Gregorius Magnus - Summer 2023 - Edition no. 15

from Gregorius Magnus - Summer 2023 - Edition no. 15

Gregorius Magnus - Summer 2023 - Edition no. 15

Faciesque vestem sanctam Aaron fratri tuo in gloriam et decorum. (Exodus 28:2) And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron, thy brother, for glory and for beauty.

The Guild of St Clare was founded in Oxford in 2009. Its purpose is to repair and make the liturgical vestments necessary for the celebration of the Traditional liturgy of the Catholic Church, to pass on the skills necessary for this, and also to promote domestic sewing.

This rather specialised apostolate, which is affiliated to the Latin Mass Society, has proved very popular. It now has five chapters in different parts of the country: Oxford, Birmingham, London, Withermarsh Green, and the

North (encompassing Manchester and York). Each year it holds two residential retreats, an annual training event with the Royal School of Needlework (RSN), and numerous other local and national meetings to make and repair vestments.

We prefer to let the photographs speak for themselves, but the Guild is characterised by two key principles.

The first is the Guild’s association with the Traditional Mass. This unites both the participants and the work they do. It means that the Guild’s members and volunteers do their work in a spirit of service to the Church, providing an indispensable (but too often lacking) practical support for the celebration of the ancient Mass. The liturgy should be celebrated using vestments worthy of it. The ancient Mass requires specialist vestments (maniple, tunicle, humeral veil, etc.) little known in the Novus Ordo These vestments require traditional skills to be mended or replaced. Only those with a love for the old liturgy will be motivated to do this work.

Second is the Guild’s commitment to traditional techniques and high standards. At Guild events, work can be found for sewers of all levels of experience, but it is part of the Guild’s mission to pass on techniques learnt from experts in the field, particularly the RSN. Leading members of the Guild have qualifications from this venerable institution, and formal and informal training is built into its events.

**Replacing spangles on a Benediction humeral veil**

Despite decades of often wanton destruction, Catholic sacristies still contain mountains of vestments from the ‘old days’. These are frequently in a poor state of repair, and sets are often missing items. Every few months a suitcase-ful of them arrives at the offices of the Latin Mass Society, often saved from being thrown away. Sometimes chasubles are preserved with nothing else; sometimes everything is present except a maniple, or a stole, or a chalice veil. Shoulders and edges may be worn; linings may need to be replaced; old, botched repairs may need to be redone; fine embroidery may need to be secured and repaired.

The Guild aims, with skill, patience, and love, to bring these vestments back to life: to make it possible for them to be used once more for the celebration of Holy Mass.

More information about the Guild of St Clare can be found at https://guildofstclare.org or by emailing guildofstclare@lms.org.uk.