Splendours of Lisbon: A Full Pontifical Set of Vestments

Splendours of Lisbon: A Full Pontifical Set of Vestments Previously we have given consideration to the impressive collection of vestments at the  Museu de SĂŁo Roque /Santa Casa da MisericĂłrdia de Lisboa , and today I wished to share another set from their impressive collection, this time a pontifical set. The entire set is comprised…

The Custom of Suspending the Galero in Cathedral Churches

The Custom of Suspending the Galero in Cathedral Churches A beloved tradition of the Latin Church - the suspension of a cardinal's galero in his cathedral church over his tomb after his funeral - was a harmless custom that unfortunately proved to be a casualty of the lamentable 1960s revolution - an acute historical disturbanc…

Gothic Revival Revived

Gothic Revival Revived One of the challenges in terms of gothic revival vestment work is making such designs stand out from the many catalogue offerings of gothic that poured into nearly every sacristy in the mid twentieth century. Many bespoke makers today are challenging the 'status quo ant…

The New Stone Altars of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis

The New Stone Altars of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis The chapel renovations at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St Louis, Missouri are fairly well known to our readers as we have touched upon them previously, but a specific element I would like to highlight in this particular renovation are the exquisite altars that were executed …

Whither Noble Simplicity?

Whither Noble Simplicity? It has been awhile since we did one of our 'digital renovations' and recently an image of St. Catherine's Church in Krakow, Poland came to my attention and it seemed to be a good candidate for just such an exercise (the intent of which are to prompt people to re…

Children's "Play Vestments" by the Liturgical Co.

Children's "Play Vestments" by the Liturgical Co. T he Liturgical Co. is a vestment atelier based in California under the care of Ms. Sequoia Sierra.  Ms. Sierra designs, creates, and repairs vestments, habits, and other religious and liturgical items and furnishings related to textiles. She also produces reversible "p…

FSSP Versailles: Chapelle de l'Immaculée Conception

FSSP Versailles: Chapelle de l'ImmaculĂ©e Conception Versailles is a magnificent place to visit. It is also a place where the Classical Rite always existed - it was celebrated here, even at unknown places during the particularly difficult time of the post-conciliar years.  Today the FSSP have a vibrant parish in the heart of V…

A Carved Gothic Altar from Rugo Stone

A Carved Gothic Altar from Rugo Stone Beauty, quality and detailing remain possible in our own times and this can be seen quite well in a marble altar that was created for Corpus Christi Church in South Riding, Virginia by Rugo Stone in collaboration with a larger projects by  McCrery Architects . From Rugo Stone…

Restoration of the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God (Vladivostok, Russia) by Mathew Alderman

Restoration of the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God (Vladivostok, Russia) by Mathew Alderman Our good friend Matthew Alderman of  Matthew Alderman Studios  did a fabulous job some time ago (2006-2008) helping to restore the interior of the old Latin Rite Proto-Cathedral of the  Most Holy Mother of God  ( Ecclesia Cathedralis Deiparae Sanctissimae ) in Vladivostok, Russia…

Preserving the Treasury of Sacred Music: Twin Cities Catholic Chorale

Preserving the Treasury of Sacred Music: Twin Cities Catholic Chorale This year marks the 50th anniversary of the spectacular  Twin Cities Catholic Chorale at the Church of Saint Agnes (St. Paul, Minnesota). Now in its 50th season at the parish, the Chorale has planned some special events to celebrate its golden jubilee, including a rare prese…

Gothic Inspired Mitre by LAVS

Gothic Inspired Mitre by LAVS LAVS is a well-known creator of hand-made vestments and miters in the medieval footprint. During the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, their studio produced various items that made headlines, recognized by their unique three-dimensional tool work and filigree embroidery. LAVS mi…

The Difference of an Interior Restoration: St. Mary's in Menasha, WI

The Difference of an Interior Restoration: St. Mary's in Menasha, WI Beauty attracts. The above images display what the interior of the German-Gothic church of St. Mary in Menasha, Wisconsin (Diocese of Green Bay) looks like today (on the right) and what it looked like for many years before (on the left). Built in the 1880s, the church was v…

Liturgica Obscura: The Praegustatio in Pontifical and Papal Masses (Pre-Tasting of the Bread and Wine)

