In France it is called the "surhuméral" (or "super-humeral") and it is variant on the more widely known "rationale." It is a unique privilege that is reserved to only the prelates of specific Sees. Bernard Berthod, in his excellent Dictionnaire des Arts Liturgiques, describes the vestment as follows:
This [surhuméral] takes the form of a wide collar or band of fabric adorned with stones and embroidery. Its origin and function are obscure. It appeared in Carolingian times as an ornament for the episcopal chasuble. It is called surhumeral when it covers the shoulders. Until the 18th century, it was worn by the bishops of Augsburg, Bamberg, Brandenburg, Cologne, Eichstätt, Freising, Hildesheim, Liège, Metz, Munster, Paderborn, Regensburg, Speyer, Toledo, Toul, Trier and Würzburg. ... In the 19th and 20th centuries, the surhumeral was used by the bishops of Padenborn, Krakow, Eichstätt, Toledo and Nancy. The surhumeral of the bishop of Nancy and Toul is a cloth collar close to the neck with four pendants, front and back, enriched with gems and marked at the lower edge with metal applications.
As noted by Berthod, the question of its origins are obscure. In modern times very few bishops wear any such ornament over their chasuble, it now being primarily limited to a small handful of Sees located in Germany (Eichstätt and Paderborn) in France (Toul) and Poland (Krakow). The forms of these vary in these different locations (elsewhere we've published other examples) but here is how this distinctly French form of surhuméral appears:
Most recently, one of our readers sent in the following photos of the current bishop of Nancy-Toul, Mgr. Pierre-Yves Michel, wearing the surhuméral:
When this local custom came under scrutiny, an appeal for clarification around its use in Toul was sought from Rome, specifically from Pius IX, and the following response was given in the affirmative, which also lays out some of the history of its use in Toul:
Among other ornaments that the Bishop of Toul wears when he celebrates pontifically is the one that is called the Superhumeral because it is placed on the shoulders of the celebrating Bishop and is made in such a way that it resembles a wide stole decorated with fringes that turns around the shoulders, with two maniples hanging in front and behind, and on each shoulder, in the shape of a round shield, loaded with precious stones. The most serious authors attest that the Bishop of Toul has made use of this ornament for about eight centuries. Tradition even reports that this privilege was granted to the Bishop of Toul by the holy Pontiff Leo IX who, although elevated to the sovereign Pontificate, retained the administration of the Bishopric of Toul. Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie, Bishop of Nancy and Toul, wishing to maintain this distinguished privilege of the Bishop of Toul alone among the Latin Bishops, even after the reestablishment of the Rites of the Holy Roman Church in his diocese, has most humbly asked our most holy Lord Pope Pius IX to be able to preserve the above-mentioned privilege. Now, his Holiness, having regard above all for the antiquity of the ornament in question, worn by the Bishop of Toul, on the report of the undersigned Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, has deigned by a very special grace, which can never be brought as an example, to permit that when the Bishop of Nancy and Toul celebrates pontifically, he may make use of the above-mentioned ornament, notwithstanding any opposition to the contrary.As referenced in the above response, the use of the superhumeral in Toul has been attested to since at least the year A.D. 1165 and can be found depicted on some of the tombs and heraldic arms of the bishop of Toul.
As for its precise origins and purpose goes, that seems destined to remain shrouded in the mists of liturgical history.
-------
Do you like Liturgical Arts Journal's original content? You can help support LAJ in its mission and vision to promote beauty in Catholic worship either by:
You choose the amount. Your support makes all the difference.
