The Roman Rite enjoys a plethora of liturgical arts. Some are less known. Religious orders enjoy a special enrichment that manifests itself with various "bonus" liturgical prerogatives. These are rights or privileges that are exclusive to particular religious …
Redemptorist Tradition of the Votive Mass of Christmas
The Roman Rite enjoys a plethora of liturgical arts. Some are less known. Religious orders enjoy a special enrichment that manifests itself with various "bonus" liturgical prerogatives. These are rights or privileges that are exclusive to particular religious …
Architectural Proposals by Matthew Alderman Studios
I have long enjoyed Matthew Alderman's conceptual watercolour works and I thought it would be of interest if we were to compile some of them into an article for our readers' enjoyment. For myself, they bring together a nice intersection of painting, architecture an…
Select Photos from the 2019 Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage
Few things are more edifying to see in Rome than, well, the ancient Roman rite, and we were pleased to receive the following photos from the recent Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage that took place there this past week. We begin at S. Maria ad Martyres (the Pantheon):
Lace Processional Canopy in Cantù, Italy
The following photos come from Nicola De Grandi in Milan and show a lace processional canopy of the parish church of St. Paul which is now kept in the lace museum of Cantù, Italy. A bit of information about the canopy:
The Baldacchino was inaugurated and used for the first…
Recent Offerings from Altarworthy
This week has become a bit of a showing of recent vestment work by various bespoke vestment makers, and lastly for this week we turn to Altarworthy to showcase three recent pieces they've designed.
The first is done in the Roman style, utilizing a mid-19tth century &qu…
Other Modern: Basilica of the Queen of All Saints in Chicago
Two of the most promising and prominent of periods of the "Other Modern" are Art Neoveau (ca. 1890-1910 and Art Deco (ca. 1920-1930). In both of these instances we find styles that contained elements within them which tied them back to the 'classical' Wes…
Varieties of Violacea: 21st Century Edition
In the past I have featured various "varieties of violacea" coming from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and today I would like to share one coming from the 21st century. What I particularly like about this chasuble is, in the first instance, the use of silver g…
Usus Antiquior Returns to Gibraltar Cathedral at Our Lady of Europe Altar
There is a story told of Belloc's cousin visiting England and asking to view the Roman ruins of Britain. Belloc, a historian, replied: "Madame, Britain is a Roman ruin." Indeed, the same can be said of Gibraltar, a British oversees territory located on the …
A Survey of Recent Vestment Work by Sacra Domus Aurea
Building upon yesterday's consideration of some new work by Pluriarte, today I wanted to turn your attention to some recent vestment work from Sacra Domus Aurea who LAJ readers will already be quite familiar with. This particular designer has produced quite a bit of n…
A Spanish Set from Pluriarte Arte Sacro
Today I wished to share a set of vestments designed by Pluriarte who are based out of Spain. Fittingly, we are presenting one of their recent Spanish sets which was commissioned by members of the Institute of Christ the King.
Readers will no doubt note the distinctive shap…
Leading the Way in Liturgical Art and Design: Talleres de Arte Granda
Recently while on pilgrimage in Madrid I was pleased to meet up with an old friend of mine from studium days in Rome, a very gifted and esteemed Catholic architect by the name of Lucas Viar. Lucas is doing great things as Artistic Director at Granda , one of the world'…
Saints and Old Testament Righteous of the Canon of the Mass
How often does one hear the words of the Roman Canon and not stop to consider the saints whose names are mentioned therein? Evidently we need no introduction to the Apostles, nor to the Blessed Virgin Mary, nor St. Joseph, however some of the other names that come up may …
Crypt of Westminster Cathedral in London
Westminster Cathedral in London is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. It boasts a fascinating crypt, generally not open to the public. It was a great privilege to visit here and have Mass while on pilgrimage re…
Some Views of Downside Abbey
D ownside Abbey , located in England, is the home of many fine medieval vestments and gothic revival work generally. Recently Fr. Terence Mary Naughtin, OFM Conv., visited the abbey and was able to offer Mass in the following vestments -- a conical chasuble -- and at one of …
Some Ancient Papal Ceremonial as Described by H.V. Morton
One of the pioneering travel writers of the twentieth century was H.V. Morton . Morton wrote a significant number of travel works centred in England, Italy, and the Holy Land. In one of those books, In the Steps of St. Paul , Morton provides a rather "atmospheric" …
The Mysteries of the Rosary Illuminated
It has been far too long since we've featured some drawing here on LAJ, and what better place to turn than one of LAJ's own writers, Daniel Mitsui . Daniel's work will be familiar to many readers already; he specializes in highly detailed ink drawings known for …
Medieval Dominican Vestments of St. Albert the Great
The following was sent into LAJ by Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P. (with the assistance of Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. as well) and shows an exquisite example of medieval vestment work. The set is in blue and contains embroidered images of various saints, including St. Dominic himself…
A Brief Consideration of the Origins of the Maniple
The maniple is one of those vestments which tends to get a fair bit of attention and interest, in part because it was one of the vestments 'de facto' lost in the post-conciliar liturgical reforms (though, as was famously noted by the Office for the Liturgical Celebr…
On the History and Use of Incense
Incense is one of those elements of the sacred liturgy that is frequently neglected in contemporary liturgical use. Very often, in typical parishes at least, it use has been mainly reserved for requiems and for the greatest of solemnities -- such as Christmas or Easter -- b…
Further Vestments of Msgr. Gaspare Cantagalli of the Vatican Secretariat of State
Recently we featured a solemn Mass set of Msgr. Gaspare Cantagalli , the one time Vice President of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and today I wished to share a few more of his vestments -- all of which come from the twentieth century. To date, all of the vestments I hav…
The Ossuary Chapel of San Bernardino alle Ossa in Milan
Set in the midst of Milan is the fairly typical looking church of San Bernardino alle Ossa , and while the exterior of the church may not suggest anything particularly unique about it, nestled within it is an ossuary chapel that is quite unique, ornamented as it is with cou…
Solemn Mass Set of Msgr. Gaspare Cantagalli, Vice President of the Vatican Secretariat of State
The following is an example of a twentieth century set of vestments of Florentine manufacture coming from the diocese of Faenza-Modigliana in the northern part of Italy. The set bears the arms (stemma) of Monsignor Gaspare Cantagalli who was the Vice President of the Vatic…
