First Vespers of Advent at Cornell Society for a Good Time

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The papal wardrobe for the First Vespers of Advent, courtesy of Archbishop Piero Marini. Ugly? Yay or nay? One thing is for sure: that mitre is way too short for the Supreme Pontiff and Patriarch of the West. Why hasn’t he been fired already?

Published by Iosephus November 26th, 2005

9 Responses to “First Vespers of Advent”

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1 Tobias Petrus Nov 26th, 2005 at 8:10 pm

Ugly. Marini’s gay?
2 Scotus Nov 26th, 2005 at 9:06 pm

Definitely ugly. The cope and stole look almost rose, instead of violet.

Also, shouldn’t the Supreme Pontiff . . . pontificate, rather than stand and speak at a microphone?
3 Iosephus Nov 26th, 2005 at 10:11 pm

Tobias Petrus, I don’t think it’s a detail advertised on the Vatican website’s Office of Liturgical Celebrations, but it was something related to us by a priest who studied in Rome and who visited us last year. He was quite sure of it. His selection as head of liturgies was another instance of John Paul’s gay-dar failing to work at all.
4 John Nov 27th, 2005 at 3:00 am

I was there. When I heard the pope was to be the celebrant, I decided to go hoping for a high Roman liturgy in Latin. I was disappointed.

It was very Marini-esque. Vespers was (apparently) conducted according to the principle that prayer is better when it is constantly being interrupted by commentary. Brilliant idea.

We had an explanation of the psalm before each psalm. We had ‘psalm prayers’ after each psalm. The psalms and readings were in the vernacular. The music style was a broken combination of Gregorian chant and high renaissance polyphony. (people: “A-men.” choir: “amen amen amen amen amen amen amen”). Both styles are awesome, but when they are combined, I can’t settle down.

My guess: This was Marini’s last hurrah. Oremus ut sic sit.
5 Quintero Nov 27th, 2005 at 5:59 am

Yes, I hope it was indeed Marini’s last tango. The mitre and cope have got to go.

It looks as if the Holy Father is wearing an alb instead of cassock and surplice. Tacky.
6 Iosephus Nov 27th, 2005 at 11:44 am

John, that’s too bad about the Vespers. Apparently, the liberal liturgists thought that a pontifical vespers would be a good “teaching moment” so they covered it over with words.

The regular Sunday Vespers (I know this was Saturday eve) are generally pretty solid, not fabulous, but nice. Do you often go to the Sunday Vespers there?
7 Tenth row from the holy father Nov 29th, 2005 at 11:00 am

As far as the wardrobe, the pictures really do not do it juctice. Yes, the mitre was too short, but the cope was much more violet than what you can tell in the picture.
8 Anonymous Jan 3rd, 2006 at 9:33 pm

The only thing RIGHT about the mitre was the height. Nothing looks more insanely silly than a little papal head in a huge pointy hat. Thank God we have the Anglicans to preserve taste in liturgical vesture.

The WRONG thing about the mitre was the fabric of which it was made. Saints and Angels, it looks like wallpaper from a cheap Vegas club.
9 Anonymous Jan 3rd, 2006 at 10:53 pm

Haha..all this fuss over mitres when we all know what headwear he really needs!