Low Mass Sets

Michelmas is upon us- where did the summer go?  Some of us are still cleaning up after Hurricane Irene, and many church yards lost venerable trees and plantings in the big wind.  September brings everyone back from vacations, and at church, ministries and programs are getting up and running again as a new year starts.

Now is the time to have a good look around the sacristy to see what the humid summer months have done.  This is a good time to replenish supplies, air out cupboards and drawers, and have a good look at what needs repairing or cleaning.

I enjoyed visiting Grace Church last month, and meeting Marty, the directress there. She graciously showed me around the sacristy and showed me some of the wonderful textiles in inventory. I will be putting up a slide show very soon. 

A question arose as I was looking at inventory to relocate to other parishes.  Should low mass sets be broken up?  The answer is simply, NO!!

 A low mass set is comprised of chasuble, stole, burse, chalice veil and maniple. Although many churches have stopped using maniples, chalice veils and burses, should the set ever be either sold or relocated, a COMPLETE set is more valuable, and might be used in another parish. If the humeral veil, tunicle, dalmatic, cope, frontal and stoles and maniples are added to that list above, you have a Solemn High Mass set of vestments.  A few years ago we located such a set in the inventory of the textile school at URI- and how exciting it was to see every single piece still there! So, before you toss out or give up individual pieces of a set, be sure the rest of the set is beyond repair, sale, or relocating.

* Blessed vestments and linens, of course, must be burned when they are no longer fit to be used.