Back in September of 2018 we showed our readers a curious Marian chasuble that had a similar, rustic, folksy character to the example we are showing to you today. Not unlike that previous example, I regrettably have very little in the way of solid information to offer other…
Another Curiosity
Back in September of 2018 we showed our readers a curious Marian chasuble that had a similar, rustic, folksy character to the example we are showing to you today. Not unlike that previous example, I regrettably have very little in the way of solid information to offer other…
Chasubles of Seven Italian Cardinals of the Eighteenth Century
If you want to see some of the finest embroidery work of the 18th century, you need only search out the chasubles of Italian cardinals from that period. Due to their particular rank in relation to the particular solemnity of the rites they would have celebrated in important…
The Art of Altar Missals: Example from Canada
Many young priests today are interested in new designs for altar missals -- for understandable reasons. Unfortunately, modern stock altar missals for the modern rite cultivate long-dormant styles of the sixties that are today seen as dated lapses of judgment, time warps tha…
A Brief Tutorial on the Main Vestments by Type of Mass
A reader recently contacted us here at LAJ and suggested that it might be very helpful to provide some basic beginner tutorials on things such as the different vestments that are used in the Low Mass versus the Solemn Mass and so on. As many are newly discovering these trad…
The Importance of Customs and Traditions
While the feast of St. Wenceslas takes place in September, the name is for many in the English speaking world indelibly connected with the season of Christmas because of the Christmas Carol, Good King Wenceslaus , written by one of Cardinal Newman's Oxford Movement confr…
A Spanish Penitential Cope from 1438
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is currently displaying a Spanish cope that they date to 1438. The cope originally came from the treasury of the cathedral of Burgos and is now part of the Cloisters collection in New York City. The cope is made of a deep blue silk and embro…
A Roman Pianeta Fit For a Dominican
In keeping with the liturgical moment, we recently featured a rose set around Gaudete Sunday and as these last days of Advent now slip quickly away we turn our eyes toward the solemn and festive colours of Christmas. It's interesting to note that in traditions such as …
Holy Oil Set from a Cathedral Ambry
Holy oil ampullae urns are a rare sight, generally kept under lock and key and seen only in cathedral sacristies. This fine example is a historical silver set from the treasury of the Cathedral of Vancouver, British Columbia. It has been in continual use for generations. …
Virgo Sacrario – The Marian Tabernacle of the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca
The traditional
advent hymn Creator Alme Siderum sings the following verse: E Virginis
sacrario | Intacta prodis victima. Proceeding
from a virgin shrine | The spotless victim all divine. A beautiful
expression that helps us contemplate the Maternity of Mary, and indeed her …
New Painted Works of St. Scholastica and St. Benedict
Touching back once again to some new, original painted work, I have been meaning to feature two paintings that were executed by the studio of Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs of saints Benedict and Scholastica which were destined for use within a monastery altarpiece. Both works app…
Before and After: St. Augustine's Cathedral in Kalamazoo, Michigan
St. Augustine's Cathedral in Kalamazoo, Michigan, working in collaboration with the architectural firm of Duncan Stroik , recently completed the first phase of a renovation of that cathedral with the re-consecration/dedication of the cathedral taking place this past Gaud…
A New Solemn Rose Set for St. John Cantius
Recently the folks at Altarworthy, a vestment making firm located on the American West Coast, shared with LAJ a rose set they made for the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago. The set includes the usual pieces required for a Solemn Mass in the usus antiquior, as w…
St. Charles Borromeo's Instructions on the Form of the High Altar
While much has been made in recent years of the Borromean instructions around the shape of the chasuble, many may not be aware that St. Charles gave instructions for basically everything ecclesiastical in his Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis of 1577 (which was also t…
Before and After: Blessed Sacrament in Lawton, Oklahoma
Continuing on with our 'Before and After' series, we turn today to another parish, Blessed Sacrament in Lawton, Oklahoma . They say that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade and the parish in question was able to take advantage of the restrictions on public …
St. Michael's Shrine of the True Cross in Torresdale, Pennsylvania
Browsing through a 1934 issue of Liturgical Arts Quarterly (LAQ), I recently came across an article on the subject of St. Michael's Chapel in Torresdale, Pennsylvania. The architecture immediately caught my attention as a project of interest both to me and likely to our…
Requiem Mass Altar Cards
A unique liturgical item worth a quick mention is this beautiful set of antique French Requiem Mass altar cards in Neo-Classical style seen in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is a rare sight, indeed, something not always seen. Although altar cards came into widespread u…
Some Cerulean Blue Vestments from Italy
Recently I touched on the matter of European inventories of blue coloured vestments and I noted that to automatically associate them as being "Marian" in intent would be a mistake -- as historically, blue and bluish purples were classed under the categorization of…
Before and After: St. Mary's in Fennimore, Wisconsin
C onrad Schmitt Studios pursued this renovation/restoration project a few years ago and it is well worth featuring. The church in question is St. Mary's located in Fennimore, Wisconsin. It is the typical and all too familiar story of some of the mid-20th century ideologi…
