CHAPTER X

ON EUCHARISTIC VESTMENTS, CHALICE-VEIL AND BURSE

The Ornaments Rubric as it stands at the beginning of our Prayer-books has been an open field for controversy for many years. So much light has been thrown by this means upon customs and observances once almost forgotten and fallen into neglect (which obviously at the time of the Rubric were before the eyes or fresh in the memories of all Church-people), that we can now once more picture to ourselves, without effort, what our forefathers strove successfully to retain as permissible for the maximum (_if not absolutely commanded as the minimum_) of distinctive vesture and ritual to be used in the services of the Church of England.

For the Celebrant—the Amice, the Albe, the Girdle, the Stole, the Maniple or Fanon, and the Chasuble.

For the Epistoler and Gospeller—the same vestments, except that instead of the Chasuble a Dalmatic or Tunicle is worn.

For the Altar itself—a Frontal, Fair linen cloth, two Corporals (or Corporal and Chalice-veil, or Corporal and Pall), Purificators, and Corporal-case or Burse.

The symbolism of the vestments may be considered in a two-fold aspect: both as signifying the garments worn by our Lord at His Passion (and so keeping before the eyes of the congregation the ‘continual remembrance’), and, secondly, as representing the virtues required in the ministers.

Thus we may see in the amice, first, the cloth with which our Lord was blindfolded when the Jews struck Him on the face, and, secondly (as it is first placed on the head), ‘Hope—the Helmet of Salvation.’ In the albe, first, the white garment in which He was arrayed by Herod, and secondly, Innocence of Life, or a ‘conscience void of offence toward God.’ And so, of the others, the girdle, stole, and maniple may represent the cords and bands with which He was bound and scourged, and, secondly, purity or chastity, and the yoke of Christ. While in the chasuble we see the royal robe in which He was mocked as king, and, secondly, covering and embracing all, the glorious grace of charity.

The amice, albe, &c., will be more particularly described in the chapter on Linen-work. The altar-frontal we have already spoken of. In this place we will consider the stole, maniple, chasuble, and dalmatic.

In a little book such as this, the primary intention of which is to be of practical use to the embroidress, we cannot do more than touch upon the very outside margin of history. It is, indeed, extremely interesting to trace back to their primitive uses and beginnings all the articles of vesture and ornament used by the Church in her services; but I can merely remark in passing upon the evolution of the Liturgical garments, which seem to have proceeded gradually from the most simple and elementary requirements;—begun by necessity, continued by reverence, and completed by symbolism.

Putting aside, therefore, learned research into the origin of the stole (_orarium_, _stola_) and the maniple (_mapula_, _sudarium_, _mantile_, or _fanon_), we need not go further back than the ninth or tenth centuries to find them in general use by the clergy much the same as we see them now.

The stole and maniple are usually made to match, and follow the colour of the season, as shown by the altar-frontal. About 9 feet is the full length of the former and 3 feet of the latter; 2 yards of damask will be sufficient for both, if the stole has a seam in the centre, and half the width only of 27-inch damask is required. And the best shops will supply the half-width if requested to do so; but if other vestments are being made at the same time, with the same material, it is more economical to get all the silk in one length, as it will cut to more advantage than by getting the pieces separately.

The width of a stole and a maniple may be from 1½ to 2½ inches in the narrowest or central part. (They are sometimes made wider, but are not so convenient to wear under a chasuble.) They may be perfectly straight from end to end, as in Illustration _A_, or they may widen out by degrees from the centre to the fringe, as at _D_. They may have a square end added on like _C_, or begin to widen from 8 to 10 inches above the fringe (see _B_), or, again, only _just_ over the fringe, as in _E_ and _F_. All these are typical ancient examples.

As to the decoration of them, as a rule they were either woven in gold thread or embroidered richly throughout the whole length in gold diaper patterns, or geometric devices, with crosses, roses, &c., at intervals; or with figures, as in the celebrated Durham relics of St. Cuthbert. The fringes were often very handsome, either knotted or plain, in various colours or of gold alone; sometimes tassels at the corners were used instead of fringe, or little golden bells.

The material of which they are made should be rich and handsome—by preference the same as the chasuble. A deacon’s stole[8] should not be so richly decorated as that of the priest.

