Chasuble (liturgical clothing)

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Modern Gothic chasuble
Chasuble embroidered in traditional Roman bass violin shape with rich baroque ornamentation and a representation of the God of the Lamb
Chasuble in Gothic form
Renaissance-style chasuble with manipula

The chasuble or casel (from Latin casula , little house, also planeta or paenula ) is a sleeveless liturgical robe that originally covered the entire body. Today it is the liturgical upper garment of the bishop and the priest at Holy Mass . In German it is often referred to as a chasuble . In the rites of the Eastern Church , the phelonion corresponds to the chasuble.

History of the chasuble

The ancient Casula ( Greek φελόνιον phelónion , φελόνης phelónēs or φαινόλης phainólēs , from which the Latin loan word paenula ) was a cover or weather jacket in the form of a round or oval cloth (made of any material) with a central opening for the head to which a hood was often attached. Paul mentions in 2nd Timothy ( 2 Tim 4:13  EU ) that he forgot a cloak in Troas and asks Timothy to bring it with him. As a bell chasuble, the garment can also be sewn together from a semicircular fabric. The antique chasuble reached around the calf and did not have openings for the arms. As a result, the wearer was restricted in mobility, but protected from wind and weather. In order to get the arms free, the wearer had to gather part of the cloth - so that in the pontifical office the deacon had the task of folding back the bishop's chasuble - or throwing it back over the shoulder. If the fabric is opened at the front, the transition to the cope is fluid. All cape or poncho-like items of clothing are related.

In the Roman Empire , the chasuble over the tunic increasingly became part of everyday outerwear, took on the character of festive clothing and replaced the toga . When trouser fashion later replaced chasuble and tunic, the chasuble became an exclusive item of clothing for the clergy . It was used as a garment not only at holy mass, but also for other cult activities, including for deacons , sub-deacons and acolytes . The fourth council of Toledo already mentions the Casula in 633 . A deacon wears around since the 4th century the dalmatic as upper garment, and for events outside of the Mass, the front open developed Pluviale from Kasel, so that the chasuble at the latest from the 12th century everywhere exclusive garment of the priest at Mass has been.

Shapes and equipment

The traditional shape of a cone-shaped or "bell chasuble" is known as the "Gothic shape". In the 12th century the chasubles were cut out a little on both sides so that the hands could be used without gathering the garment. The chasubles ended in a point at the front and back. From the 13th century, more valuable, heavier fabrics and lined chasubles came into use, so that the chasubles became narrower and resembled a shoulder-width scapular ; the length has also been reduced. Such chasubles were easier to carry and cheaper. The stiff fabrics were either cut straight or cut to the front with a curve (so-called Roman chasuble or "bass violin"). Since the 19th century, “neo-Gothic” chasuble shapes have been common, in which the material falls back over the arms and sometimes up to the hands. Other type differences (Roman, German, Spanish, French) resulted from the size and shape of the head opening - round or trapezoidal -, the arrangement of the seams and the cut.

The purely Gothic robe is covered on the front with a vertical strip (rod) and on the back (often on both sides) with a cross (formerly with a Y-shaped ascending crossbar, as a forked cross ). The cross on the back of the chasuble is known in art history as the dorsal cross (from the Latin dorsum , "back"). Since the high Middle Ages , this decoration has often been made in splendid figural or ornamental embroidery , in which gold threads and real pearls were also processed. For Casula is mostly used damask and velvet of silk . In older times, oriental gold and silk fabrics were also in use, and in antiquity simple linen or cotton fabrics were also used. In the 18th century there were even chasubles made of leather and occasionally made of straw. Ecclesiastical regulations on the material of the chasubles were only issued for the entire church in the 19th century.

In addition to cross shapes, ornaments and especially on the back of the chasuble image motifs or symbolic representations are used, such as the Christ monogram , Eucharistic or Marian symbols and depictions of saints. In the Middle Ages, embroidered chasubles represented an artistic highlight, some of which were entirely designed with biblical motifs, some of which are preserved in cathedral treasures , for example in Bamberg , Erfurt or Vienna .

The robes of the altar assistant at a mass celebration with Levites in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, matching the chasuble

In the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, the rule has been that the liturgical rites should "bear the shine of noble simplicity". For the furnishing of the chasubles and other liturgical vestments, “in addition to the hitherto customary fabrics, other natural fibers common in the various areas can also be used, as well as fabrics made of synthetic fibers, provided they are worthy of the holy act and the person. [...] The beauty and dignity of every garment should not be achieved through the accumulation of jewelry and ornamentation, but through the choice of fabric and its shape. Their decoration should consist of figures, images or symbols that indicate sacred use and should contain nothing that does not suit it. ”The individual bishops' conferences determine the details.

Since the Middle Ages, the color of the robe has mostly been dependent on the festivals and times in the church year as well as the occasions for the service and is based on the liturgical color canon .

It is customary for the chasuble to include a stole , previously also a manipula, as well as a chalice velum and a burse made of the same material and with the same ornamentation. Sometimes the dalmatic and tunicella and possibly also the cope for the presbyter's assistant are based on a chasuble in material and decoration, so that the clerics participating in a levitated high mass wear related robes. If such overall equipment is particularly artistic and valuable, it is also known regionally as regalia . Ruling princes and princesses often distinguished their main churches by donating particularly valuable vestments.

Liturgical use

Today the chasuble is worn exclusively by priests and bishops and only during Holy Mass; hence the common name as chasuble comes from. As a rule, the "Gothic" chasubles with symbolic language and sometimes with Überstolen are used again.

