The Well Dressed Priest

 Since Saturday was the beginning of the Jewish holidays, and their New Year, I've been thinking of the Catholic Liturgical Year, which begins in Advent.  So my grandchildren and I were talking about the Liturgical Year and how the priest's vestment colors change with the year.  Accordingly we made some vestments.  We have a stole for the priest or deacon and some chasubles to match the liturgical seasons.

They are made of felt.  We have a white ribbon to use as a stole.  White is used for Christmas, Easter, Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings, and Funerals.  Green is for Ordinary Time.  Purple is for Advent and Lent. Red is for Pentecost and Masses celebrating martyrs.  We chose to use yellow to represent Triduum.  Since we didn't have a male doll, we used a cross to dress with our home-made chasubles. Since we are still in Ordinary time, the cross is wearing green.

Silk Chasuble

Look what I found in the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem, MA.  This is a chasuble from the 18th-19th century, in China.  It's made of silk.  It was probably made in Canton or Macau.  Chinese textiles made for foreign patrons often featured vines and leaves and peonies.

Just imagine the history this chasuble went through, giving glory to God.

The style of needlework on this piece is typical of the time.  The embroidery thread is silk, as well as the material it is sewn on.  IHS is a Greek monogram for the name, Jesus Christ.  The Greek monograms were used even in Latin.  Even St. Vincent Ferrer used IHS, and it became a characteristic iconographic image associated with him, before the Jesuits adopted the symbol as their seal.