I am an offical Acolyte

[Mysterium_Fidei]

I was trained this morning an hour before Mass and served today! I'm very exited. :)

[Zacharias]

Congradulations anglicancrusader! :clap: :thumbsup: :cool:

[Wigglesworth]

:thumbsup:

[PaladinValer]

Wow! Lots of accomplishments recently!

Congradulations, and I'm certain you will be an excellent acolyte! :)

[Fish and Bread]

Congratulations. May you serve the Lord well.

John

[benedictine]

Congrats! :)

[Father Rick]

That's wonderful!


(should I tell you all the horror stories now and make you nervous?:D )

[Mysterium_Fidei]

Thanks everyone. :)

...Horror stories? Erm...

[SeenAndUnseen]

I forgot to congratulate you, and we go to the same church. :wave:

[benedictine]

What kind of vestments do you wear?

[Mysterium_Fidei]

I have to admit I was hoping for something more fancy; like the traditional white on black cassocks. Instead, I wear a long plain white alb with large cuffs and a cinicture tied about the waist. A wooden cross is also worn. Some of the albs are hooded

Most of the cinictures are too small, so we're hoping to get some new ones.

[Robbie_James_Francis]

I have to admit I was hoping for something more fancy; like the traditional white on black cassocks. Instead, I wear a long plain white alb with large cuffs and a cinicture tied about the waist. A wooden cross is also worn. Some of the albs are hooded

Most of the cinictures are too small, so we're hoping to get some new ones.

Count yourself lucky...we have white, polyester albs and red ropes. And that's it. The priest has little more! :sigh:

Do you get many Catholics convert as the Anglicans have a more traditional liturgy? ;)

Rob :liturgy:

[Mysterium_Fidei]

I returned to Anglicanism after being totally disillusioned with Roman Catholicism. The liturgy played no small part in my return to Canterbury.

A good deal of my parish is made up of former Roman Catholics.

[benedictine]

hmmm.....

[SirTimothy]

Heheh. All I want if I do acolyte is one of those nice hooded habit-style albs in white. And if I ever become a priest, that'll probably be all the robes I wear. I think it's tasteful.

Timothy

[pmcleanj]

And if I ever become a priest, that'll probably be all the robes I wear. I think it's tasteful.
As long as you don't have trouser cuffs and oxfords sticking out the bottom!

[benedictine]

Heheh. All I want if I do acolyte is one of those nice hooded habit-style albs in white. And if I ever become a priest, that'll probably be all the robes I wear. I think it's tasteful.

Timothy


What about a stole or chausuable?

[benedictine]

At my parish, we wear the alb and a neck cross, with a different color ribbon (the necklace part of the cross) corresponding roughly to the proper liturgical color. This is for the Eucharist, Baptism, Confirmation, a marriage, etc.

For Funerals without a mass, the daily office, or if we are supposed to be vested but not liturgically pairticipating in the mass, we wear cassock and surplice/cotta with a neck cross.

[SirTimothy]

Stole maybe. I don't like the look of chasubles. Stoles can be tasteful, or they cannot... as my last priest proved very well!

Timothy

[benedictine]

What was up with his chausble?

[SirTimothy]

He just looked a touch wierd wearing them--he wasn't exactly thin, and so looked bizarre. Then we had a guest priest who just wore an alb, very similar build to me, and I thought... YES! That's the sort of thing I could wear. ;)

Timothy

[Robbie_James_Francis]

And if I ever become a priest, that'll probably be all the robes I wear. I think it's tasteful.

You're probably right....but I'd still jump at the oppurtunity to wear cassock and biretta ;). Don't get me started on what I'd wear at Mass. :D

Rob :liturgy:

[SirTimothy]

Heheh. I would follow the example put to us by our blessed Father Rick when it comes to Birrettas. And I quote... "I don't do pom-poms."

Tim othy

[Mysterium_Fidei]

I'm exploring a vocation to the priesthood. I think I'd be more of a cassock and biretta wearer, but who knows?

[gtsecc]

As long as you don't have trouser cuffs and oxfords sticking out the bottom!

What do you prefer? FLip flops?

[benedictine]

What do you prefer? FLip flops?

why wear shoes and pants at all?

[benedictine]

I'm exploring a vocation to the priesthood. I think I'd be more of a cassock and biretta wearer, but who knows?


Yeah, that's me. Add a black sash, and you're complete.

