Vessels & Vestments

In this year devoted to the Holy Eucharist, we are attempting to gain an ever greater appreciation of this most sublime Bequest of Christ to His Church by preaching a series of homilies on the meaning of the rites of holy Mass. Today’s topic considers two preliminaries to this, the vessels and the vestments for Mass, which carry meanings that are far richer than one might at first suspect. We begin straightaway with the sacred vessels.

First, it should be said that these are indeed sacred vessels because they contain or hold the sacred species of the Eucharist. In these days of impiety, secularity, and sacrilege, the vessels used for Mass have too often been of a common variety, devoid of quality and artistic merit, mere containers those used for food at home. Thus we have seen chalices and patens made of breakable pottery or glass, resembling more the cups and dinner plates of our kitchen tables than noble bearers of our Lord’s body and blood.

The chalice is the vessel of deepest significance because of its association with the Last Supper in which our Lord first employed the holy grail: the original chalice that contained His infinitely precious Blood. There’s a whole folklore that had developed about the history of that blest chalice–more fictional than factual–that gripped the imagination of believers in the Real Presence. The unfortunate use of the word used in our Masses in English, “cup” has been denounced by the Holy See as too common an expression for this vessel and the term must be rectified in future translations. “Chalice” (‘calix’) is a dignified and religiously-charged word associated with sacrifice, while “cup” refers more to ordinary drinking. In any case, the chalice is the vessel ideally made of gold or silver or of another metal gilt in gold.

The paten is the small silver or gold dish that covers the mouth of the chalice and upon which the large host for consecration is placed.

The importance of these vessels may be evident from the fact that Christ’s sacrificial Blood flows from this chalice and that on the paten rests our Lord’s once-wounded and now glorified Body. The chalice also reminds us of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from which our Lord’s Blood is unceasingly supplied for every Mass celebrated throughout the world. The paten represents the wood of the cross on which our Lord’s body hung for our redemption.

I have, at other times previous, made mention of the fact that whatever is sacred ought to be veiled. This ranges from what is sacred in the strict sense (like our tabernacles and chalices–which ought to be veiled, ideally) to what is sacred in a metaphorical sense, like our bodies. The unveiling, the continual exposure of both in our time is perhaps symbolic of our penchant for transgressing, trespassing, desecrating and defiling what ought to be handled with the greatest reserve and–shall we say?–modesty.

A great deal might be said about the vestments of the priest at the altar. One needs to be selective in his commentary. At the outset it should be noted that the priest has to be suitably attired to undertake the offering of the Lord’s sacrifice. “Clothes make the man” as an erroneous but curious saying has it. Liturgical vestments are prescribed by the Church because they indicate the dignity the priest already has by his ordination and because they lend expression to the mystery being celebrated. (Of course, we have all seen too many unsightly and degraded examples of liturgical vestments in some places that defy explanation or excuse.) Even from the Old Testament, it was prescribed that a priest entering the sanctuary should be robed in sacred vesture of a splendid sort (Eccl 50:6-12). Certainly, if that’s how it was in the days preparatory for Christ, how much more now should the priest be nobly attired when he acts in the very Person of Christ! In divine worship, nothing is merely exterior. Everything is figurative and expressive of the interior and spiritual meanings and purposes of things. Therefore, I will briefly name each of the priest’s Mass vestments and make a brief comment about their less than obvious significance.

The first vestment to be put on is the amice. This is a rectangular linen that covers the priest’s neck and shoulders, but which first passes over his head. The optional vesting prayer specifies that this refers to that symbolical “helmet of salvation” spoken of by St. Paul used to protect oneself from and to overcome diabolical assaults. The Church thinks that the priest in offering Mass should be equipped with spiritual armor since he, in renewing Christ’s sacrifice, will be engaging in a battle against the powers of hell. It should be no secret that the devil has a special interest in undoing a priest since the salvation of many souls depends on the success of his ministry.

After the amice comes the alb. This is the white garment covering the whole of the priest’s body that you see under his chasuble. It symbolizes that purity from sin which is required of the priest in offering Mass. The prayer that may be said while vesting in it recalls the striking imagery of the Book of Revelation in which the robes of the martyrs were made white by being washed in Christ’s red blood. The idea here is that the priest should offer Mass with a pure mind and an unblemished heart. As one of the psalms says: ‘only he who is innocent in hands and clean of heart may ascend the mountain of the Lord’ (Ps. 24).

This theme of the requisite purity of the priest for saying Mass is intensified by the use of the cincture. This is the cord that goes around the waist, binding the alb together. The accompanying prayer is very specific about its meaning: “Gird me, Lord, with the cincture of purity and extinguish in my loins the fires of concupiscence so that the virtues of continence and chastity may abide within me.” This self-binding act symbolizes the necessity for mental discipline and for the mortification of fleshly desires.

The priestly vestment that most indicates the powers unique to the priest is the stole. This is the long slender garment that hangs around the priest’s neck. Only those in holy orders may wear these (deacons wear them across the left shoulder and fastened under their right arms). It’s a sign of sanctifying grace. The priest is a dispenser of this grace. The stole should always be worn when the priest is administering the sacraments or preaching. Remember the prodigal son’s return home? When the father received him back, he placed on him a robe, a ‘stole’ that is the figure for the restoration of sanctifying grace.

The principal and most outward priestly vestment is the chasuble. It has various colors and may have various designs–principal of which is the cross. It’s symbolic of charity, that love which–as St. Paul wrote–is the external ‘clothing’ of all the Christian virtues (Col 3:14). The chasuble also refers to our Lord’s words: “My yoke is easy, my burden light.” In wearing the chasuble, the priest is, in effect, carrying Christ’s burden, His cross on his back–a suitable image for the priest who represents Christ at His sacrifice.

Now that he is suitably vested for Mass, the priest can ascend to the altar and perform the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the grandest and most awesome mystery. These sacred vestments make him appear before the eyes of all his God-conferred dignity and his sublime calling. They should also remind the priest himself of the virtues that should adorn his soul and what lofty sentiments should fill his mind when he proceeds to offer the divine Victim to the Father.

And we too ought to be edified by these external reminders that at Mass we come into the presence of the thrice-holy God before whom every knee must bow and before whom–in the lofty words of the Preface–the Powers of heaven tremble.