Sartorial Splendor: Stupendous Stoles
The next installment in the AI's series, Sartorial Splendor, brings you, my dedicated and faithful readers, a bit about stoles!
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Stupendous Stoles
Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love Roman napkins
Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love Roman napkins
There is a great deal of contradictory information floating around about the stole, but the AI has done its valiant best to sift through it and seperate the wheat from the chaff.
The word "stole" does not, in fact, come from the latin word "stola." The term stola (from whence we get "stole") does not appear in liturgical documents to describe this specific vesture until the 9th century. Prior to the 9th century, the term for what we now know as the stole was the "orarium" or "orarion." Additionally, the use of the term "stola" was originally in conjunction with the white garment assumed by the candidates on Easter.
There is additionally a misconception that the stole derives from a piece of clothing used in classical Rome as a sort of "napkin." While the maniple was derived from a form of practical use (to be discussed in a later entry), the stole's origin is probably not from this. Instead, we see the Theodosian Codex of 395 making it mandatory for a scarf or pall to be worn by senators and consuls to show their authority and rank. This is a likely source for both the stole and the pallium, as they both denote authority.
On the other hand, the history of the stole is a bit murky overall, so it is difficult to pinpoint an exact place or origin for the vestment itself. Evidence for the use of the stole appears in Spain and Gaul (France) by the sixth and seventh centuries and the Council of Toledo in 633 the "orarium" (i.e. stole) is referred to as one of the ensigns given to priests, deacons and bishops at their ordination.
Calling the stole the "orarium" began to fade in the 9th century. The term "stola" itself is of Gallic, not Roman origin, and it is in France/Gaul that we see the term first employed instead of orarium. From there it spread to England, but the term "orarium" was still in use in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries (old habits die hard). However, by the end of the 13th century the term "stola" had universally replaced "orarium" as the proper and accepted term for what we now call the stole.
The stole itself is a symbol of authority- this supports the Theodosian origin theory and is evidenced by such early Church decrees as the aforementioned Council of Toledo. Some sources also refer to the stole as a "yoke of Christ" or "yoke of service," but these two definitions are not necessarily exclusive of each other.
The stole is worn around the neck, as pictured above (sort of). For deacons, the stole is worn over the neck but looped on the left. Bishops wear the stole straight down, in the manner pictured above. Before Vatican II, priests crossed their stoles in front of them and only bishops wore them straight down. Priests may now, however, wear stoles straight down. The practice of crossing the stole has not been officially suppressed, but it is not very common anymore. (On an interesting side note: representations of Christ as High Priest will often feature Him wearing a stole, but His stole is always crossed in front, symbolizing a priest and not a bishop. This is because Christ's authority is not temporal and jurisdictional, as a bishop's is.)
With regards to the ornamentation of the stole, it is traditional practice now that the stole and chasuble both match. In the middle ages, this was not necessarily the case and stoles (as well as maniples and other various bits) did not always match the chasuble (although stoles and maniples would have matched each other if they didn't match the chasuble). Vesture ornamentation reached something of a glorious high-point during the middle ages and, as with the rest of society it seems, everything was downhill from there.
The almost over-the-top decoration that medievalists employed on vestments declined somewhat with the unfortunate passing of that age and, following Vatican II, reached a new low. A simple Google Image search for "stole" will reveal an array of liturgical abortions that should never, never be worn.
Anyway, the stole is traditionally as pictured above, a narrow band of a single width, but many old stoles grow wider towards the bottom and end in a kind of trapezoidal thingy with tassles. Decoration can come in a variety of forms, though the only real restriction is that there must be a cross in the middle of it, where the priest kisses the stole before putting it on.
Overlay stoles, that is, stoles that lay on top of the chasuble, are hideous, liturgical aberrations that are not (or, at the very least, should not) be allowed.
Interestingly, the pope is the only one who can wear a stole whenever he pleases (hey, he's the pope). A stole worn in this manner must be red (the pope's color) and is the "stole of State."
And, for a final and totally irrelevant (but interesting) tidbit (courtesy of my roommate, who insisted I not quote him), there used to be, among military chaplains, chasubles of four different colors on one side and black on the inside. This allowed for a fun, reversible chasuble, usable for most any liturgical day. The different colors allowed Mass to be said during different seasons and meant that they didn't have to cart around loads of different vestments and black was used for funerals. In such a case, the priest would simply need different colored stoles to match the appropriate daily color. This practice was suppressed like woah and is no longer in use. (The term "suppressed like woah" is an official Vatican term, thank you very much and means "suppressed in a big way," i.e. never do this. Woah has its origins in the latin term Woahus (woahus, woaha, woahum) and in official Vatican documents the ablative of woah is quite common.)
That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed this installment of AI's Sartorial Splendor. Tune in tomorrow, when we'll be having another installment.
Other upcoming events on the American Inquisition: What Not to Wear- Ecclesiastics! will be coming. It will serve as the capstone post for the Sartorial Splendor series and will feature the American Inquisitor himself detailing the Do's and Dont's of vestments for the modern-day parish priest. ;-)
~
Saint Polycarp, pray for us!
