P H OENIX COPE by David Flick
F
r. Casey was immediately struck by the beauty of the vestment he saw online last spring: made of hand-embroidered gold damask, the clerical garment — properly known as a cope —was emblazoned with the f igure of a phoenix, a traditional symbol of resurrection or rebirth. A f itting symbol, Fr. Casey thought, for what at the time seemed the end of the pandemic. Fr. Casey shared a photo of the cope with Frances Martin, a friend and longtime parishioner. “Casey thought it was beautiful, and I thought it would be wonderful for the church to have a new cope, so I said, ‘Let’s do it’,” Mrs. Martin said. Furthermore, there was a perfect moment to display it for the f irst time: the upcoming ordination of the Rev. Ted Clarkson, the f irst such ceremony at Transf iguration in a generation. Through her generosity, the cope was commissioned from Watts & Co., a London firm whose creations since the 19th Century have included not only clerical vestments, but coronation robes for the British monarchy. “We thought, what a perfect debut for the cope, to be worn for this celebration of something brand new in the church,” Fr. Casey said. “It all came together perfectly.” At f irst. The robe was commissioned June 10, with assurances that it would be ready well before Fr. Ted’s ordination on July 8. A week before the ceremony, the company notif ied Transf iguration off icials that the robe had been shipped and would arrive July 2.
But July 2 came and went. Sophie Lowrance, the church administrator, was assigned to track it down. The next three days were the Fourth of July weekend, and no one at the delivery service was available. Two days before the ordination, she received a note from Watts & Co. that the vestment had been held up in customs. On July 7, the day before the ordination, she was assured that the vestment was still scheduled for delivery — in three to f ive days.
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Concluding that the cope was not going to arrive in time for the ordination ceremony, Fr. Casey called Mrs. Martin with the disappointing news. “She was sad. She was so looking forward to seeing it,” he said. “But she understood.” On the morning of the ceremony, Fr. Casey received a text saying the vestment was still sitting in the Miami airport and the import duty had not been paid. Church off icials went online and made the payment. To their relief, they immediately received a text acknowledging receipt, and that the vestment had been cleared to be sent to Dallas. Meanwhile, the subject of that ordination, Ted Clarkson, had another distraction. A few days before the ceremony — which would require lots of standing — he had sprained his ankle. “I knew all the concern about the cope was going on. But for me, it was kind of in the background,” he said. And the drama of the cope continued.
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