Liturgica Obscura: The Praegustatio in Pontifical and Papal Masses (Pre-Tasting of the Bread and Wine) In the modern world, it can be difficult to imagine what life was like in previous centuries in times when science was less advanced. As a result people got away with murder -- quite literally.  In instances of the wealthier and higher functionaries of society -- who were m…

A Cope from Renaissance Florence (1575-1600)

A Cope from Renaissance Florence (1575-1600) Today I thought we would take yet another pass through Renaissance Florence by looking at a cope that was made in Florence in the sixteenth century, specifically sometime between 1575-1600.  As was so often the case in the Renaissance, velvet was the popular fabric of choic…

The Resplendent St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis

The Resplendent St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis St. Louis, known as the Rome of the West, has long been a focal point of intense Catholic life and culture. Steadfast generations have maintained a stronghold of Catholic identity here, with filial devotion to the Church and her sacred liturgy manifested in a deep Eucharist…

Custom Made Silks from Antico Opificio Serico (Caserta, Italy)

Custom Made Silks from Antico Opificio Serico (Caserta, Italy) Italian textile art is known and respected worldwide. The art of fabric woven by expert craftsman with artisanal techniques is a beautiful thing that has been going on since 1789 in the Italian town of Caserta. Located just north of Naples, this place has long been known fo…

A Truncated Conical from Atelier Sirio - Perfect for Lent

A Truncated Conical from Atelier Sirio - Perfect for Lent A telier Sirio is an Italian vestment maker located in the north of Italy in Bergamo. One of the sets of designs that frequently capture my attention are their medieval inspired works in a form that I am going to call "semi-conical" or "truncated conical,"…

The Italo-Byzantine Cappella Palatina of the Royal Chapel of Palermo, Sicily

The Italo-Byzantine Cappella Palatina of the Royal Chapel of Palermo, Sicily The Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) is a stunning piece of Italo-Byzantine architecture situated Palermo, Sicily. It is situated in the former Royal Palace of Palermo, then seat of the kings of Sicily.  The chapel might easily be mistaken for the Cathedral of Monreale , …

A Survey of 15th Century Italian Renaissance Sculptures of the Madonna

A Survey of 15th Century Italian Renaissance Sculptures of the Madonna Talk of Madonnas of the Renaissance, especially Italian ones, and one almost instinctually turns one's thoughts to the realm of painting, especially to the works of artists like Botticelli, Raphael, Da Vinci and so on. However, another whole realm in this regard is that…

A Review of More Sacred Vestments in Sacred Art

A Review of More Sacred Vestments in Sacred Art Continuing on with our exploration of some of the sacred vestments that appear in sacred art, we've compiled a few more since our last article on this subject. In looking at vestments in art, one must always bear in mind that generally where antique art is concerned, th…

The Custom of Vesting the Patronal Statue at San Remigio-Fosdinovo in Tuscany

The Custom of Vesting the Patronal Statue at San Remigio-Fosdinovo in Tuscany Each year at the parish of San Remigio in the village of Fosdinovo in Tuscany has two celebrations to commemorate the memory of their patron, St. Remigio (St. Remigius). January 13 is the main feast day and October 1st is the day that recalls the translation of his relics. …

Arte Ricami: Purveyors of Custom Vestments

Arte Ricami: Purveyors of Custom Vestments We are living in an impressive age of liturgical Renaissance, when many lay people are mastering or remastering the art of artisanal vestment making. The Italian atelier Arte Ricami based in Tuscany has been around since 1932. They are a family owned and operated business lo…

Altar of Pius X at Madri Pie Convent in Rome

Altar of Pius X at Madri Pie Convent in Rome Many convents in the vicinity of the Vatican have various items given to them by popes. Popes receive a great many gifts and they usually pass these on to others in need. These once vibrant orders, before the collapse that coincided with Vatican II, were flush with young vo…

Portable Altars from St. Joseph's Apprentice

Portable Altars from St. Joseph's Apprentice Many thanks to St. Jospeh's Apprentice for their wonderful work. Based in Idaho, this professional craftsman by the name of Rick Murphey makes the most beautiful custom portable altars available today. His work must be commended. I urge the faithful to consider gifting…

