- Nov 26, 2007
- 1,639
- 400
- 34
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Celibate
- Politics
- US-American-Solidarity
Pax. Ειρήνη. שָׁלוֹם.
I recently spent a life-changing 44-day stay at a Ukrainian Greek Catholic monastery in rural northern California. The Abbot there has known me since I was a teenager, and he agreed to have me come up both to find spiritual healing in retreat, but also to observe monastic life.
At one point, I mentioned in passing that I had been instituted as a Lector in my seminary in the Latin Church. The Abbot immediately dressed me in a Greek cassock (ράσον) and had me sit in the choir. He said that being an ordained Reader is a sacred duty to the entire Church, East & West. I spent much of the rest of the visit in that cassock, and even at one point chanted a reading at the Abbot's behest. When I finally confessed that I had not engaged in my ministry in the Roman Church since 2018, he looked at me sadly and told me that being a Reader is part of who I am. Just as I was trying to find myself in general, in the end finding myself as an instituted Lector was a part of that I wasn't expecting. I spent much of the rest of the visit studying the history and spirituality of Lectors/Readers, and learned that they are probably the continuation of the charismatic teachers, prophets, and evangelists spoken of by St. Paul (Ephesians 4:11-12). There's actually a really neat article on that here, which jives pretty closely with how the West understood the ministry/minor order as well:
The Reader in the Orthodox Church • Orthodox Life
In any case, upon returning home I obtained a cheap Roman cassock (I had to leave my rason with the monks, of course). Now, when I prepare for ministry or engage in prayer and study, I wear it. If nothing else to remind me to not again forget that God has called me to this ministry, even if many Roman Catholics now see it as very "meh" and unimportant.
Anyway, one middle of the night I went to Eucharistic Adoration and wore the cassock. I really didn't think much of it more than I wore it as an article of devotion...and it also was warm. My Holy Hour went by without incident.
The next day, someone approached me after Mass and asked me if I was a priest or seminarian. I said I had been a seminarian at one time, but no longer. She then proceeded to tell me that I must absolutely never wear a cassock – at all – as this is proper only to priests and seminarians. When I pointed out that I was an instituted Lector and that the cassock is not liturgical garb (for a Roman Lector, alb and cincture is...with amice is needed). She sort of passed over that point and reiterated that "this is the rule in our Church!"
Now, I could have been smart and said: "Which Church? Roman, Syriac, Coptic, or Byzantine?" as I was getting rather annoyed. Not so much that she might be correct, but rather that she decided to confront me in such a manner. But I stayed silent and nodded, and she finally left me alone.
That said, I've been reflecting on this.
Firstly, my "practice" (in so far as it is such) is to wear a non-clerical-collared cassock (and, in this case, an extremely sparse public setting of 3 people in media nocte). She claimed that, even as an instituted Lector, I am not permitted to wear such clothing and that it is restricted to priests & seminarians (presumably diocesan, I guess).
Certainly, if I am wrong in the matter I will change. For the record, I almost never wear such garb outside of private devotion (hence why I wore it at Eucharistic Adoration in the middle of the night).
Yet, if a seminarian can wear a cassock and even a fascia sash (especially one maybe not yet instituted into any ministry), why not a duly instituted minister, even if not a seminarian? The GIRM specifies that alb and cincture (with amice, if needed) is the proper *liturgical* vestments of all ministers, including Lectors. Other suitable vestments (e.g. surplice over cassock, for example) *may* be worn if the local Bishop's Conference deems it appropriate. But the GIRM is speaking of Holy Mass, not ecclesiastical vesture outside of it.
Moreover, the cassock and fascia are not liturgical garb. This is in part why the surplice is put over the cassock during Mass, since it takes the place of the alb to a certain degree. Even as a Dominican friar, I did not serve at the altar simply in my habit, but rather with a surplice. The alb is the oldest, most ancient Christian vestment and derives from the baptismal garment.
Naturally, there is a danger of someone mistaking me for a priest were I to go about frequently wearing my cheap little cassock. But that danger is true of seminarians as well. But I have never once in my life, nor will I ever, impersonate a priest...nor will any seminarian who knows what's good for him since it's a serious canonical delict!
Lastly, there is a long tradition in the Western Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches of those in minor orders wearing such garb. Even if the West has begun to refer to the minor orders as "instituted ministries" and no longer views them a canonically clerical in state, it doesn't fundamentally change the substance of what they were to begin with. Moreover, some in the East readily recognize that Latin instituted ministers are equivalent to their own corresponding minor orders (as I have been humbled to experience).
Frankly, my goal is not to put myself on a pedestal...much less one that I am not even worthy to stand upon! Rather, it is to remind myself of the office the Church has entrusted to me (one I had almost forgotten, really), utterly unworthy though I am, and to bring more Catholic beauty into the world when it is appropriate to do so without great scandal. I know when I still wore a habit, it was often an opportunity for evangelization too.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if much of the rot in the Roman Church (to be frank) is due, in some small part at least, to the fact that ministers no longer dress as such – whether lay or ordained. And when we do use clerical garb or even vestments, the artistic work going into them can be vapid & dull.
All that said, as always, I follow after the Angelic Doctor: "If I have written anything erroneous, I submit all to the judgment and correction of the Holy Roman Church..." Moreover, if any good man reprove or show me my error, I will happily submit to the praxis of the Church. Truth is, I've had trouble getting a consistent answer so far...even from some priests!
