For Our Vestment Enthusiasts: More from Catholic Italy

A number of NLM readers have shown great interest in sacred vestments. This should hardly come as a surprise given that they too contribute to the beauty of the liturgical rites of the Church -- which of course, in turn, has a profound relationship to the interior substance and value of the sacred liturgy. Accordingly, for those so interested, John Sonnen is as busy as ever bringing us the treasures of Catholic Italy, this time from the Diocesan Museum of Velletri which has some splendid liturgical objects on display. A sampling of some of the stunning embroidery work, with particular reference to the red chasuble:

While you are there, you might be interested in this picture John recently posted of a broad stole from the sacristy of Ss. Trinita.



The broad stole (stola latior) was used during pentential seasons by the deacon, along with the folded chasuble (planetae plicatae) for both the deacon and subdeacon -- as opposed to the dalmatic and tunicle. In fact, originally the broad stole was the folded chasuble, folded one more time and twisted.

Many may not be as readily familiar with these today, though they only ceased being used in the early 1960's. For more information about these, you may wish to consult my post on them and their history from September 10th, 2008.