Vestments
Vestments names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Vestments SACRED the Christian church the sacred vestments represent the
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SACRED the Christian church the sacred vestments represent the original costume of Rome and the East in the first centuries, retained unaltered by the clergy, whereas in the everyday world the costume varied in fashion, in material, in color from year to year. There seems little room for doubting that from a very early time Christian ministers employed some distinctive dress in public worship; and Catholic writers even find traces in the beginning of the 5th century of the practices of blessing the vestments which were destined for the public services of the Church. The vestments used in the celebration of mass by priests of the Roman Catholic Church are the amice (originally worn over the head); the alb; the girdle, a linen cord tied round the waist, and confining the folds of the alb; the maniple, a narrow strip of embroidered silk, worn pendent from the arm; the stole, and the chasuble. The three last named are always of the same material and color; but this color, which appears primitively to have been in all cases white, now, and for many centuries, varies according to seasons and festivals, five different colors being employed in the cycle of ecclesiastical services-viz., and black. white, red, green, violet, and Cloth of gold, however, may be substituted for any of these except the last. Bishops, in celebrating, wear, besides the vestments of priests, two inner vestments, the dalmatic and tunic (those of the deacon and sub-deacon respectively), as also embroidered gloves and shoes, or buskins, together with the distinctive episcopal ornaments the pectoral cross, ring, miter, and pastoral staff, or, if archbishops, the crozier. Archbishops celebrating, massor wear thehopallium. Bishops, when they celebrate pontifically, take their vestments from the altar, whereas priests put them on in the sacristy; but this is a late distinction. In other public services priests and bishops wear the cope, with a pendent cape or hood. In the ministration of the other sacraments, and also in administering communion privately, priests wear the surplice with the stole, or it may even be the stole alone. In the Greek Church the stoicharion, zoné, epitrachelion, epimanikia (a square piece of cloth, stiffened, worn pendent from the girdle, and perhaps originally a napkin), and ample phelonion correspond respectively with the alb, girdle, stole, maniple, and chasuble. Greek bishops wear the omophorion, which corresponds with the later pallium, and also a pectoral cross, and carry a short pastoral staff; but they wear no ring, and, except by the patriarch of Alexandria, the miter is not worn in the sanctuary. The natural effect of the religious changes of the 16th century was to put aside the costume at the same time and on the same grounds with the ceremonies of the existing worship. This was done, however, by the different churches of the Reformers in very various degrees. The Calvinistic worship may be said to have dispensed with vestments altogether. The Lutherans generally retained with the cassock the alb, and in some countries the chasuble. In the Swedish Church full vestments are retained. In the English Church a variety of practice has existed. As to the rest of the costume, the first Prayerbook retained the Roman vestments with little change; and as the vestments and ornaments of 1549 were again enjoined in 1559, a so-called ritualistic movement in the English Church has since 1851 reintroduced in some places almost every detail of the Roman costume in the communion and other services, a revival which has in many instances been vigorously resisted.
Vestments SACRED um, and when a band of colonists went forth from the city
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SACRED um, and when a band of colonists went forth from the city, they carried fire lighted at the common hearth with them. At Rome it was believed that Æneas had brought in this manner the sacred fire from Troy. It was preserved in a temple of circular shape with vaulted roof, which stood on the Forum. The sacred fire therein was tended by six priestesses who were called Vestales. They were virgins like the goddess whom they served. nt func- They performed several important tions in the State religion of Rome. They assisted at all great public rites, and were present at such religious transactions as the consecration of temples. Their fixed term of service was 30 years, of which they passed 10 in a state of novitiate, 10 in performing the sacred duties of their office, and 10 in instructing novices. After this they were permitted to return to ordinary life if they pleased, though this was a privilege of which few availed themselves; for notwithstanding the drawbacks and restrictions of their position, it was one of great honor and even profit. Lictors preceded them when they appeared in public; consuls and prætors saluted and made way for them. They were maintained at the public expense, and they occupied special places of honor at the public games. If any proved unfaithful to her vows, she met with a terrible fate. She was degraded and deprived of her insignia of office. She was then dressed like a corpse, placed in a close litter, and conducted with all the usual ceremonies attendant on a funeral to a piece of ground called the Campus Sceleratus, where she was buried alive. If the sacred fire of the goddess was allowed through negligence to go out, it was rekindled by the Pontifex Maximus by by the friction of two pieces of wood against each other. The festival of Vesta was celebrated on June 9, in each year, on June 15 the temple was cleaned and purified, and on March 1, the sacred fire and the laurel tree that shaded it were renewed. VESTA, in astronomy, the name of the fourth asteroid, discovered by Olbers at Bremen, March 29, 1807, his second and last discovery among the asteroids. It is the brightest among the small planets, sometimes being visible to the naked eye. After its discovery no more were found till the discovery of Astræa in 1845, more than 38 years later.
Vestments SACRED. The use by the priesthood of a distinctive
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SACRED. The use by the priesthood of a distinctive costume in public worship formed a part not only of the Jewish, but of almost all the ancient religions. Generally speaking, in
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's list of 1921 was accurate for its day, but the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the reforms that followed pruned it: the maniple ceased to be required in 1967, and the amice and girdle became optional where the alb already covers the ordinary clothing. The order of subdeacon was suppressed in 1972, so the tunicle largely vanished, and bishops mostly gave up the embroidered gloves and buskins that Collier's describes. In the Church of England the vestments the entry calls a revival that has been vigorously resisted are now uncontroversial and widely worn, the old prosecutions of ritualists long forgotten; since 1994 women priests in England have worn them too. Rose is now commonly used on two Sundays of the year, and white has largely displaced black at funerals.
Written for this edition, 2026.