pages shewing the Kyrie and Gloria, given only in English.
Compare the translation with the present translation for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

One of the prefaces :
The Preface itself and its introductory dialogue are entirely in Latin;
the Sanctus given only in English.

Pages shewing the Communion Rite :
The Lord's Prayer and Agnus Dei given in English,
everything else in Latin.

The concluding prayers of the Mass remain unaltered
from the 1962 edition of the Missale Romanum and all its predecessors.

Pages shewing the Rite of Burial, including English for chants and orations,
but the antiphon remaining in Latin with its Gregorian notation.

Vestments for the Season " Per Annum " : 3

In this Season  Per Annum  the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present another set of green vestments, recently completed for a returning customer.

Figure 1.  Chasuble neckline.

This is in the style we call Saint Austin, being an interpretation of the Gothic Revival chasuble (itself a 19th century interpretation of the mediaeval form of sacerdotal vestment).  The chasuble is not wide - reaching only to elbows - but falls below the knees at the front and to the calves at the back.

The Studio has made many such chasubles, which have been found to very beautiful and easy to wear by our priestly customers.

Figure 2.

This set is made from an English ecclesiastical brocade, lined in a lovely shade of crimson-red taffeta.  The ornament is formed from one of the Studio's unique orphrey braids, called English Rose, in colours of crimson, green and white on a dark background.  This braid and the perimeter of the chasuble are outlined with a quatrefoil galloon in the colours of crimson and platinum.

Figure 3.  Ornament at chasuble shoulder seam.

At the Saint Bede Studio, we strive to avoid the idea that the designation Ordinary Time is a reason to make green vestments which are non-descript, or lacking in inspiration.  In the case of this set, it might be noted that the colour gold is absent from the ornamental scheme.  This makes this set distinctive; its colours are intended to be based on the colours of nature.  On the other hand, there is nothing about the ornamentation of the set which is in opposition to Liturgical tradition.  In a church where the walls are plain or even largely white in colour, such a vestment would stand out dramatically.

Figure 4.  Perimeter galloon of chasuble and lining.

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

Figure 5.  Ornament of the chasuble.

Figure 6.  Ornament of chasuble with maniple.

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

AMDG 

Vestments in the Season " Per Annum " : 2

In this Season  Per Annum  the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present this lovely set of green vestments, recently completed for a returning customer.

Figure 1. Chasuble back column
with maniple and burse.

This is in the style we call Saint Philip Neri and is our adaptation of the Roman chasuble of the 16th century, which is depicted in almost portraits of Saint Philip.  The chasuble is not wide - reaching only to elbows - but falls below the knees at the front and to the calves at the back.

The Studio has made many such chasubles, which have been found to very beautiful and easy to wear by our priestly customers.

Figure 2.

This set is made from an English ecclesiastical brocade, lined in a very subtle shade of olive green taffeta.  The ornament, in the Roman manner, is formed from a beautiful silk brocade in colours of gold and old rose.  The ornament and the perimeter of the chasuble are outlined with a knot-work galloon in the colours of burgundy and gold.

Figure 3
Ornament at back neckline.

Click on the image for an enlarged view. 

Enquiries.

Figure 4
Perimeter galloon of chasuble and lining.

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

AMDG 

Figure 5
Front ornament of chasuble
with maniple and burse.