So what do y'all think, if anything?
I recently spent a life-changing 44-day stay at a Ukrainian Greek Catholic monastery in rural northern California. The Abbot there has known me since I was a teenager, and he agreed to have me come up both to find spiritual healing in retreat, but also to observe monastic life.
At one point, I mentioned in passing that I had been instituted as a Lector in my seminary in the Latin Church. The Abbot immediately dressed me in a Greek cassock (ράσον) and had me sit in the choir. He said that being an ordained Reader is a sacred duty to the entire Church, East & West. I spent much of the rest of the visit in that cassock, and even at one point chanted a reading at the Abbot's behest. When I finally confessed that I had not engaged in my ministry in the Roman Church since 2018, he looked at me sadly and told me that being a Reader is part of who I am. Just as I was trying to find myself in general, in the end finding myself as an instituted Lector was a part of that I wasn't expecting. I spent much of the rest of the visit studying the history and spirituality of Lectors/Readers, and learned that they are probably the continuation of the charismatic teachers, prophets, and evangelists spoken of by St. Paul (Ephesians 4:11-12). There's actually a really neat article on that here, which jives pretty closely with how the West understood the ministry/minor order as well:
The Reader in the Orthodox Church • Orthodox Life
In any case, upon returning home I obtained a cheap Roman cassock (I had to leave my rason with the monks, of course). Now, when I prepare for ministry or engage in prayer and study, I wear it. If nothing else to remind me to not again forget that God has called me to this ministry, even if many Roman Catholics now see it as very "meh" and unimportant.
Anyway, one middle of the night I went to Eucharistic Adoration and wore the cassock. I really didn't think much of it more than I wore it as an article of devotion...and it also was warm. My Holy Hour went by without incident.
The next day, someone approached me after Mass and asked me if I was a priest or seminarian. I said I had been a seminarian at one time, but no longer. She then proceeded to tell me that I must absolutely never wear a cassock – at all – as this is proper only to priests and seminarians. When I pointed out that I was an instituted Lector and that the cassock is not liturgical garb (for a Roman Lector, alb and cincture is...with amice is needed). She sort of passed over that point and reiterated that "this is the rule in our Church!"
Now, I could have been smart and said: "Which Church? Roman, Syriac, Coptic, or Byzantine?" as I was getting rather annoyed. Not so much that she might be correct, but rather that she decided to confront me in such a manner. But I stayed silent and nodded, and she finally left me alone.
That said, I've been reflecting on this.
Firstly, my "practice" (in so far as it is such) is to wear a non-clerical-collared cassock (and, in this case, an extremely sparse public setting of 3 people in media nocte). She claimed that, even as an instituted Lector, I am not permitted to wear such clothing and that it is restricted to priests & seminarians (presumably diocesan, I guess).
Certainly, if I am wrong in the matter I will change. For the record, I almost never wear such garb outside of private devotion (hence why I wore it at Eucharistic Adoration in the middle of the night).
Yet, if a seminarian can wear a cassock and even a fascia sash (especially one maybe not yet instituted into any ministry), why not a duly instituted minister, even if not a seminarian? The GIRM specifies that alb and cincture (with amice, if needed) is the proper *liturgical* vestments of all ministers, including Lectors. Other suitable vestments (e.g. surplice over cassock, for example) *may* be worn if the local Bishop's Conference deems it appropriate. But the GIRM is speaking of Holy Mass, not ecclesiastical vesture outside of it.
Moreover, the cassock and fascia are not liturgical garb. This is in part why the surplice is put over the cassock during Mass, since it takes the place of the alb to a certain degree. Even as a Dominican friar, I did not serve at the altar simply in my habit, but rather with a surplice. The alb is the oldest, most ancient Christian vestment and derives from the baptismal garment.
Naturally, there is a danger of someone mistaking me for a priest were I to go about frequently wearing my cheap little cassock. But that danger is true of seminarians as well. But I have never once in my life, nor will I ever, impersonate a priest...nor will any seminarian who knows what's good for him since it's a serious canonical delict!
Lastly, there is a long tradition in the Western Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches of those in minor orders wearing such garb. Even if the West has begun to refer to the minor orders as "instituted ministries" and no longer views them a canonically clerical in state, it doesn't fundamentally change the substance of what they were to begin with. Moreover, some in the East readily recognize that Latin instituted ministers are equivalent to their own corresponding minor orders (as I have been humbled to experience).
Frankly, my goal is not to put myself on a pedestal...much less one that I am not even worthy to stand upon! Rather, it is to remind myself of the office the Church has entrusted to me (one I had almost forgotten, really), utterly unworthy though I am, and to bring more Catholic beauty into the world when it is appropriate to do so without great scandal. I know when I still wore a habit, it was often an opportunity for evangelization too.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if much of the rot in the Roman Church (to be frank) is due, in some small part at least, to the fact that ministers no longer dress as such – whether lay or ordained. And when we do use clerical garb or even vestments, the artistic work going into them can be vapid & dull.
All that said, as always, I follow after the Angelic Doctor: "If I have written anything erroneous, I submit all to the judgment and correction of the Holy Roman Church..." Moreover, if any good man reprove or show me my error, I will happily submit to the praxis of the Church. Truth is, I've had trouble getting a consistent answer so far...even from some priests!
So what do y'all think, if anything?
I would keep yours handy because there are times where the priest may need an extra hand in the altar or at the lectern.