An Original Painted Triptych from the Studio of ALBL Oberammergau
Original painted works of liturgical art are not something we seem to have the opportunity to feature very often, so we were particularly happy to be able to feature the following triptych that recently came out of the studios of ALBL Oberammergau in Germany. From their sit…
A Fifteenth Century Solemn Mass Set Gifted by the Future Pope Julius II
Today I am pleased to share the following solemn Mass set dated to 1475-1499 which is found on a blue velvet with a gold brocaded pattern of grapes and grapevines. The set in question was donated by then Cardinal Guiliano della Rovere who would eventually go on to become Po…
Classic, Simple, Elegant Romanitas in New Vestment Work
I wanted to take a moment to highlight a design which strikes me as particularly Roman in everything from its cut to its colour, to its galloons and to its crosses. The cut is, as I say, classically Roman in the way it hangs, particularly in the way it drapes over the shoul…
New Romanesque Tabernacle and Sanctuary Lamp by Granda Liturgical Arts
Some of our readers might already be familiar with the project of the new Premonstratensian Abbey being constructed in Silverado, California. The Norbertine fathers of St Michael’s Abbey have outgrown their present facilities, founded in 1961 by members of the order exiled …
The Use (Or Not) of Lace in Penitential Times
Frequently when penitential seasons roll around (or, for that matter, when a requiem happens) if clerics are seen wearing a lace alb the argument is made that lace is not supposed to be worn in times of penance or mourning. (The implication being, it would seem, that lace i…
Three Roman Altars and Ciboria with their Pre-Conciliar Altar Ornaments
Today seemed like a good day for a lighter post showing three classic Roman churches that include the ciborium magnum . What is slightly different about these photos -- compared to the myriad of contemporary colour photos in high resolution that are available online -- is th…
Interplay of Art and Architecture at St. Joseph's in Macon, Georgia
We are very accustomed to thinking of ecclesiastical art in rather compartmentalized terms. While this not hard and fast, we tend to think of altars as one distinct piece of art and the art and design which surrounds it as another. Certainly we understand there is a cumulat…
Some Fifteenth Century Chasubles
As chasubles from the fifteenth century and earlier are relatively rare (all things considered) we haven't shown a very great deal of them, so today I thought we would take a look at some from the fifteenth century specifically. It is worth noting that many of these wil…
Variations in Season of Advent in the Western Liturgical Tradition
This coming weekend will see the beginning of Advent in the Roman rite, however, while this is true for many, it is not so for all. The key is that we are speaking here of the Roman liturgical calendar and this time of the year provides a very visible opportunity to remind …
Christus Vincit! Music for the feast of Christ the King (Part 2 of 2)
Guest Article by Thomas Neal
In Part 1 , I examined how the texts of the Proper of the Mass on the newly instituted feast of Christ the King were incorporated into the Gregorian repertory. In the second part, I would like to explore how this comparatively modern feast has pr…
The History and Symbolism of the Pope's Red Shoes
It is well enough known that when Benedict XVI rose to the papal office one of the tasks he set about was attempting to show continuity with his predecessors -- and not just his immediate post-conciliar predecessors -- by, amongst other things, restoring elements of traditi…
American Thanksgiving: Catholic Devotion and Liturgy
Even for someone resoundingly in favor of American Thanksgiving and obscure local Mass propers, there is much to emphatically agree with in Michael P. Foley’s piece, Thanksgiving Day Mass: Thanks or No Thanks . We all understand that the holiday’s main purpose is to give tha…
The Sedlec Ossuary Chapel in the Czech Republic
The Sedlec ossuary in the Czech Republic is a located beneath (fittingly I think) All Saints chapel in the Czech Republic. The chapel is located within a cemetery that was formerly part of the Cistercian abbey of Sedlec. Ossuary chapels -- or what are sometimes colloquially…
Vestments: Varieties of Viridi (Green)
In a previous article we spoke about the pastel shades that were often seen in the eighteenth century vestment work and in other articles we have have discussed variants on the liturgical colour rose. Today I thought we would expand our considerations in this regard to look…
A Prelate's Embroidered Lace Alb from the Late 1600's
It is not very often that we have featured albs here specifically -- though perhaps this is something of an oversight on our part. The last time we did we featured the medieval albs of St. Francis of Assisi and Pope Boniface VIII . This time around we have something distinc…
An English Chasuble of the Sixteenth Century
Many of our readers are interested in the historical development of vestments and so when I saw this recently, I thought it might be worth sharing. The chasuble in question is kept at St. John's Seminary in Wonersh, UK, and it has been dated to the 16th century in its p…
San Pietro ad Oratorium in Capestrano
The classic form of the early Christian basilica has always remained one of my very favourites and so the church of San Pietro ad Oratorium caught my attention recently. The church is located in Capestrano in south-central Italy and while the ravages of time have taken thei…
Book Review: "With Latin in the Service of the Popes" The Memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885-1971)
Just in time for Christmas! This is one of the most delightful little books I have had the pleasure to read - the memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci, recently published by Arouca Press . This gem is a title that should be on every Catholic bookshelf. With Latin in the Ser…
