Importance of vestments

Of that growth the Eucharistic vestments themselves are a witness, a witness that the Church goes back through the Middle Ages, through the Dark Ages and the barbarian invasions, back to the Roman Empire and to the great persecutions when the Church heroically guarded, and handed down for us, the Catholic Faith delivered by Jesus to his Apostles.  And the vestments also remind us that the Church holds fast to the same truth as she did then, that the Blessed Sacrament is Our Lord’s Ascended Body and that in the Eucharist we offer him to God as the Saviour of the world. 

And the vestments are also a reminder of our responsibility and privilege as Christians to safeguard the Faith and hand it on to those who come after us.

SUMMARY

1. The Eucharistic vestments were once the ordinary dress worn by people in the Roman Empire.  It is the only everyday custom which has survived the barbarian invasions of 1,600 years ago.

2. The vestments usually worn today are the alb (white undergarment), stole (official scarf/sign of service) and the chasuble (cloak).  The colours are white or gold, purple, red, green and black.

3. The vestments remind us that the Eucharist today is the same as it was in the Early Church, namely, the offering to God of Our Lord Jesus Christ upon his throne of glory and in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

4. The vestments are also a reminder of our responsibility as Christians to safeguard the Faith and hand it on to those who come after us.

Reference

Dix, G. (1945) The shape of the liturgy, Westminster: Dacre Press.