In contemporary English usage, if you speak of a church "lectern" what typically comes to mind for many is a rather simple podium like structure, but if you look at the collegiate, monastic and cathedral churches of England, France and Italy (for example) you will…
The Lutrin (or Lectern)
In contemporary English usage, if you speak of a church "lectern" what typically comes to mind for many is a rather simple podium like structure, but if you look at the collegiate, monastic and cathedral churches of England, France and Italy (for example) you will…
Sacristy Tips: "Every Jot and Tittle" (Or On the Colour of Missal Ribbons and Liturgical Time)
One of the smaller details that many may not have noticed about altar missals are that the ribbon markers that are included within them are frequently coloured to the match the colours of the liturgical season or day. Whether it's the smaller Requiem Mass missal with it…
Two Contemporary Hand Illuminated Liturgical Books from the English Benedictines
Ever since the invention of Gutenberg's printing press in the mid fifteenth century, hand illuminated books have become more and more rare. While medieval manuscripts are those which most of us find ourselves thinking about when considering such books, there are some mo…
Two Embroidered Mitres by the Poor Clares of Mazamet, France
As part of our final considerations of the embroidery work of the Poor Clares of Mazamet, France, I'd like to turn our readers considerations toward some of the mitres they produced. These mitres are characterized by a great depth and richness of colour and fall within…
Further Embroidery of the Poor Clares of Mazamet, France: The Chasuble of L'Arbre Franciscain
Continuing on with some of our considerations of the vestment work of the Poor Clares of Mazamet, France, I thought to include these in our previous article, but to my mind these are not examples of "Other Modern." This particular vestment set is known as the L&#…
Other Modern Work of the Poor Clares of Mazamet, France
The Poor Clares of Mazamet, France, are perhaps best known for a chasuble they embroidered for Pope Pius XI (one which is frequently mistook for a gothic chasuble because of the orphrey design upon it). However these good sisters produced much more than this chasuble alone.…
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily
The Duomo of Monreale is located in Palermo, Sicily and is surely one of the most striking examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture in existence. It was built under the ausipces of the Normans in the latter half of the twelfth century. (And, perhaps not well known, is that …
An Altar of the Dead from 1695
As a followup to yesterday's post, as well as to our post on ossuary chapels, I recently came across the following "Altare dei Morti" -- an altar of the dead. It is, yet again, a reminder that memento mori are a perfectly natural and traditional aspect of Cath…
Some Italian Antependia from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Today I wanted to share some Italian antependia dated to the period of 1650-1729. The first is dated to the first quarter of the 18th century. This particular frontal is characterized by its exquisitely subtle colourings which includes a central medallion of St. Christopher…
St. François de Laval and the Grand Séminaire of Quebec, Canada
Speaking at a dinner in his honour at the Windsor Hotel in Montréal in 1881, the writer Samuel L. Clemens, better known to the world as Mark Twain, famously commented that "this is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breakin…
The Golden Chamber of St. Ursula's Basilica in Cologne
The Basilica of St. Ursula (Sankt Ursula) in Cologne, Germany is built over an old Roman cemetery where many virgins were said to have been buried, and within the basilica is the "Goldene Kammer" (Golden Chamber), an impressive reliquary and ossuary chapel where t…
A Brief Consideration On the Diverse Shapes of Chasubles
By way of quick reflection, anyone who has followed liturgical art particularly since the advent of the twentieth century Liturgical Movement will know that one of the fixations that tends to plague some within the English speaking world is the matter of chasuble shapes. Th…
Summorum Pontificum and the Flourishing of the Liturgical Arts
Pope Benedict's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, has mainly been thought of in terms of the benefits that this legal epiphany provided for these liturgical rites and how it positively impacted communities and individual Catholics attached to the same. While this is pe…
Tela Aurea: A Cloth of Gold Set from the First Half of the Eighteenth Century
Many of our readers will have heard tell of "cloth of gold" ( tela aurea ) vestments but may not have ever had the opportunity to see them. Cloth of gold is essentially a fabric made of spun gold that has been wrapped around another textile at its core. Its main use…
St. John Henry (Cardinal) Newman on Ecclesiastical Ceremonies
It had been somewhat fashionable in the later half of the twentieth century to diminish the importance of the Church's ceremonial life. Indeed, it almost become a badge of honour as an early form of virtue-signalling to demonstrate one's more "mature" fait…
