Why Do You Do That?!

What Rowan Wore!

Okay so I did finally sit down and watch some of the wedding service of Prince William and now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. My excuse is that I have two little girls who wanted to see the princess and two little boys who enjoyed the cavalry and the fly overs. But truth be told, I am a sucker for anything involving Westminster Abbey and the Archbishop of Canterbury. So, riding with the flow of this weekend's big news event, I thought I would write a post on what Rowan wore. Of course the world is all abuzz with talk of Kate's wedding gown but I thought as a little diversion I would walk us through this photo of the Archbishop of Canterbury as an exemplar of episcopal dress. None of it is unique to the Archbishop but could rightly be worn by any bishop of the Anglican Church.

First note the hat (unfortunately somewhat cropped in this photo). This is called a mitre (yes like the mitre box saw which is designed to cut angles similar to the angles of the mitre). This is traditionally worn by bishops as a sign of their apostolic authority as it is symbolic of the tongues of fire which came to rest on the heads of the apostles on the day of Pentecost (thus its unique shape).

Next we note the richly ornamented over cloak which His Grace is wearing. This is called a cope which is latin for...you guessed it, cape. The cope is worn by clergy (not only bishops but also priests) for formal processions and choir offices (meaning non-Eucharistic events).

Under the cope next is worn the stole which is worn by all ordained clergy. Bishops and priests wear the stole as the Archbishop is here, over both shoulders with both ends coming down in the front. Deacons also wear the stole but they only wear it over the left shoulder, typically crossing to the right hip like a sash.

Under the stole the Archbishop is wearing the rochete, the white linen vestment. This is similar to the surplice which many priests wear but it is distinct to bishops and is more fitted than the free flowing surplice. All of these vestments are similar in that they are always white. This is the basic vestment of the clergy and they are white as a reminder of the baptismal robe that all believers were traditionally given to don after baptism. This reminds us of two things - first, the basic qualification for ministry is baptism, and likewise it reminds all the baptized of their place as members of the priesthood of all believers.

Under the rochete is worn the cassock. This is the basic garment of the clergy. It is an ankle length robe. The Anglican style is double breasted as distinct from the Roman Catholic cassock which is straight with buttons down the front. Priests wear a black cassock while bishops and Archbishops wear a cassock of purple (in varying shades - frankly sometimes it looks almost pink to me).

I am sorry I have no information on the designers of any of these garments and I am pretty sure they will not be the talk of the town like Her Highness' but I was probably pushing the parameters of this blog's stated purpose as it is. So, enjoy your fix of Anglophilia for this decade. In future I will post about the typical Sunday dress of the priest and deacon. But for now, enjoy the Most Rev. Dr. Williams in all his glory.