may be used for liturgy just because i t is beautiful , in the
Trapp ist Mona ste ry is well known for i ts Holy Rood Guild
same way that not every beautiful indigenous container
whi ch has been produ cin g litu rgical vessels and vestments
may be used for the wine and bread to be used for the
and all ki nds of religious art for so many years now. Fr. James,
Holy Eucharist. Aesthet ic considerations should not be the
the chief designer, we lcom ed me to thei r workshops where
only gauge . Otherwise , the possibility of the liturgy being
I ob served eve ry single pha se of vest ment making, from the
submerged or even sup pressed becomes too great, as what
designing and cutting of patterns to the final putting together
happened in the Baroque Mass . 8s One has to have first a
of the garm ents i n a mans ion just outside t he mon astery
deep understanding of the nature of these materials , their
ground s wh ere 25 sea mstresses worked fu ll time to finish
use in the particular ethnolinguistic group from which they
the orders com in g in from all over th e world.
came . A good background on the symbolism found in the
From Spence r, I proceeded to New York where I continued
woven fabric is very important. The meaning of the
my research work at the Anton io Ra tti Textile Center of the
particular color, if any, should be understood before one
Metropol i tan Museu m of Art. Be in g able to have a private
can proceed to use these materials . One has to be sure ,
viewi ng of 18th and 19th century ves tmen ts the very next
first of all , that there is nothing in the material that is
day after I had requ ested for it was in Itse l f one of the
incompatible with the liturgical celebration . Elements of
many mi racles t ha t I experienced during this project. I found
culture that cannot be made to harmonize with the rule of
out th at i t wou ld ordin arily take a fe w days before the
the Christian faith , morality, and worship have QO place i n
sign atures required for approving such requests could be
liturgical celebrations . As Fr. Anscar Chupungco so succintly
gathered . The magic of prayer, indeed!
puts it: " Inculturation obviously has its risks. The bottom line
The priVate viewing granted to me was quite an experience.
is to take the necessary risk with prudence . And prudence
It wa s like entering an operating room where everything
is a virtue that grows on sound tradition and pastoral
was sterili zed. The attendants wore wh i te aprons and gloves
circumspection , while it ensures the legitimacy of progress. "86
and ea ch vestm ent was wrapped in non -acidic white paper. As I vi ewed t he vest ments one by one , I carefully noted
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ev ery si ngle det ail and could not help but marvel at the experti se of the weave rs and embro iderers who did these
Aside from following the guidelines for vestment s found
vestments cen t uri es ago .
in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and visiting
Instead of going home straight from New York, I asked
20 weaving centers and ethnic groups all over the country
perm iSSion to go home via Europe to make the most out of
to observe their weaving traditions , studying the vestment collections in the great museums of the world was something that I felt was necessary. I was able to do this right after
o
my visit to St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer in November of 1997 for my monastic exposure, a chance given to solemnly professed monks to observe and be nourished by the experience of living in another monastic community. At St . Joseph's Abbey, I was welcomed by Fr. Prior Joseph Chukong , OCSD, who was formerly the abbot of the Trappist Monastery of Our Lady of the Philippines i n Guimaras . Thi s
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