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Views from the Choir Loft

Vesting Prayers • Part 3 of 9

Fr. David Friel · July 19, 2015

HE AMICE is a vestment that garners little attention while holding magnificent significance. An amice is simply a rectangular piece of white cloth with long strings attached at two corners. It is worn about the shoulders and used to cover the priest’s clerical garb so that it cannot be seen after he dons the alb. The strings are tied around the waist to secure the placement of the vestment.

Before the priest wraps the amice around his shoulders and over his collar, he first touches the linen to the top of his head, while reciting this prayer:

Impone, Domine, capiti meo galeam salutis, ad expugnandos diabolicos incursus.

Place, O Lord, upon my head the helmet of salvation, that I may repel the assaults of the enemy.

The text of this prayer elucidates the beauty that motivates the wearing of the garment. It draws upon a text of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (Eph 6:17), which speaks about the “helmet of salvation.” This passage comes in the context of a larger description of the armor of God, which is to be put on by every faithful Christian. That this prayer asks God to place the helmet, Himself, is especially beautiful.

The helmet, of course, is a protective garment, meant to shield its wearer from outside forces. At Mass, the most prevalent outside forces are likely not spears or bullets, but profane distractions. Too often, we live under the false assumption that clergymen are immune from such distractions. What types of thoughts could possibly distract a priest celebrant during the Holy Sacrifice? Many things:

A fainting altar boy Frustration with the cantor/organist/deacon/lector Last-minute mental rehearsal of the homily Parish business brought to mind by seeing a certain parishioner in the pews Ugh . . . the music is soooo slow! Did I remember to lock the rectory door? Wondering what’s for lunch/dinner

These mundane thoughts, among many others, afflict priests as much as they do the lay faithful. We would all benefit from offering a prayer before Mass that asks for the grace to overcome the devil’s attempts to distract us.

So many priests do not bother to wear the amice, either because they deem it frivolous or because they wear a style of alb that fully covers their clerical garb. Priests who do wear the amice, in fact, are often written off as “conservative” or “traditional.”

I wear the amice, and I do so not out of nostalgia nor to appear somehow pious or traditional or conservative. I wear the amice because of the rich symbolism it holds. Until my preparation for diaconate ordination, when I memorized the brilliant vesting prayer that accompanies the amice, I was unaware of this symbolism. Now that I am aware, why would I want to offer Mass without the benefit of the helmet of salvation?

Part 1 • Introduction

Part 2 • The Hand Washing

Part 3 • The Amice

Part 4 • The Alb

Part 5 • The Cincture

Part 6 • The Maniple

Part 7 • The Stole

Part 8 • The Chasuble

Part 9 • The Dalmatic

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Traditional Catholic Vestments, Vesting Prayers Last Updated: March 29, 2021

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The effectiveness of liturgy does not lie in experimenting with rites and altering them over and over, nor in a continuous reductionism, but solely in entering more deeply into the word of God and the mystery being celebrated. It is the presence of these two that authenticates the Church’s rites, not what some priest decides, indulging his own preferences.

— Liturgicae Instaurationes (1970)

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