The Sixteenth Century Vestments of San Lorenzo de el Escorial

The Sixteenth Century Vestments of San Lorenzo de el Escorial In follow-up to yesterday's article, I wanted to show our readers a set of sacred vestments that our friend Nicola de Grandi documented while visiting the museums of Spain; a set of vestments from San Lorenzo de el Escorial which are dated to 1569-1572. Regrettably, I ha…

The Pontifical Vestments of the Royal Embroiderer, Antonio GĂłmez de los RĂ­os

The Pontifical Vestments of the Royal Embroiderer, Antonio GĂłmez de los RĂ­os Between 1743-1756, the royal embroiderer Antonio GĂłmez de los RĂ­os created a full pontifical set of vestments for the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Madrid. These exquisite vestments contain a series of embroideries done in the effusive baroque style that were based on a num…

A Florentine Altar Cross from the Early 1500's

A Florentine Altar Cross from the Early 1500's It has been my experience that liturgical objects such as altar crosses and candlesticks (not to mention thuribles) seldom get the attention they deserve where popular consideration of liturgical art is concerned. Perhaps in part this is due to the fact that they are locate…

The Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage in Quebec

The Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage in Quebec Last year marks the 20th anniversary of the wonderful Marie Reine du Canada walking pilgrimage in Quebec. God bless and reward the dedicated and zealous organizers and volunteers who work hard every year to make this wonderful pilgrimage a reality. It is rare to have such a…

A Fifteenth Century English Cope

A Fifteenth Century English Cope This particular cope which we are looking at today comes from fifteenth century England. It's design represents a more classically medieval approach than a renaissance one, perhaps indicative of the fact that there would be an inevitable delay in fashions and styles spr…

Sacred Music Released by St. Joseph's College Seminary (Diocese of Charlotte)

Sacred Music Released by St. Joseph's College Seminary (Diocese of Charlotte) The wonderful St. Joseph's College Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina has released two of their own CDs with chants and motets. The recordings were made at the nearby church of St. Anne, with the seminarians singing along with the Daughters of the Virgin Mother, a lo…

The Terno of Cardinal Cisneros

The Terno of Cardinal Cisneros Dated to the 1500's, the so-called "Terno of Cardinal Cisneros" is considered an important period example of the embroidery and textiles of the period. First a bit about the name. In speaking of the "Terno" of Cardinal Cisneros, I include that term f…

First Millennium Liturgical Architecture: The Synthronon

First Millennium Liturgical Architecture: The Synthronon An element of early Christian (and especially Byzantine/Eastern Roman influenced) ecclesiastical architecture is the tiered, semi-circular structure located in the apsidal space of the sanctuary/presbytery know as the synthronon . Invariably questions arise about what it is …

Understanding the Liturgical Ordering of San Clemente and Santa Maria in Cosmedin

Understanding the Liturgical Ordering of San Clemente and Santa Maria in Cosmedin Sometimes when people see certain basilicas in Rome, basilicas such as San Clemente, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, or the ancient catacomb basilica of Ss. Nereus and Achilleus (see above), they are rather mystified by the liturgical orderings they see before them. To many a Cath…

The Mantum of Clement XIII and Cope of John Paul II

The Mantum of Clement XIII and Cope of John Paul II A lesser seen photo of Pope John Paul II shows him celebrating Solemn Vespers at the papal basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome in 1985 on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and in the presence of Rome's popular devotional image, the Madonna  Salus P…

The Banners of the Vatican Basilica by Panini

The Banners of the Vatican Basilica by Panini My personal favorite oil on canvas painting at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is called the "Interior of Saint Peter's, Rome" by Giovanni Paolo Panini. This lovely images dates from 1754 . The artist was born in 1691 in Piacenza and died in 17…

Sacra Domus Aurea's Bespoke Silk Inspired by the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Sacra Domus Aurea's Bespoke Silk Inspired by the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe One of the more ambitious and creative projects that I have seen in recent years is a project pursued by the vestment atelier Sacra Domus Aurea who are based in Italy.  We have featured this atelier before of course, but what is of particular interest in this instance is on…

The Church of the Holy Apostles in Athens: Exploring More Architectural Commonalities Between East and West

