The subject of the Divine Office is one that I like to raise from time to time and it often brings with it a swell of interest and curiosity. Usually going hand in hand with this is a series of questions about how one can go about praying it. This is very encouraging for in…
Praying the Divine Office at Home in the Domestic Church
The subject of the Divine Office is one that I like to raise from time to time and it often brings with it a swell of interest and curiosity. Usually going hand in hand with this is a series of questions about how one can go about praying it. This is very encouraging for in…
Antique Chasuble by G.F. Bodley
There isn't a lot of information available on this particular chasuble as I write this but I believe it's worth showing all the same. The piece was apparently designed by G.F. Bodley and was made for St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. It was restored in recent years by…
Introducing the Patriarchal Tiara (A Mitre with Three Crowns)
I have always said one of the most fascinating theaters of liturgical arts surrounds the old patriarchal liturgies of patriarchal sees such as Lisbon, Venice, Jerusalem, the East Indies, etc.
For all those visiting Lisbon, I highly recommend you make time to visit this wor…
The Indian Mass in the Modern Parish (Part Two)
In this second installment in a series (see Part One ) we are going to be looking at a yearly cycle of Indian Masses that is more properly liturgical.
The Book of Seven Nations is a parish-book (French paroissien ) from the multi-ethnic mission of the Lake of Two Mountains, …
St George's Sudbury and Fr. Clement Lloyd Russell
The great expansion of the London Underground in the first half of the 20th century, with the associated sprawl of the London suburbs, also saw the expansion of the Church, parishes being created to meet these needs of the rapidly growing population. Of all of these suburb…
Sacristy Tips: How To Correctly Wear a Conical Chasuble
I originally reprinted this piece almost a decade ago, but as I have noticed some fuller conical or semi-conical chasubles appearing as of late, often worn in the way that is shown as incorrect here, I thought it might be useful to once again bring it to the fore. It was o…
Sacristy Art (Image from Santa Maria Maggiore)
Sacristy art is a rare subject. As someone who spends a lot of time in sacristies around the world, I have to say this one really caught my eye.
I took this photo in the sacristy of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. The framed image, probably from the sixties, rest…
Portapalme
Some readers may notice from time to time, particularly in Italian and Italianate churches, the utilization of a kind of ornamental object that sits between the altar candlesticks in the way reliquaries often do. These objects take various shapes and forms but amount to a k…
A Glimpse into Grandeur: Art of the Gesù Church
“The Holy Name: Art of the Gesù: Bernini and His Age” has been organized to honor the 75th anniversary of Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution in Fairfield, Connecticut. The exhibition and accompanying events focus on an unprecedented assemblage in the United Stated …
The Essential Bookshelf for a Religious Artist, Part 1: the Golden Legend
There are a few books that are especially useful to anyone who wishes to understand or to make religious art; living in an time when its meaning has become obscure and its traditions neglected, they are essential.
The Bible, obviously, is foremost. After that, the book t…
The History of Prinknash Abbey Incense and How it is Made
While incense is not often considered a "liturgical art" in and of itself, it seems to me that it perfectly well qualifies as one of them. The liturgical arts are not all plastic arts after all and one need only look as far as sacred music to see this. Incense, li…
Stunning Renovation of St. Kevin's in Dublin
I have to say one of the most enjoyable Holy Weeks of my life was spent at St. Kevin's on Harrington Street in Dublin. It has been a few years since I have been there, but nevertheless, the experience remains vivid. Such a vibrant parish community! St. Kevin's is…
Seraphic Wings: On the Chasuble, Stole, and Dalmatic
(Translated from Lebrun's Explanation and also published at Canticum Salomonis)
Lebrun gives a brief overview of the evolution of the chasuble, stole, and dogmatic, and provides some very interesting notes about French liturgical practice. The Chasuble The chasuble, cas…
Euntes Ibant et Flebant: On the Maniple and Stole
( Translated from Pierre Lebrun’s Explanation and p ublished originally on Canticum Salomonis ) The Maniple
The maniple was originally called a mappula , which means a small cloth or handkerchief. The Churches of Germany called it a fanon , [1] which in German means something spre…
Austrian Made Vestments from 1751
Continuing on with our consideration of the vestment arts, today I wished to quickly share with readers this set, made in Austria in 1751 and housed now in the Archdiocese of Gorizia, Italy -- which diocese happened to be founded in the very same year.
The set is made from…
A Mystery Vestment -- And a Beautiful One
Unfortunately, one sometimes comes across things which are of great interest but for which there is little to no information provided. This chasuble is one such example -- and its beauty is such that it would seem a shame to not show it all the same. The chasuble it is app…
On Silence in the Liturgy
Recently while on pilgrimage with Fr. William Barker, FSSP (of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei), I experienced the overwhelming privilege of attending his private Low Mass in the tiny Slipper Chapel of the Catholic Basilica at Walsingham.
This hidden place of …