Sixteenth Century Spanish Vestments from Granada Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Incarnation in Granada (or what is fully known as the Catedral de Granada, Santa Iglesia Metropolitana de la Encarnacion ) located in the Andalusian region of Spain, has shared an impressive display of their ornaments coming from the 16th century. For th…
The Ceremonial Vesting of a Prelate in East and West
One of the aspects of the liturgical tradition of the usus antiquior that strikes many new observers to the traditional rites are the ceremonies that accompany the vesting of a prelate. While these are sometimes done within the privacy of the sacristy or separate chapel, o…
Floriated French Vestments of the Seventeenth Century
When many contemplate French vestments they are typically limiting their vision to one of two style families. The first are the vestments of the later half of the 19th and early 20th century -- vestments made of silks and velvets, often with a "Parisian" shaped cr…
The Bejewelled Roman Catacomb Saints of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Many will be familiar with the usual presentation of relics that are found in so many of our churches. They generally come in the form of a small piece of bone (or otherwise) and these in turn are frequently displayed in ostensory-like shaped reliquaries, or sometimes in th…
Notes on the Archeology, Relics and Early Roman Christian Devotion to Ss. Peter and Paul
It is well enough known that excavations undertaken under St. Peter's Basilica in the mid 20th century revealed the tomb and relics of St. Peter himself, just where tradition proclaimed them to be. It may be less known that a similar process was undertaken in relation t…
The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna - Including Some Rare Views of the Previous Baroque High Altar
Recently, our friend and colleague, Nicola de Grandi, a native son of Milan, published some excellent photos of a trip he took to San Vitale in Ravenna -- one of the most stunning extant examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture in existence. The church dates to the sixth ce…
Giovan Domenico Vinaccia and the Reliquaries of the Cappella Ravaschieri in Naples
The Cappella Ravaschieri situated in the church of Gesù Nuovo in Naples includes an extremely impressive display of relics and reliquaries -- reminiscent, at first glance, to an ossuary chapel. The relics are contained in the lispanotheca designed by Giovan Domenico Vinacci…
In Memoriam: Architect Thomas Gordon Smith
There are a handful of names in the domain of contemporary architecture that have come to be well known for their classical and traditional approaches to ecclesiastical architecture. One of those names, regrettably for all of us, recently died and his name will no doubt be …
Repositorium Sanctae Eucharistiae - Historical Modes of Eucharistic Reservation: The Hanging Pyx
Continuing on with our considerations of historical modes of reserving the Eucharist, in a previous artcile we considered the sacrament tower and today we turn our attention to the hanging pyx. The hanging pyx is a suspended form of tabernacle for the Blessed Sacrament. Arc…
Private Chapels: A Family Chapel in Italy
The following text was written by a friend of mine in Italy many years ago (a member of the family in question) and, given the focus on the broad spectrum of the liturgical arts found within this chapel as well as our readers interests in private chapels more generally, it …
Liturgical Arts in North Dakota (Diocese of Bismarck)
Christian liturgy is rightly seen as possessing a celebratory and artistic character. For this reason it is a real treat to see beauty returning to the rites, even in small pockets of the world in rural locations. It was a privilege to visit this little country parish for…
Fresco of the Nativity of Mary by Manuel Farrugia for the Senglease Basilica
The work of the Maltese artist, Manuel Farrugia, is something we have featured here before, beginning with his Ecstasy of St. Teresa and more recently The Glory of St. Dominic . Today we are pleased to be able to present another project which he has worked on for the Basili…
A Maundy Thursday Chasuble by the Dominican Sisters of Galway
The following chasuble was embroidered by the Dominican Sisters located in Galway, Ireland, however beyond that basic detail I have very little additional information -- so our readers will perhaps permit me to speculate on it a bit. Much in the style and design of the chas…
Repositorium Sanctae Eucharistiae - Historical Modes of Eucharistic Reservation: The Sacrament Tower
Throughout the course of history there has been more than one method of reserving the Eucharist. In our own time we are especially familiar with the model of a metal or stone tabernacle being integrated onto an altar or altar like structure -- whether a central high altar, …
The Roman Empire and the Early Roman Martyrs
At this time of the year I find my mind turns toward the Roman martyrs. This is no doubt for reason of anticipation of the great feast of Ss. Peter and Paul -- both of whom were martyred in Rome of course. In view of this, I thought it might be worthwhile to share some br…
