The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-16

God who made you, the God who re-
deemed you and the God who sane
titled you.
Vestments not only lend great digni-
ty and pomp to the worship, but by
the beautiful symbolism attached to
them convey important lessons to priest
and people. They are the amice, alb,
cincture, maniple, stole and chasuble.
The amice is a square piece of linen
which is first laid on the head and
then adjusted about the neck and
shoulders. Before the biretta was pre-
Scribed it was used as a head covering.
1t is symbol of the helmet Of saliva
ton. The alb is the long white robe,
symbolic of purity of heart The cine
ture Is indicative of chastity. In at
taching the maniple to the left arm
the priest begs God to enable us to bear
the trials of life as to deserve the
heavenly crown. The stole, which the
priest suspends from his neck and
crosses on his breast, Is a badge of au-
thority and symbol of the cross of
Christ. The last vestment is the
ehasuble symbolic of charity. 1t bears
the cross on the front and back and is
an emblem of the sweet yoke of Jesus
Christ.
The colors have a meaning. Red
which is used on Pentecost, is SYM
why VA tAiC lOllS oCo VI bIc W ulCIl tcSl-
ed On the apostles on that day. When
used for the feasts Of martyrs 1t recalls
the blood they have shed. White is in
dicative of purity and is used on the
feasts of our Lord, his blessed mother
and the saints who have shed their
blood in defense OF their faith. Purple
signifies penance and Christian NOR
LITIGATION. 1t is used in the penitential
seasons of Lent and Advent. Black
Sd e~rat ffreF rr.afo a.
OF relatives and on good Friday tc
commemorate the death of him who
brought life to the world Green be-
ing the color of nature, Is used on days
which call for none of the other colors
In the use of vestments the church
aims at impressing it's clergy as much
ast the laity with the holiness of the
sacred rites. One word only in regard
to the use Of fine Latin language. The
Catholic church is the church of the
whole world. 1t should therefore pos.
sess a language which Is calculated t
preserve unity not only in doctrine but
in worship as well. Our modern Ian.
guages are all changeable, and a wore
that meant one thing 100 years ago
means something different today The
church must possess a language that is
not changeable, because the holy sacri
flee and the formulate of the sacra.
ments depend for their validity on the
use of words, which, if changed, might
destroy the very essence both of sacri.
fee and of sacrament.
Are the symbols useful? Emphati
cally yes. They enlighten the mind
help the memory, move the heart ant
strengthen the poor, weak human will
In word, they are valuable aids t.
the complete worship of God by the
exercise of every faculty of the sou
and the external tribute of every
member of our bodies.
However grand and impressive the
ceremonies and rites and holy symbols
are, they are but the least part of oul
worship. They are but external mani
festations of our faith. They are bu
the beautiful dress with which tn,
body of revealed truth is clothed. The,
are but the outward form under which
may always be found the substantial
reality of sacrifice and sacrament anC
revealed doctrine. 1t is not therefore
true that if you take away our sym.
bols and our ceremonies, you rob us O,
the best part of our worship