The Church of the Holy Apostles in Athens: Exploring More Architectural Commonalities Between East and West In another article published in September 2023, we looked at the church of Hosios Loukas in Distomo, Greece and discussed some of the strong similarities that can be found in Byzantine (i.e. Eastern Roman) churches of the first millennium with their comparable Western Roman…

Before and After: Holy Innocents in Long Beach, California

Before and After: Holy Innocents in Long Beach, California Harrison Design recently completed a major renovation of a Spanish Mission Revival church in Long Beach, California. In an all too familiar story, the church had been drastically remodelled in the 1970's and 1980's and, regrettably, there is no known documentation o…

Hand-Illuminated Altar Cards for the 25th Anniversary of the Founding of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius

Hand-Illuminated Altar Cards for the 25th Anniversary of the Founding of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius Recently, Pelican Printery House executed a commission for the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago for a set of hand-illuminated altar cards for use in the celebration of the  usus antiquior , or Tridentine Latin Mass.  Now, we have featured  similar work from this e…

Altar Frontals from Penson Ecclesiastlcal Arts

Altar Frontals from Penson Ecclesiastlcal Arts Frequently LAJ is approached about the question of procuring altar frontals (i.e. antependia) for their altar and so today I wanted to introduce our readers to Penson Ecclesiastical Arts , a firm which is based out of the United Kingdom (a place which retains a particularly …

The Twentieth Century Experiment: Placing a Gothic Y-Orphrey on a Roman Chasuble

The Twentieth Century Experiment: Placing a Gothic Y-Orphrey on a Roman Chasuble Think of the "classic" y-orphrey and one's mind naturally tends toward gothic vestments -- specifically gothic revival vestments (for while the y-orphrey could be found in the actual gothic period, it was by no means universal or absolute; many other orphrey p…

Romanesque Revival in the Holy Land: Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth

Romanesque Revival in the Holy Land: Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth One of my favorite places to visit in the Holy Land is St. Joseph's church located a minute's walk from the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Situated up a hill in the Old City of Nazareth, this beautiful little church is under the care of the Franciscans. …

Liturgical Sandals from French Canada

Liturgical Sandals from French Canada Pontifical sandals are special liturgical footwear traditionally worn by prelates. As we detailed in our July 2018 article, Pontifical Sandals; A Brief History and Consideration , their liturgical use is quite ancient. As an example, in this fifth century mosaic found in the…

The Fifteenth Century Chasuble of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza

The Fifteenth Century Chasuble of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza lived from 1428-1495, having been appointed the Cardinal Archbishop of Seville in the year 1473. The cardinal was a statesman, lawyer and the chancellor of Castille -- and, of interest perhaps to our American readers, a great advocate of t…

On Balustrades (Cancelli), Rood Screens and Iconostases

On Balustrades (Cancelli), Rood Screens and Iconostases If one looks at the historical churches of the East and West, a distinctive feature that at one time could be commonly found in many of them (especially the larger churches) was the separation of the altar and presbytery (i.e. sanctuary) from the rest of the church. This wa…

Splendours of Renaissance Spain

Splendours of Renaissance Spain Continuing on with our exploration of Renaissance era vestment work, today I wanted to turn your attention to two vestment sets coming from Spain and the Spanish tradition.  First, let's discuss what is common between the two sets.   In the first instance, both sets util…

Vestments from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Madrid

Vestments from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Madrid The following are some photos of vestments coming from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Madrid, Santa Maria la Real de la Aldmudena . The first set he photographed is a Solemn Mass set inclusive of antependium, with the typical Spanish styled chasuble and dalmatic/tunicle (and …

The Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome

The Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome One could be forgiven if they happened to walk past the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome and failed to notice it was even a church. This is in large part due to its rather distinctive, two storey portico -- not to mention the fact that there is not much of a street view …

Before and After: Immaculate Conception in Rapid City, South Dakota

Before and After: Immaculate Conception in Rapid City, South Dakota On August 20th the newly restored altar and sanctuary of Immaculate Conception in Rapid City were unveiled. We have written on this beautiful church before in a previous article . This precious diamond is the historic former cathedral of Rapid City. It is heartening to see t…