Saint Veronica, pray for us!
Our Lady, Queen of Angels, pray for us!
The word "stole" does not, in fact, come from the latin word "stola." The term stola (from whence we get "stole") does not appear in liturgical documents to describe this specific vesture until the 9th century. Prior to the 9th century, the term for what we now know as the stole was the "orarium" or "orarion." Additionally, the use of the term "stola" was originally in conjunction with the white garment assumed by the candidates on Easter.
There is additionally a misconception that the stole derives from a piece of clothing used in classical Rome as a sort of "napkin." While the maniple was derived from a form of practical use (to be discussed in a later entry), the stole's origin is probably not from this. Instead, we see the Theodosian Codex of 395 making it mandatory for a scarf or pall to be worn by senators and consuls to show their authority and rank. This is a likely source for both the stole and the pallium, as they both denote authority.
On the other hand, the history of the stole is a bit murky overall, so it is difficult to pinpoint an exact place or origin for the vestment itself. Evidence for the use of the stole appears in Spain and Gaul (France) by the sixth and seventh centuries and the Council of Toledo in 633 the "orarium" (i.e. stole) is referred to as one of the ensigns given to priests, deacons and bishops at their ordination.
Calling the stole the "orarium" began to fade in the 9th century. The term "stola" itself is of Gallic, not Roman origin, and it is in France/Gaul that we see the term first employed instead of orarium. From there it spread to England, but the term "orarium" was still in use in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries (old habits die hard). However, by the end of the 13th century the term "stola" had universally replaced "orarium" as the proper and accepted term for what we now call the stole.
The stole itself is a symbol of authority- this supports the Theodosian origin theory and is evidenced by such early Church decrees as the aforementioned Council of Toledo. Some sources also refer to the stole as a "yoke of Christ" or "yoke of service," but these two definitions are not necessarily exclusive of each other.
The stole is worn around the neck, as pictured above (sort of). For deacons, the stole is worn over the neck but looped on the left. Bishops wear the stole straight down, in the manner pictured above. Before Vatican II, priests crossed their stoles in front of them and only bishops wore them straight down. Priests may now, however, wear stoles straight down. The practice of crossing the stole has not been officially suppressed, but it is not very common anymore. (On an interesting side note: representations of Christ as High Priest will often feature Him wearing a stole, but His stole is always crossed in front, symbolizing a priest and not a bishop. This is because Christ's authority is not temporal and jurisdictional, as a bishop's is.)
With regards to the ornamentation of the stole, it is traditional practice now that the stole and chasuble both match. In the middle ages, this was not necessarily the case and stoles (as well as maniples and other various bits) did not always match the chasuble (although stoles and maniples would have matched each other if they didn't match the chasuble). Vesture ornamentation reached something of a glorious high-point during the middle ages and, as with the rest of society it seems, everything was downhill from there.
The almost over-the-top decoration that medievalists employed on vestments declined somewhat with the unfortunate passing of that age and, following Vatican II, reached a new low. A simple Google Image search for "stole" will reveal an array of liturgical abortions that should never, never be worn.
Anyway, the stole is traditionally as pictured above, a narrow band of a single width, but many old stoles grow wider towards the bottom and end in a kind of trapezoidal thingy with tassles. Decoration can come in a variety of forms, though the only real restriction is that there must be a cross in the middle of it, where the priest kisses the stole before putting it on.
Overlay stoles, that is, stoles that lay on top of the chasuble, are hideous, liturgical aberrations that are not (or, at the very least, should not) be allowed.
Interestingly, the pope is the only one who can wear a stole whenever he pleases (hey, he's the pope). A stole worn in this manner must be red (the pope's color) and is the "stole of State."
And, for a final and totally irrelevant (but interesting) tidbit (courtesy of my roommate, who insisted I not quote him), there used to be, among military chaplains, chasubles of four different colors on one side and black on the inside. This allowed for a fun, reversible chasuble, usable for most any liturgical day. The different colors allowed Mass to be said during different seasons and meant that they didn't have to cart around loads of different vestments and black was used for funerals. In such a case, the priest would simply need different colored stoles to match the appropriate daily color. This practice was suppressed like woah and is no longer in use. (The term "suppressed like woah" is an official Vatican term, thank you very much and means "suppressed in a big way," i.e. never do this. Woah has its origins in the latin term Woahus (woahus, woaha, woahum) and in official Vatican documents the ablative of woah is quite common.)
That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed this installment of AI's Sartorial Splendor. Tune in tomorrow, when we'll be having another installment.
Other upcoming events on the American Inquisition: What Not to Wear- Ecclesiastics! will be coming. It will serve as the capstone post for the Sartorial Splendor series and will feature the American Inquisitor himself detailing the Do's and Dont's of vestments for the modern-day parish priest. ;-)
~
Saint Polycarp, pray for us!
Saint Veronica, pray for us!
Our Lady, Queen of Angels, pray for us!
posted by Jason | Monday, January 30, 2006
1 Comments:
What Not to Wear- Ecclesiastics!
AI, you're my favorite.
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