While not as easily or frequently found as in the past, old world quality and craftsmanship driven by devotion, is not lacking today in North America. There are hidden gems, studios and firms of traditional Catholic art of various forms, remaining practically unknown. Somet…
Details in Design: Affordable, High-Quality Traditional Linens
While not as easily or frequently found as in the past, old world quality and craftsmanship driven by devotion, is not lacking today in North America. There are hidden gems, studios and firms of traditional Catholic art of various forms, remaining practically unknown. Somet…
Ferdinand Stuflesser 1875 Showcase
I wanted to play a bit of 'catch up' and showcase some of the fine woodcarving of Ferdinand Stuflesser 1875 whom we have featured before. Let's dive right into it with a few comments interspersed here and there throughout. (And to highlight the point once agai…
Pontifical Buskins: A Brief History and Consideration
Since we have already covered off pontifical sandals and gloves, I thought it would be fitting to mention a closely related and equally lesser known bit of vesture: buskins -- or caligae in Latin. Buskins are essentially a liturgical form of "stocking" that is wo…
16th Century Requiem Vestments from the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo, Madrid
A set of vestments came to my attention by way of LAJ's clerical dress forum that begged for more attention as an article here on the main site -- being an exquisite work of craftsmanship. Admittedly the word "exquisite" can be all too easily tossed around a…
London's Rosary Shrine Vestments
In 1867 work began in north London on the fourth Blackfriars (as the Dominicans and their priories came to be called in England) in London. The Dominicans had first arrived in 1221 and, after an interruption, returned to the city in 1861. The new church was built on an amb…
Carthusian Nuns and the Use of the Maniple and Stole
Continuing our look at some of the vestural customs and items to be found in the Church, there is a rather unique custom for Carthusian nuns relating to the occasional use of the stole and maniple -- the latter worn on the right arm, instead of the left as is the case with…
Medieval Commentary Continued: The Episcopal Garments
On Thursday, we saw the Gemma Animae's commentary on the priestly vestments. Today we look at the bishop's vestments, following up on several other posts last week on pontifical sandals and gloves .
If the seven priestly vestments signified the perfection of priestl…
Fashion and Redemption: A Catholic Vision
The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, is a cultural moment of artistic relevance that begs reflection: Why so much effort to showcase the Catholic influence on fashion, as inspired primarily by liturgical garments?
M…
Aesthetics of the Cross in Medieval Commentary
One of the goals of LAJ is to showcase the breathtaking beauty of Catholic liturgical culture. From the general reaction to the stunning images that are shared on LAJ's Facebook page (which, at the time this was written, has over 11,000 followers), it is clear that thi…
Early Christian Basilica Architecture: Santa Maria Assunta
One of my favourite basilicas is not found in Rome but rather in the north-eastern part of Italy on the small island of Torcello; small in size and population but large in its pedigree, having been the seat of a bishop by 638 A.D.\. The corresponding cathedral basilica of …
Pontifical Gloves: A Brief History and Consideration
Continuing on with our consideration of the traditional pontifical vestments of the Latin rite, we last considered pontifical sandalia (sandals) and I would now like to turn your attention to pontifical gloves -- or what are called chirothecae in the rubrics. This particul…
Back to Baroque, Martin Travers and St Swithun, Compton Beauchamp
Anglican ritualism, a movement that began in the middle of the nineteenth century, can be difficult to understand particularly for those who are not members of the Church of England. It it wasn't a single movement at all, but developed in a series of waves and by the s…
Symbolic Offerings of the Solemn Papal Mass of Canonization
These are objects you don't see everyday and you would have been hard pressed to have seen them even prior to the Council. These objects were used during the Offertory as symbolic offerings made in the canonization Mass (typically a Solemn Papal Mass) when new saints w…
Pontifical Sandals: A Brief History and Consideration
Pontifical sandals, also called "sandalia" or "compagi," are a topic of long interest to me. While the subject of liturgical footwear might seem somewhat arcane, what it really amounts to is that it is part of the full liturgical 'armour' of the…
Other Modern: The Bishop's Chapel, Trieste
Every once in awhile you come across an example that typifies something almost perfectly. Many times the question is asked, "what is 'other modern' exactly?" The best way to summarize it is that Other Modern is a form of art and/or architecture which, whi…
The Art of the Habit: Three North American examples
Religious habits have often drawn inspiration from local forms of dress and even occasionally ephemeral ones. Here I'd like to look at three communities of women religious founded in North America, all founded under different circumstances and with different charisms, …
Sir Ninian Comper and Our Lady of Egmanton
The tiny village of Egmanton in Nottinghamshire lies a couple miles from the route of the Great North Road, a major thoroughfare that in medieval times linked London to York. The medieval parish church in the village is primarily of the fourteenth century and is dedicated…
Three Other Modern Vestments from Holland
For the past while I have been hanging on to some images of vestments which come from Northern Europe in the mid-20th century, coming out of the aspirations of the Liturgical Movement. As you will know, one of the revivals of that particular time was related to the earlier…
Reclaiming the Cloistral Hush of the Sacristy and Sacristy Ceremonial
Those seeking to create a more reverent and prayerful approach to the sacred liturgy often give great focus to the liturgy itself but a reverent and prayerful liturgy doesn't begin with the ringing of the bell at the beginning of Mass; it begins in the pews and in the …
