Jesus Guild has a mandate to assist clergy in the process of commissioning new works of art. It can be very daunting. Vestments are expensive - and reputable vestment makers need a lot of input from their clients to ensure a satisfactory result.

Having commissioned a number of new vestments for the Georgetown Oratory, we are able to share a little of our experience of the process, so here are some pointers:

(1.) Decide what liturgical color you need before approaching the workshop: Bespoke vestment makers are (in the best sense of the word) cottage industries, and time dealing with clients is time away from the coal face. They will be very happy to hear of your ideas, but a lack of clarity can be frustrating.

(2.) Be clear about the cut of the piece in advance. Roman Rite vestments range from the fullest ‘Conical’ style to the much more attenuated, ‘Fiddleback’ design. Many of the design parameters depend upon this first choice of cut: e.g. it is not correct to include orphreys (the decorative strips of fabric) on Fiddlebacks. If commissioning a vestment as a gift for a priest, make sure you know Father’s preferences.

(3.) Consider the practicality of the vestment when choosing fabric. Luscious silks are undeniably dramatic, but silk is especially vulnerable to damage from water, or from snagging on rough edges. Does the vestment need to be robust enough to be handled by younger altar servers, who may not appreciate how delicate they are?

(4.) Remember, the vestment is a work of art for the maker, and reflects more upon their atelier than upon you as commissioner. Sometimes it can be frustrating if a vestment maker does not want to combine fabrics, or colors, in a certain way. It is important to remember that every vestment they make is an advertisement for their work, and they also have a good deal of experience in what works and what does not. Sometimes that’s a matter of trial and error - take advantage of their advice.

(5.) Don’t try and haggle on price for bespoke. No tailor is in it for the money - and the price they quote is usually the barest minimum they can let you have it for. Other parameters come into play here: labor and overheads are cheaper overseas than in the USA or Europe, so makers that are based abroad often have an economic advantage, but the result will likely not be as pleasing.

Remember that the vestment-making world is very small, and good relationships take years to establish. Many vestment makers not only know one another, but collaborate with each other too, so it is never wise to pit one maker against another.

Finally, it is important to retain a sense of perspective: vestments are a tool for the beauty of holiness; they are not an end in themselves. Whilst cheap vestments always look cheap, sometimes expediency requires machine-made vestments on a temporary basis.

No matter how costly they are, vestments do not last forever: they are made to exhaust themselves in the service of the Mysteries, therefore all churches should consider a rolling program of maintenance and renewal. Jesus Guild is here to assist any priest wishing to commission new vestments: if we can be of assistance at any stage, they should not hesitate to contact us at any stage of a project: [email protected]

Rooted in Light: Fr. Clark to deliver First Bishop’s Lecture

Come and hear Fr. Clark deliver a lecture on Gothic Architecture at 7 PM on Wednesday, January 31st at All Saints School in Norwalk, CT, 139 W Rocks Road, Norwalk, CT 06851. Given the importance of Jesus Guild’s work in fostering evangelizing catechesis, Bishop Caggiano asked Fr. Clark to deliver the first in the Bishop’s Lecture Series for 2024.

Fr. Clark has firsthand experience of Gothic Architecture, having grown up among the arcades of Exeter Cathedral in England and studied for an MA in Theology at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge University, in the shadow of the incomparable King’s College Chapel.

In this lecture, Fr. Clark plots the natural evolution of Gothic architecture as a quest to respond to the light: practically, in terms of creating humane spaces for religious activity, but theologically, discovering beauty in function over form through the pursuit of light. In both ways, the One who is light itself is made present in these awe-inspiring places created for sacred worship.

Register now online at www.bridgeportdiocese.org/bls or email [email protected]

Retables and Tabernacles

Jesus Guild is in the early stages of researching the Gothic ‘retable’ (pronounced ‘ri-táy-bul’: a decorative panel behind the Altar in major medieval churches) for an exciting new project.

The space behind the Altar is always quite delicate - it must provide a fitting backdrop to the Mass, but at the same time it must not dominate or overwhelm it. A number of solutions have been proposed throughout the centuries.

In the Middle Ages, the Blessed Sacrament was not reserved on the Altar. Its purpose in being reserved was not to facilitate communion of the Faithful at Mass, but a convenient place to store Communion for the Dying as Viaticum.

As the praiseworthy Cult of Blessed Sacrament matured and developed over time, the Roman Rite had to accommodate the practice of Eucharistic Reservation in new, and more prominent, ways.

In England and France, Tabernacles, known as Pyxes, were suspended from a pulley over the Altar: the English form was somewhat like an architectural pinnacle; the French form was often as a Dove. In Germany, a freestanding tower called a Sakramentshaus was a notable solution: some survive today.

Much of this development was halted in the Sixteenth Century by the emergent notion that Altars be built with a central Tabernacle, an intelligent solution seemingly first proposed by Reginald, Cardinal Pole, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, as part of his practical measures to implement the re-establishment of the Catholic Faith in England under Mary I between 1555 and 1558.

Perhaps on the advice of his Welsh Vicar General, Dr. Owen Lewis, St. Charles Borromeo implemented Pole’s Tabernacle idea for his own Archdiocese of Milan, and the custom spread almost universally for the Roman Rite after that. But a central Tabernacle does not permit a retable in the medieval form.

Later, under the auspices of the Liturgical Movement, as attention turned to the centrality of the Altar as place of Sacrifice, a studied ambiguity regards whether a central Tabernacle was still desirable arose. Today, with the dominance of Altars built apart from the wall, to permit celebration of Mass versus populum the question of a suitable backdrop has come to the fore again.

This is because to retain the Tabernacle in the apex position of the Apse, whilst having an Altar that can be used versus populum demands a lot of space. The Altar needs sufficient circulation space for the priest to celebrate comfortably; whilst the Tabernacle needs both elevation and prominence. It is not an easy quandary to solve.

In our view, the worst solution to this dilemma is to have two altars in the Sanctuary, which never looks right, and lends an unacceptable degree of provisionality in liturgical furnishings. Perhaps there are better, and more imaginative solutions: in some churches a Blessed Sacrament Chapel (a highly traditional option in Cathedral Churches) might provide a better solution; or even the return of the Sakramentshaus as a prominent and fitting place for reservation and devotion.

But our preference is for a revival of the hanging Pyx: and this has been seen in some places in the United States, recently, most notably at the dedication of the new Bethany Chapel in Boston, MA by Cardinal O’Malley.

Such a solution in smaller churches would lead to a wonderful sense of the numinous with the Blessed Sacrament hovering in time and space over the Altar, but on a practical level, a smaller place of reservation would encourage the Consecration of sufficient Hosts for distribution at the same Mass (as strongly desired by Vatican II SC 55; GIRM 13) becoming a normative practice where in many places, for convenience’s sake, it is not.

It would also permit the resurgence of the retable as an artistic focus for the Sanctuary. This would be a great benefit to those seeking to restore and enhance Gothic spaces. They need not be as elaborate as Westminster or Thornham Parva, but a well-executed retable could be procured with relative ease from local craftsmen, and provide a glimpse of heaven that everyone needs.