What the Priest wears at Mass

By RH

      We have all seen what the priest wears at Mass, but have you ever thought about the significance of it or the reason for it? The following is from What Do You see at Mass? by Anthony E. Clark.

      The priest himself is a trenchant messenger of the Church’s teachings. St. Ignatius of Antioch said that of all created dignities the priesthood is the most sublime; St. John Chrysostom asserted that one who honors a priest honors Christ, and one who insults a priest insults Christ. The office of the priesthood, which turns ordinary bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord, is perhaps higher than even that of the holy angels. For this reason the liturgy of the Church adorns priests with garments worthy of their function at the altar. The visible signs worn by the priest at Mass also inspire a greater understanding and respect for what occurs invisibly. The vestments worn by the priest include the alb, the cincture, the stole, and the chasuble; the vesting prayers said by the priest as he dresses for Mass disclose their meanings.

      The first vestment put on is the alb, a white garment covering the priest from his shoulders to his feet. Symbolizing the sanctifying grace of Baptism, the alb is also reminiscent of Christ’s transfiguration at Mount Tabor, when he appeared in garments “white as light” (Matt 17:2) The color white also prompts the priest to remember the innocence and purity that are his callings. The vesting prayer is: “Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that being made white in the blood of the Lamb I may deserve an eternal reward.”

      The next vestment to be donned is the cincture, a cord fastened around the waist. It represents the cords that restrained Jesus as He was scourged, and it also evokes the modesty and moral constraint bound to the priestly ministry. The traditional vesting prayer attached to the cincture is: Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity, and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me.”

      The stole, derived from the neckpiece worn by the upper classes of society and associated with authority, is draped around the neck, expressing the spiritual authority he exercises in the duties of his office. It also symbolizes the ropes with which Christ was tied, reminding the priest of the burdens of his ministry. The vesting prayer of the stole is: “Restore to me, O Lord, the state of immortality, which I lost through the sin of my first parents and, although unworthy to approach your sacred mysteries, may I deserve nevertheless eternal joy.”

      The most conspicuous garment worn by the priest during Mass is the chasuble, or outer vestment, from the Latin casuala, meaning ‘small house.”  Msgr. Peter Elliot notes that “the beauty and dignity of this most visible Eucharistic vestment is essential in a properly ordered liturgy (Elliot, Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite, Ignatius, 125). When a new priest receives the chasuble at his ordination, the bishop exclaims to him, “Receive the sacerdotal garment, for the Lord is powerful to increase in you charity and perfection.” the chasuble literally and symbolically overlays all the other vestments - as all other virtues begin with and rely on the supreme virtue of charity. As the priest places this last vestment over his shoulders he intones, “O Lord, who has said, ‘My yoke is sweet and my burden light’, grant that I may so carry it as to merit your grace.”