[pmcleanj]

What do you prefer? FLip flops?
Remember, I'm coming from the school of thought that, if we invoke a symbol, it should be because that symbol sincerely communicates what we believe without implying falsehoods our misconceptions at the same time.

When an officiant celebrates wearing secular dress, he is saying "my clerical function is simply an extension of my daily life". When a priest routinely wears clericals, he is saying "my secular life is simply an extension of my sacred calling". Both of these are positions of integrity: of a life that is lived without compartmentalization. And in both of these practices, there is an integral appropriateness of peripheral apparel: when the priest in cassock goes outdoors, he wears a biretta, not a fedora. I don't really have a problem with oxfords with a cassock. But an alb is (as near as I can fathom, since it's not really traditional clerical garb) a cross between a 1960's caftan and a monastic habit: it draws on those symbols of simplicity and poverty -- with which oxfords, or for that matter Nike sport shoes, quite frankly clash. If you're going to claim for yourself the humility of monk or of '60's Jesus folk, would you not wear sandals (or go unshod) as is consistent with the rest of the apparel?

Even if an officiant switches back and forth between clerical and secular garb, he is making a statement about how he moves back and forth in his life between the secular and the sacred. That too can be a position of integrity.
But when he tosses on his clericals over his secular garb, with the secular garb sticking out the bottom, he seems to me to be saying "all this external stuff is just dress-up, with the real secular me underneath". For me, it distracts from the mass to be kneeling at the rail waiting for the Bread, head bowed, and looking at the secular feet sticking out under the clerical garb as if to say "for you this may be real, but for me it's dress-up and make-believe".

Liturgy is an art form. Let the artists thereof strive to do it well, right down to the details.

[SirTimothy]

I would probably wear a white alb constantly about my work as a priest, if I was working in the UK. Out here... maybe not. I'd definitely want to say "my secular life is simply an extension of my sacred calling". Because it is, and will be. Of course, if I did that, I'd wear a dress more often than most girls I know...

Timothy (Who is kidding about calling an alb a dress...)

[Robbie_James_Francis]

Excellent post, pmcleanj!!! I agree with you, but I wouldn't be able to expressit as well as you did! :thumbsup:

IMO being a priest makes you a fundamentally different person...it's not just a job that a lay person does. It's about who you are not what you do.

:)

(I don't know what feastday it is today, so...^_^ )

Rob :liturgy:

[Fish and Bread]

IMO being a priest makes you a fundamentally different person...it's not just a job that a lay person does. It's about who you are not what you do.


This isn't going to turn into one of those Evangelical versus Anglo-Catholic debates, is it? ;)

I've been thinking that perhaps there's a middle ground between the two positions, actually. Obviously being a priest is more than just a job, it's a vocation, and couldn't it be said that for anyone with a true vocation that they were made by God to perform, whether it be a doctor, a firefighter, or a presbyter; it is about who they are as well as what they do? Few would suggest that being a priest is just like a job you take for a few years to pay the bills, it is a very holy calling, but on the other hand I am hesistant to suggest that being a priest marks someone as somehow more than the average Christian. It's a high honor and a holy vocation, yes, but I think having a doctrine of being imbued with a special "mark" upon ordination, as is the Roman Catholic doctrine, has historically born bad fruits -- extreme clericalism, spiritual abuse of laity, sexual abuse, etc. While the office should be respected and people who devote their lives to God in that way should be honored and listened to in a special way (After all, they are certainly experts in their field), I do think that it can be important to keep in mind that priests are still human beings and not a special species unto themselves, and are often every bit as sinful as the average person. None of us is without blemish.

John

[Robbie_James_Francis]

This isn't going to turn into one of those Evangelical versus Anglo-Catholic debates, is it? ;)

Oh, sorry...I really didn't mean to debate.:o :sorry: I was just stating my opinion. Since I figured it would be acceptable to at least some Anglicans I thought it might be appropriate to post here as long as I'm not arguing against other Anglicans too. Please tell me if this is not the case and I will gladly remove my post...

and are often every bit as sinful as the average person. None of us is without blemish.

Absolutely right. :)

[Fish and Bread]

Oh, sorry...I really didn't mean to debate.:o :sorry: I was just stating my opinion. Since I figured it would be acceptable to at least some Anglicans I thought it might be appropriate to post here as long as I'm not arguing against other Anglicans too. Please tell me if this is not the case and I will gladly remove my post...