The chasuble (_chesible_, _casula_, _planeta_, _amphibalus_, _pænula_) seems in very early days to have been the ordinary outer dress of the clergy as well as the one worn at the celebration of the Eucharist; no doubt the latter would be handsomer both in material and ornamentation, so as to make a distinction. The most usual form would seem to be that of a semicircle joined up the front, leaving an aperture sufficient for the head of the wearer to pass through. It may possibly have been of a completely circular shape to begin with, with a hole in the centre like a poncho or a gaberdine. It may have been cut away at the sides for convenience, till by degrees it arrived at the two typical shapes of ‘Gothic,’ or pointed, and ‘Roman,’ or square. The former has always been more generally used in our Church, but the latter was not uncommon at the time of our Rubric. Fig. III. shows the early form of Gothic. It is from one of the tombs in Worcester Cathedral of the early thirteenth century; there are numbers of equally fine ones to be seen on the effigies of priests and bishops in our old parish and cathedral churches all over the country; the older they are, the fuller and softer-looking is the vestment as a rule. They often have one straight orphrey (or pillar) in front and a Y-shaped cross at the back (where the square-shaped ones have a Latin cross). Sometimes they have a Y-cross in front also. Occasionally there is no orphrey in front, as in Fig. III. It is not unlikely that the orphrey was added to cover the seam.

Another and very graceful way of decorating the chasuble is by embroidering it over the shoulders between the arms of the Y-cross, either on the back alone or extending over the front also. This kind of ornamentation is called the ‘Flower,’ and may be seen on the chasuble of St. Thomas of Canterbury (p. 58) and also on Fig. IV.

Almost the only difference between a modern chasuble of a good ‘make’ and the old Gothic is the seam on the shoulders, which makes it less cumbersome to wear.

Although the Gothic may be the more artistic garment, the square chasuble can also be a noble-looking vestment in its older and ampler form, as may be seen by Fig. I., taken from Rubens’s portrait of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It also gave scope for much decoration, as the broad, plain surface, unbroken by folds, lent itself to more pictorial treatment. There are many in the South Kensington and other museums with representations of the Crucifixion, surrounded by groups of saints and attendant angels.

The chasuble follows the colour of the season. A good average size is 54 inches long at the back (3 or 4 inches shorter in front) and 50 inches wide at the widest part. It takes 6 yards of 25- or 27-inch material, not counting any extra length which may be required for ‘repeat’ of pattern, which must never be forgotten when ordering any kind of figured stuff. When there are orphreys, they should be worked separately on strips of satin, velvet or damask, of a different colour or material from that of the vestment, and applied to it on a frame before joining the two halves together at the shoulders. A medallion may be placed at the intersection of the Y-cross, which should not be too low down.

The material of which the orphrey is made should never be _less_ rich than the vestment to which it is applied.

The DALMATIC worn by the Gospeller or deacon and the tunicle worn by the Epistoler or sub-deacon are very similar to each other in shape and general appearance. The latter is usually a little simpler in decoration.

Many very beautiful examples may be seen in our museums and picture galleries. It was a favourite custom with the Old Masters to represent the Angel Gabriel in the dress of a deacon in pictures of the Annunciation. There were also many well-known ones of SS. Stephen and Lawrence.

The world-renowned ‘Dalmatic of Charlemagne’[9] is still in existence in the Treasury of the Vatican, which shows the freedom with which masters of the craft could treat the decoration of the dalmatic with the happiest results. In these days we generally keep to the two stripes (_clavi_) and two or four apparels.

The length of the dalmatic and tunicle should be about the same as that of the chasuble or a little shorter. They also follow the colour of the season where there are complete suites of vestments, but for poorer churches it has not always been considered necessary. The lining of all vestments should be of a different colour from the vestment itself. It may be of either silk or linen; the richer ones are preferably of silk, as it is not so heavy and cumbersome as linen. The narrow orphrey is placed straight down each side of the dalmatic from the shoulder to the hem, which may be fringed all round; sometimes a rich tassel hangs over each shoulder, as in the sketch of St. Lawrence.

The apparels are rectangular pieces of silk or velvet, usually embroidered very richly in gold and colours, and made up quite separately from the vestment which they adorn.

They are attached by means of lightly worked tacking or slip-stitches.

For an amice the apparel is generally stiffened with an interlining of tailor’s canvas. It should be about 22 inches long and 3 or 4 inches deep. In use it looks something like a collar, and is sometimes called the amice collar. For a dalmatic or tunicle the apparels may be about 21 × 15 inches for the skirt and 21 × 9 for the upper one; but there is no exact rule about size, only they should not be _too long_ (not more than 21 inches to fit in between the clavi), and for the skirt not too deep.