The priests carry the chasuble falling and gather the sides or the front part when they want to use their hands. The alb and stole are worn under the chasuble .

The handing over of the chasuble to the ordination candidate at the priestly ordination has been part of the ordination rite regionally since the early Middle Ages. From the High Middle Ages to the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, this chasuble was folded up on the back and was only unfolded by the bishop after communion of the ordination mass, as a sign that the priest "was now fully capable of altar service".

The chasuble was interpreted as the “armor of faith” or as the “sweet and light yoke of Christ”, which the priest wore in the imitation of Christ. To put on the chasuble, the priest said a dressing prayer , as is customary in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite to this day, for example:

"Dress me, O Lord, with the ornament of humility, love and peace, so that I, endowed with virtues on all sides, can withstand my enemies."

“Lord, you said, 'My yoke is sweet and my burden light'; grant me that I can wear it in such a way that I can obtain your grace. "

Planeta plicata

Since the High Middle Ages, deacons and sub-deacons have wore dalmatic and tunicella instead of chasuble . They only wore a chasuble rolled up or tied up on the front on certain occasions( Planeta plicata , German: folded chasuble) to have your hands free. According to a Roman custom that was widespread in the Latin region from the 12th century onwards, this was customary on days with a penitential character ( Advent and Lent , Quatembertage ) on which the use of splendid robes did not seem appropriate. When reading out the epistle and the gospel , the subdeacon or deacon put down the planeta plicata . The deacon rolled it up, put it across his left shoulder like a sash, and brought the drooping pages together at the right hip. From this the diagonally worn one developed Stole latior (wider stole), which was put on instead of the rolled up chasuble. The deacon does not put on the planeta plicata again until after communion. The subdeacon read the epistle in alb and with the maniple on and immediately afterwards put on the planeta plicata again. This made the difference in rank between the deacon, who wears the stole , and the sub-deacon clear.

This was prescribed for cathedral, monastery and parish churches, it was not common in smaller churches. There the deacon and sub-deacon assisted during the high mass on days with a penitential character throughout the whole mass in alb and with a zingulum, the deacon also wore the usual deacon stole.

The reform of Holy Week and the rubrics as a whole in 1955 and 1960 ( Codex Rubricarum ), however, led to the liturgical reform of Paul VI. as a result of the Second Vatican Council for the disappearance of Planeta plicata and Stola latior . The way in which the regular deacon stole is worn in the western church is determined or influenced by this origin (cross stole in the form of a sash ).

Protestantism

In the Reformed Church the vestments were abolished at the time of the Reformation . On Lutheran territory they initially remained largely in use. In Saxony and Brandenburg , among others , casula and albe were used occasionally up to the end of the 18th century and beyond. In 1697 the merchant Thomas Fredenhagen donated a red velvet, richly embroidered chasuble together with the new high altar of the Marienkirche in Lübeck .

Occasionally the chasuble is worn in Germany today in the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church , and sometimes also in parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran regional churches. It is also used in the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia to this day. The so-called "bass violins" and modern chasubles of almost rectangular shape that only reach over the upper arm laterally are also used there. The use of the chasuble is also widespread in the Lutheran churches of the Baltic States and the United States.

See also

literature

  • Joseph Braun : The Liturgical Paraments in the Present and Past. A manual of paramentics. 2nd, improved edition. Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (reprographic reprint. Verlag Nova and Vetera, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-936741-07-7 ).
  • Joseph Braun: The priestly vestments of the West according to their historical development (= voices from Maria Laach. Supplementary booklet 71, ZDB -ID 505625-1 ). Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1897.
  • Herbert Norris: Church Vestments. Their Origin & Development. Dover Publications, Mineola NY 2002, ISBN 0-486-42256-9 .

Web links

Commons : Chasuble  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Kasel  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.kirchenweb.at/ministranten/messdiener/liturgischefarben.htm Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kath-kirche-cappeln.de
  2. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 101f.
  3. ↑ Johannes Wagner: 3 . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 5th edition. tape 1282 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau.
  4. ↑ Johannes Wagner: 3 . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 5th edition. tape 1282 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau.
  5. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 100f.
  6. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 111f.
  7. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 117f.
  8. ↑ SC No. 34.
  9. ↑ General Introduction to the Roman Missal (2002), No. 343f. [1]
  10. ↑ Examples can be seen in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna (including the black ladies' regalia and the Franzblaue regalia with a dedication to Empress Maria Theresia and the Paperl robe donated by Elisabeth Christina, wife of Emperor Charles VI. ) And im Museum Schnütgen in Cologne the Maria Theresa regalia .
  11. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), pp. 103f.106f.
  12. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 118f.
  13. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Volume 1, Herder Verlag, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th edition 1962, p. 526f.
  14. ↑ Rubricae generales Missalis XIX. De Qualitate Paramentorum no.6f. In: Missale Romanum editio XXIX. Ratisbonae 1953, p. (24).
  15. ↑ Shawn Tribe, Use, History and Development of the "Planeta Plicata" or Folded Chasuble, New Liturgical Movement , March 8, 2009 (accessed December 29, 2016).
  16. ↑ Joseph Braun: The Liturgical Paraments in the present and past. 2nd, improved edition. Freiburg (Breisgau) 1924 (Reprographischer Reprint, Bonn 2005), p. 103. - Planeta picata: [2] , Stola latior: [3] .