[75] Sentent. IV, dist. 24, quaest. 3, art. 3, _ad fin._ ed. Parmae (1873), vol. vii, p. 913.
THE HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROCESSIONAL VESTMENTS; THE ORNAMENTATION OF VESTMENTS.
In addition to the garments already described, which are more properly appropriated to the Eucharistic service, there are a few which are assumed on other occasions by the clergy of the Western Church. The occasions upon which these particular vestments are worn belong properly to the province of Chapter VII. We accordingly postpone the discussion of them until that chapter is reached, concerning ourselves here with the development, shape, and ornamentation of the vestments themselves.
The vestments which we have to describe in this chapter are the cassock, surplice (with its modifications, the rochet and cotta), almuce, and cope. These constitute the so-called processional vestments; a misnomer, because they are not exclusively appropriated to processions. There are, besides, certain others of a more general character, not strictly falling under the head of either Eucharistic or Processional vesture, and they will be more conveniently described in this chapter also. These are the canon's cope, the mozetta, the Roman collar, and the various types of sacerdotal head-dress.
I. _The Cassock._—The cassock was the long outer gown which was worn by everyone, clerical and lay, male and female, during the eleventh, twelfth, and succeeding centuries. When it was abandoned for the very much more convenient short coat, that conservatism in ecclesiastical matters, to which the very existence of ecclesiastical vestments is due, prevented the clergy from following the example of the laity, and left the cassock as the distinctive outer garment of the clergy on ordinary occasions, as it still remains. The dignity attaching to a long garment was also probably a factor in causing its ecclesiastical retention.
The Eucharistic vestments were placed over the cassock, as the cassock was placed over the under-garments of the wearer. But it was so entirely concealed by the long alb that it could scarcely be regarded as an essential part of the vestments for the Eucharistic office. The case was different, however, when the priest was vested in processional attire, for the lower end of the cassock appeared very prominently under the surplice, and its presence was consequently essential to complete the processional outfit. We therefore discuss this vestment under the head 'Processional' rather than under the head 'Eucharistic.'