They are generally shorter on the albe than on the dalmatic—from 12 to 15 inches. They may be of any colour; a crimson ground with gold, blue, and white decoration has always been a favourite combination and looks well with most vestments. A bold design and plenty of gold and colour are desirable. Illustrations III. and IV. in Chapter VI. give good fifteenth or sixteenth century designs for an apparel. They are done in these colours. The earlier ones were generally of geometric design, like the stoles in Illustration I., and the interlaced circles with cross in the centre, &c. A piece of rich brocade or damask, &c., was often used instead of embroidery.

For sleeves and skirt of albe they may match the amice collar. Indeed, I have seen fourteenth-century work in which the stole, fanon, orphreys of chasuble, and apparels of albe and amice are _all_ of the same pattern, and the effect was very good.

The corporal-case, or burse, and the silk chalice-veil are usually _en suite_ with the altar and vestments. It is said by some that the silk chalice-veil is a foreign innovation and has no proper place in the Anglican ritual, but it is of such general use now that we must mention it here. It is usually made of the richest silk or satin, and embroidered all over, or at the corners and centre, or with a border all round and a cross or monogram in the middle of one side, lined with silk and edged with a narrow fringe or cord, or made up plain. The design is frequently, but not necessarily, made to match the burse. When this is desired, it is important to arrange it so that the design and embroidery are not spoilt when the veil is in use; for it must be remembered that the burse always presents a flat surface of at least 9 inches square, while the veil is intended to _hang over the chalice_, so that the centre (with a radius of probably from 2½ to 3½ inches) is the only part that will lie flat when in use. I once saw a beautifully worked chalice-veil entirely spoilt by the heads of the four Evangelists hanging upside down over the chalice. The design had apparently been copied from an alms-dish of Benvenuto Cellini, and was extremely beautiful in itself and quite suitable for a burse, but did not lend itself happily to a chalice-veil.

The burse should be made of rich and beautiful material. In many of the old ones the back was made of leather, or something else useful and strong; but nowadays they are generally made of damask or satin, the same as the front. Nine inches square is a good size. If a chalice-veil and burse are being made to match, 1 yard of 27-inch material will usually be enough for the two. First cut a square of 25 inches for the veil; then two squares of 11 inches each from the piece that is left; this allows 1 inch all round for turnings. When the embroidery on the silk for the burse is finished it should be cut out of the frame with the linen still at the back, not cut away round the work, or it will be apt to show a ridge where it leaves off when it is stretched over the boards; besides, it is needed to protect the silk where the edge of the boards would otherwise come in contact with it. Have ready four pieces of good strong cardboard, cut exactly square, each 9 inches. This can be got at any good shop where mounts for pictures are cut.

Two pieces of fine white linen, each 11 inches square, should be ready, nicely washed and ironed. The linen is to be stretched over two of the boards, the embroidered silk over one, and the plain silk, for the back, on the other. It can be done either by taking long stitches from one edge of the stuff to the other, right across the boards, or by means of a very small quantity of embroidery-paste on the inside of the turnings. Then each linen-covered board is placed with a silk-covered one, and the two sewn together with the finest stitches of over-sewing, in white thread or silk. After this the linen-faced sides are placed together, the silk being outside, and the two sets of board are joined at the left side by means of four or five tiny hinges, worked strongly through the silk and inner lining, in buttonhole stitch of the same colour as the cover.

Some people make the back and front all in one piece of silk, but this is not so convenient either to work or to make up. There is more difficulty in getting the design exactly in the middle and straight on the boards; there is, besides, a constant strain afterwards on that edge of the silk which acts as a hinge every time it is opened and shut.

Another diversity in the way of making up a burse is the letting in of side-pieces, like a purse or pocket-book. This also is difficult to do neatly, and is inconvenient in use; but where it is preferred it may be made less awkward by setting in a straight-edged piece of linen instead of a ‘gusset-shaped’ one, covering it with silk like the burse-cover, and stitching it firmly into a pleat before joining the two boards together. It will then more readily keep in place, and if it bulges when in use it will not look so slovenly as it does when the side-pieces are of linen alone. Many of the old burses were sewn up closely along three sides, with the fourth only left open, but this is obviously inconvenient.