VESTMENTS IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

VESTMENTS IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

An important aspect of the Catholic Church is its vestments. The Church is always beautifully decorated and holy people beautifully dressed. These decorations have changed very much since the beginning of time. Although we don’t always realize it, there is much symbolism in the colors that priests, bishops, cardinals and even the Pope wears. There are also strict guidelines that these people must follow when dressing. This paper will tell of the history of this clothing.

EARLY CHRISTIANS

To study the history of the Church in the first century, we have to rely on the writings of the Early Christians, mainly the New Testament. At this time, Christians were waiting for the second coming of Christ, which they expected very soon. Since they thought that Christ would come again in their lifetime, they didn’t feel the need to really formalize their religion or create any clothing that was specifically Christian. In 64 in Rome, St. Peter and St. Paul were executed. Right after the executions of these men, Nero began to execute other Christians. At this time it would have been dangerous for Christians to wear distinctive clothing. As these persecutions began, people began to realize that the Church would outlast the lives of the men who had actually known Jesus Christ. After these persecutions ended, there was peace until 95 when Diocletian, a ruler, began taking action against the aristocratic Christians in Rome. In Asia at the same time there were persecutions of both Jews and Christians.

After this, a few general Christians adopted a few general styles of clothing. First was the tunic, worn by St. Augustine. This came out of Rome and was an indoor garment. During worship, it was required that it was clean and white, which may be why Christians shied away from the traditional Roman wool tunic. Wool fades to yellow after time so Christians began wearing linen tunics because the more linen is washed, the whiter it becomes. It has been said that St. Peter wore a pallium with his tunic. It was wrapped around the body in a simple way. It was a plain garment, except that it had embroidery in each of it’s four corners. Apparently Jesus and His apostles had also worn palliums and so they became part of the ornamental dress of Christians. Christians also wore the paenula. It was a hooded garment and was worn by Christians in worship starting in the second century.