Contrasts : 7

Image : www.lepetitplacide.org

Processions to Mass celebrated in the Extraordinary Form 

(above) a French Monastery,  (below) an English parish. 

Click on the images for enlarged views.

Image : www.clerus.org

Re-posted.

Contrasts : 8

Celebrations of the more ancient use of the Roman Rite.

Re-posted.

Vestments in hot climates

Heavier vestments, although they sit very well, can be difficult for the celebrant to manage in hot climates.  Not every church has the advantage of air-conditioning. 

The fabric used also has a great deal to do with the comfort of the vestments.  Did you know that almost all the brocades available for purchase online by suppliers in various parts of the world are largely - even entirely - synthetic?  The quality of synthetic fabrics varies greatly, of course, but those which are selling online for a low price per metre are not among the finest.  Such fabrics can misbehave in all sorts of ways and be difficult to sew.  Unhappily, vestments made from such cheap fabrics are seen in online photographs all too frequently.  Caveat emptor! 

When asked about comfortable vestments, the Saint Bede Studio suggests the use of pure silk, be it silk damask or silk dupion.  The former, of course, is magnificent, but expensive.  But silk dupion is also quite lovely, with a beautiful sheen and comes in many different shades of the liturgical colours.  It is moderately priced.  A vestment made from silk dupion, even when fully lined, is extremely comfortable to wear and flows beautifully.  Such a set of vestments is shewn in the adjacent photographs.

An alternative to silk is to request a chasuble made from ecclesiastical brocade, but without a lining.  An unlined chasuble is much easier in the very hot weather.  Please note, that although the Studio does make unlined chasubles upon request, our stoles, maniples and chalice veils are always fully lined.

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

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

AMDG.

Red Gothic Revival Vestments

In this post, we are pleased to present this set of vestments in that style which we call Saint Benet.  This is one of the Gothic Revival chasubles made by the Saint Bede Studio.

These vestments were made for a returning customer from the United States.

These distinctive vestments were made from a rich red English brocade, lined in Royal Blue taffeta.  

The orphrey of this chasuble is formed from one of the Saint Bede Studio's unique  braids called Saint Chad.  This braid is derived from a chasuble in the collection of Saint Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham (UK) which was designed by that luminary of the Gothic Revival AWN Pugin. 

No matter where you shop for your vestments, be it in Poland, India, Italy, Spain, America, nay, even at Watts and Co., you will not find orphrey braids like those employed by the Saint Bede Studio.  The Saint Bede Studio's braids are unique, striking, distinctive and imaginative.   They are designed by the writer of this blog and made exclusively for the Studio's use.

And remember ... vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries

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

AMDG 

CONTRASTS : 1

These engravings, presented for comparison, were taken from Teaching Truth by Signs and Ceremonies, by the Rev'd James Meagher, New York, 1885 (left) and Vestments and Vesture, by Dom E A Roulin OSB, Edinburgh, 1930 (right).

Re-posted.

Made by Catholics for Catholics.

On the Catholic news website, National Catholic Register, I found today a prominent and very long article extolling the glories of the English firm Watts and Co.

The Saint Bede Studio is a very much smaller firm than Watts and Co., and hasn't been around nearly as long. And yet, we make some of the world's most admired vestments and have customers on most continents.

There is another important difference between the Saint Bede Studio and Watts and Co.  Our small staff is Catholic and we only make vestments for the Catholic Church.  Our vestments are made in an atmosphere of prayer.  Some may not find this significant, but we believe it is important that the vestments we make as Catholics are worn only by Catholic priests and only for the worship of the Catholic Church.

Do you also think that is important? Then perhaps spread the word about our work and the Studio blog.  And may God bless you in 2024.

Enquiries.

AMDG

Festal Vestments in the Borromeon Form

During this Christmas Season, the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present a set of Borromeon vestments and a mitre completed for an esteemed customer, an Australian bishop. 

In a previous post, we presented the mitre made for this set.  We turn our attention to the chasuble set.

The principal fabric of these vestments was formed from a lovely silk brocade in the colours of ivory and muted gold. The lining was formed from silk taffeta in a rich shade of crimson red.  

These vestments, in the Borromeon form, were ornamented in the Italian manner with a simple column at the back and a TAU at the front. The column orphreys made by the Studio to ornament our chasubles are constructed to careful measurements so that they are proportionate to the wearer and not exaggerated.  

A rich silk damask in colours of old gold upon burgundy forms the ornament of these vestments.  One of the Studio's unique braids, also in colours in burgundy and picked out in gold, outlines these damask columns and is run around the chasuble neckline.  As with most of our chasubles, the perimeter is trimmed with a matching narrow galloon.

  

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

A New Year's Greeting

This lovely drawing by the English artist Eric Gill depicts an Angel visiting the Child Jesus and his Mother, Mary.  Mary is sitting knitting.  Around the perimeter is written (in Latin) "Let all things praise God, who created (them)."

The ingenious part of this drawing is that by enclosing the figures within a circle, Gill also depicts the planet Earth, with its masses of land and oceans.  The Mother and Child are in the world, yet all things are under their care.  The angels watch over us.

May the Christ-child and his Blessed Mother bring peace and health in mind and body to our troubled world.

The Saint Bede Studio wishes all its customers and readers every Blessing in 2024.