I personally have no objection to you stating your opinion on this issue, even though I disagree with it in some respects. :)

John

[Robbie_James_Francis]

I personally have no objection to you stating your opinion on this issue, even though I disagree with it in some respects. :)

:hug:

And you made a good case for your opinion, by the way. :thumbsup: :)

Pax tecum,
Rob

[Mysterium_Fidei]

I found the old church cassocks, by the way. Bwahahaha!

[Ibeleive]

Hi,
Please pardon my ignorance but what is a acolyte? I am a licensed Layreader in the Anglican church. I wear a cossock and the white garment over it. We say morning and evening prayer and preach when invited, read the lessons, do the prayers and serve the cup at Communion. Is an acolyte the same position?

[higgs2]

But when he tosses on his clericals over his secular garb, with the secular garb sticking out the bottom, he seems to me to be saying "all this external stuff is just dress-up, with the real secular me underneath". For me, it distracts from the mass to be kneeling at the rail waiting for the Bread, head bowed, and looking at the secular feet sticking out under the clerical garb as if to say "for you this may be real, but for me it's dress-up and make-believe".
the details.

So the priest should wear what on his or her feet? And should they wear pants or no? <scratching head>

[pmcleanj]

So the priest should wear what on his or her feet? And should they wear pants or no? <scratching head>


It's a fashion thayng.

Like, you wouldn't wear high-heeled shoes with sweatpants and a tee-shirt. Or (says Dean over my shoulder) running shoes with your tux. Okay, you would, (I should just let Dean sit down and type since he's coming up with all the kibbitzing) but it would be in bad taste.

If you're going to wear a pre-industrial style garment (i.e. an alb/habit/caftan), wear pre-industrial style footwear and hat. Say, sandals on the feet and a hood on the alb. It's a matter of staying in character, as it were.

If you're going to wear a tailored stylized clerical garment like a cassock, wear the stylized hat and shoon: biretta and button-boots -- or with smallclothes, oxfords and a round hat.

If you're going to wear everyday clothes, wear everyday shoes and hat -- fedora and dark leather shoes with your conservative suit, nike's and a tractor cap with your dockers, cowboy hat and boots with your jeans, whatever.

Just(if you're male) take your hat off when you go into church, whether it's a hood, biretta, round hat, fedora, tractor cap or stetson!

As for whether he should wear pants or not, that's his decision -- but it's an either/or thing. Pants are not consistent pre-industrial undergarments, so if you're wearing an alb -- wear the alb. Commit! Go the distance! Shock the little old ladies into wondering... -- no, nevermind. The small Anglican churches of the west just aren't ready for sartorial consistency.

[higgs2]

It's a fashion thayng.

Like, you wouldn't wear high-heeled shoes with sweatpants and a tee-shirt. Or (says Dean over my shoulder) running shoes with your tux. Okay, you would, (I should just let Dean sit down and type since he's coming up with all the kibbitzing) but it would be in bad taste.

If you're going to wear a pre-industrial style garment (i.e. an alb/habit/caftan), wear pre-industrial style footwear and hat. Say, sandals on the feet and a hood on the alb. It's a matter of staying in character, as it were.

If you're going to wear a tailored stylized clerical garment like a cassock, wear the stylized hat and shoon: biretta and button-boots -- or with smallclothes, oxfords and a round hat.

If you're going to wear everyday clothes, wear everyday shoes and hat -- fedora and dark leather shoes with your conservative suit, nike's and a tractor cap with your dockers, cowboy hat and boots with your jeans, whatever.

Just(if you're male) take your hat off when you go into church, whether it's a hood, biretta, round hat, fedora, tractor cap or stetson!

As for whether he should wear pants or not, that's his decision -- but it's an either/or thing. Pants are not consistent pre-industrial undergarments, so if you're wearing an alb -- wear the alb. Commit! Go the distance! Shock the little old ladies into wondering... -- no, nevermind. The small Anglican churches of the west just aren't ready for sartorial consistency.

Hmmm. So he was wearing khakis under his watchamacallit but I forgot to notice the shoes.

And tell Dean that I would *never* wear running shoes with my tux :-P

Yes, well our little old ladies are so concerned with the volume of the organ, speed of the A/C fans and conduct of the children that it could them years to notice -- er -- sartorial consistency LOL!