"During the vesting of the bishop before the mass, I was at first taken aback by what seemed like the worldliness of it all to me. One of the commentators mentioned that "the bishop doesn’t do this for his own glory but for God’s" and at first I reacted the way any red-blooded American college-aged male would: I thought it smacked of self-aggrandizement, with the cappa magna and the lace, and the assisting priests doing everything while Bp. Slattery looked on. But I began to think about how I can’t even bear to wear a button up shirt and tie, and I thought, "You know, if I were called to vest myself in that way, I would feel very burdened and a little silly, but I would do it for the solemnity of the occasion, to honor Christ." It really made me think about how even though a lot of Catholic tradition may seem worldly and self-seeking, I think it’s because our society gone the opposite direction of idealizing the "down-to-earth" and the "folksy" (and denigrating anything "uppity"), which is surely not how we should approach the Maker of Heaven and Earth!"
Yesterday as I was sitting on the bus, this comment popped into my head again, and I started to ponder the idea of vestments and cassocks. Indeed, a common remark on the Church and particularly on priests is that they wear "funny dresses". My father, a nominal Presbyterian, also questions sometimes why priests wear vestments, with the intention of saying that they do this for glory. But as the above commentator remarked, they are not exactly comfortable and are extremely showy - almost too much so for even the vainest of persons. So it is safe to say that they don't dress up like this in order to show off, but rather it is an act of humility to concede wearing such garments. Although they may be burdensome to wear, slightly impractical, and totally out of fashion, they reflect the great wonder and glory of God's action working through the priest or bishop. Indeed, they almost hide the person of the priest, showing that what they do is not of their own origin, but rather it comes from God. As the representative of Christ in the Mass, is it not fitting that they be the most visible and most eye-catching person there?
Now, people may concede that it is all very well for priests to be distinctive during Mass, but what is this fuss about cassocks? Why can't they just wear normal clothing? If they really must be identified outside of Mass for other reasons, such as the other sacraments, why not just use the dog collar? Of course, there are actually many priests who do just that - they wear normal jeans and t-shirts with a dog collar. However, as I thought further about the matter, I realised that, like wearing splendid vestments during Mass, wearing a cassock is an act of humility and submission. The priest, having surrendered his life to the will of God, surrenders also his choice of clothing, which can often be a marker of personality, taste, etc. By wearing the simple black cassock, the priest becomes more identifyable as a priest who serves God and His flock, and less identifyable as the priest who likes Doc Martins and Levi's, who supports Celtic or Aberdeen (Scottish Premier League football teams, neither of which, by the way, I support), who is always wearing the quaintest golf jumpers, etc. This is not to say that their personality does not matter, but it comes very far behind administering to the faithful. Indeed, I would even argue that their personality can be more easily discovered, as no prejudgements are made before meeting them based on what they wear.Finally, cassocks show to the secular world that priests are in the world, evidenced by the fact that we can see them, but they are not of the world since they reject any current fashion trends, even general trends on the colour of clothes. They are still priests outside of Mass, still representatives of Christ, and therefore they are always be identifyable as being ready for those who need them by wearing cassocks. Let us pray for priests, that they may deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and confort their hearts, minds and wills to His Heart.
St John Mary Vianney, pray for us! Pope St Pius V, pray for us!
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