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. Here is a bit more about the set from Fr. Innocent:
The city of Cologne has an important place in Dominican history. In 1221, five years after the Order's foundation and in the same year of the death of St. Dominic, the Friars Preachers arrived in the city on the Rhine, establishing the Priory of the Holy Cross by 1225. In 1248, the Order of Preachers asked Albert the Great to found a new Studium Generale, and he brought his talented student Thomas Aquinas to the new German center of studies. Albert ended up spending many years in Cologne between various other duties as Provincial, Professor, and Bishop, and died in the city in 1280. After the suppression of the Dominican Priory in the aftermath of the French Revolution, the relics of Albertus Magnus were brought to the nearby church of St. Andreas, one of the famous twelve Romanesque churches of the city. (Although originally a collegiate church, the Dominican friars have been serving at St. Andreas since the 1940s, in addition to their ministry at a reestablished Priory of the Holy Cross established in the early 20th century.)Fr. Innocent managed to capture a number of very good photos of the set:
When Albert's tomb was opened to transfer his relics to another reliquary, the saint's bones were found wrapped in a set of medieval Mass vestments which may well date from Albert's own lifetime (although some speculate that they are instead from the early 14th century). Preserved today in the sacristy of St. Andreas, the vestments include a conical chasuble in blue silk with gold embroidery in the shape of a cross, as well as a stole and maniple with with exquisite depictions of Christ, St. Dominic, and several female saints. Whether they date from Albert's lifetime or slightly afterwards, the vestments are a precious relic of medieval Dominican liturgical piety.
Many thanks to Fr. Innocent and Fr. Lawrence thinking of LAJ when they came across this spectacular set of vestments.
