Mungo
Member
Vestments
Why did God give special vestments to Aaron and the priests under the old Covenant?
God said these were “holy garments,,,, for glory and for beauty”. For whose glory was that? For Aaron’s or for God’s? For God’s obviously. Moreover they were holy garments – set aside for liturgical use.
"And for Aaron's sons you shall make coats and girdles and caps; you shall make them for glory and beauty.” (Ex 28:40) And it was not only Aaron but all the priests who served God. Again it was not for the glory of the priests but for the glory of God.
We are not under the old covenant and we do not have Aaronic priests but the principle is the same. For sacred use there are special clothes, set apart from ordinary use, to give glory to God when in his sacred ministry at the altar. When the old covenant ended there was not a total discontinuity. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant. The New Covenant was a fulfilment of the Old.
When you go to a friends wedding you don’t go in jeans and t-shirt (at least most people don’t). You put on very smart clothes. This is not to say “look at me, how smart I am”. It’s out of respect for the bride and groom, recognising the importance of the occasion. The bride and groom usually wear special clothes bought for the occasion. When “Fr. Brown” wears beautiful vestments on the altar at Mass it’s not because he is showing off. It’s because he is presiding at the most solemn and important liturgical occasion in the Catholic Church and is showing respect and giving glory to God, just as the priests in the Temple were.
One item a priest wears is a stole, like a long thin piece of cloth that goes around the neck and hangs down the front. In the middle there is a small cross. When a priest puts on his stole he kisses the cross as sign of submission to Christ and that he is willingly taking on Christ’s yoke (it goes round the shoulders like a yoke). When he puts on the alb (the long white robe) he says “Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that, being made white in the blood of the Lamb, I may come to eternal joy”.
I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple (Rev 7:14-15)
Many things in Judaism and Catholicism are seen in John’s vision: - a robed high priest, other robed priests, candle stands, an altar, incense, antiphonal chants, intercessory prayer.
I have an excellent book “The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and The Origins of Catholic Christianity” by Taylor Marshall. He was an Episcopalian minister who converted to Catholicism. The reason he converted is very interesting – but that’s for another time.
In the book he devotes 13 chapters to links between 13 different aspects of Judaism that are found in the Catholic Church. No. 6 is Jewish Vestments, Catholic Vestments.
He says in his book “I became a Catholic Christian because I realised that the Catholic Church could trace her doctrine, liturgy, customs and morality back to those Jewish beginnings when a rabbi named Jesus roamed the Holy Land with a band of Jewish disciples. As a Catholic Christian I am linked not only to the early Church, but also to the ancient tradition of the Old Testament. I can now say with the Apostle Paul (who was Rabbi Saul):
I share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all (Rom 4:16)"
Why did God give special vestments to Aaron and the priests under the old Covenant?
God said these were “holy garments,,,, for glory and for beauty”. For whose glory was that? For Aaron’s or for God’s? For God’s obviously. Moreover they were holy garments – set aside for liturgical use.
"And for Aaron's sons you shall make coats and girdles and caps; you shall make them for glory and beauty.” (Ex 28:40) And it was not only Aaron but all the priests who served God. Again it was not for the glory of the priests but for the glory of God.
We are not under the old covenant and we do not have Aaronic priests but the principle is the same. For sacred use there are special clothes, set apart from ordinary use, to give glory to God when in his sacred ministry at the altar. When the old covenant ended there was not a total discontinuity. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant. The New Covenant was a fulfilment of the Old.
When you go to a friends wedding you don’t go in jeans and t-shirt (at least most people don’t). You put on very smart clothes. This is not to say “look at me, how smart I am”. It’s out of respect for the bride and groom, recognising the importance of the occasion. The bride and groom usually wear special clothes bought for the occasion. When “Fr. Brown” wears beautiful vestments on the altar at Mass it’s not because he is showing off. It’s because he is presiding at the most solemn and important liturgical occasion in the Catholic Church and is showing respect and giving glory to God, just as the priests in the Temple were.
One item a priest wears is a stole, like a long thin piece of cloth that goes around the neck and hangs down the front. In the middle there is a small cross. When a priest puts on his stole he kisses the cross as sign of submission to Christ and that he is willingly taking on Christ’s yoke (it goes round the shoulders like a yoke). When he puts on the alb (the long white robe) he says “Purify me, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that, being made white in the blood of the Lamb, I may come to eternal joy”.
I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple (Rev 7:14-15)
Many things in Judaism and Catholicism are seen in John’s vision: - a robed high priest, other robed priests, candle stands, an altar, incense, antiphonal chants, intercessory prayer.
I have an excellent book “The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and The Origins of Catholic Christianity” by Taylor Marshall. He was an Episcopalian minister who converted to Catholicism. The reason he converted is very interesting – but that’s for another time.
In the book he devotes 13 chapters to links between 13 different aspects of Judaism that are found in the Catholic Church. No. 6 is Jewish Vestments, Catholic Vestments.
He says in his book “I became a Catholic Christian because I realised that the Catholic Church could trace her doctrine, liturgy, customs and morality back to those Jewish beginnings when a rabbi named Jesus roamed the Holy Land with a band of Jewish disciples. As a Catholic Christian I am linked not only to the early Church, but also to the ancient tradition of the Old Testament. I can now say with the Apostle Paul (who was Rabbi Saul):
I share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all (Rom 4:16)"