It has been a busy month going through boxes of redundant and unused vestments and linens which have arrived from other churches for relocating. It is like Christmas when these things appear in my office. I have quite a number of chalice pall inserts in various sizes and a good deal of linen remnants in various lengths. If your altar guild would like to make a new chalice pall, I am able to send you the insert (either cardboard, plexiglass or metal) and enough linen with an iron-on transfer and making directions to make a pall. They are really not very hard to do. (Revdma@aol.com )
I will be putting up a slideshow this weekend of some of the pretty embroideries I have seen over the summer and of some of the vestments I have relocated. My project for the autumn is documenting needlepoint in the Diocese of Rhode Island. Back in 1995 I did a program on this fascinating topic for the ECW but now we have digital photography, I think I can get better results. Rhode Island does have some LOVELY kneelers and other needlepoint items. Please let me know if your sacristy is in need of something in particular- I may just have it-and my husband will be delighted to see more “church things” exit our burgeoning front parlor!
What beautiful weather we are having! – just the right time to air out our sacristy closets and drawers after the muggy August we endured. September is a time for starting the back-to-church season with all its many programs on a fresh note.
the wane. Those electrified candles alas, aren’t quite the same thing! Still a staple in most Episcopal churches are kneelers in a hassock style, or pull-down hard kneelers on a wooden frame.
flower of Rhode Island.
A simple prie-dieu offered in a style still very affordable and obtainable through most church furnishing catalogues. The kneeler would look well in needlepoint.
The pelican can often be seen in stained glass windows, an altar reredos
You see them on Ebay identified as “short stoles” by those who are baffled. Once in a while you may see one dangling from left arm of the celebrant in an Anglo-Catholic parish- but seldom these days do you see them in Episcopal churches at the Eucharist. What is it? Well, it is one vestment element of the former basic Eucharistic vestment set- the maniple. How or why the maniple disappeared and went extinct on the chancel is a riddle. Were they getting in the way? Too fussy? Too much trouble? Was there a decree banning maniples? Nobody I have asked seems to know or have an answer. I receive armloads of old maniples in all colors to “recycle” and relocate. Ebay is flooded with unwanted maniples. And a maniple without its matching stole is an unwanted and sad thing indeed.
Along with the stole and chasuble (and perhaps a burse and chalice veil) , a Low Mass set of Eucharistic vestments always included a maniple. The maniple was the outward insignia indicating a subdeacon, deacon, or priest- all of whom are entitled to wear the maniple. The subdeacon receives the maniple, a deacon retains it as the stole (worn diagonally) is bestowed, and a priest or bishop retains the maniple along with the stole. Although of no practical use whatsoever, it has an ancient origin which is most probably Roman. The mappula was a sort of table napkin carried to meals which was used to wipe the mouth and folded at the end of the banquet and carried away folded over the left arm. There was also a silken ceremonial napkin called the mappa which was a luxury by the 4th century and had the dignity of a consular mark. Waved in the right hand, it was a starting signal for races or was waved to show enthusiasm at events and speeches.
At one point , in clerical use, deacons covered their left hand with it, subdeacons held the edges of the paten with it, and it was the “I” in the vestment layout in the sacred monogram IHS. Usually the stole and maniple ends 
matched exactly and were nearly always fringed. The shape of the end of the maniple echoed the shape of the stole ends and some got quite unusual with “spade ends” (think of the garden tool), triangular ends, flared ends and in the 1960′s pretty much no flare at all before the maniple went into obscurity. Got any maniple photos to share? I miss them- the Low Mass set looks a bit unfinished without them- and a jaunty biretta. Puts me in mind of that great song from the musical Annie- You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile. Alas, another reason to mourn Maniple Demise- they furnished a wonderful opportunity for beautiful and highly visible embroidery work. 
How did they go on and stay on? Sometimes a loop of elastic, sometimes a buttonhole which fit over a button on the alb sleeve- and sometimes you would just “Tie One On”!
But it is the late Elizabeth ” Betty” Hoare 1915-2001 whose praise I loudly sing, for her exceptional effort in rescuing amazing embroidery and church textiles from pre-1840, Victorian, and Edwardian periods from sacristies all around England. Thanks to Betty, examples of remarkable work can now be seen at the Liverpool Cathedral Embroidery Gallery 
I often refer to her company, Watts and Co. of Tufton Street (in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, London) as one of the “Three Sacred W’s”- Wippel, Wareham and Watts!! The Warham Guild, alas is no more- but all three companies produced some of the best quality vestments anywhere, and Watts and Wippell are happily still on the job! In fact, both London stores are cheek and jowl side by side on Tufton Street today in London and a must-see stop if you ever find yourself near Big Ben, St. Margaret’s or Westminster Abbey.
For many years Betty trudged in all weathers across the United Kingdom, rescuing piles of magnificent but unwanted ecclesiastical textiles at a time when these things had fallen out of favor. Many churches literally threw piles of things into Betty’s arms just to make room for the NEW stuff. Imagine THAT! Liverpool Cathedral, recognizing the importance of what Betty had saved, offered gallery space to display some of her treasures. Beautiful fragments and motifs were photographed to make Christmas and greeting cards which you can purchase on the Cathedral website (I had to buy an extra suitcase to stuff full of them on my last trip to Watts).
A few years ago I happened upon a great series of little books about decorative arts in the Church, textiles and church architecture which was printed by A.R. Mowbray and Co. of London in a series spanning the first decade of the 1900′s. “The authors will write for the average intelligent person who has not had the time to study all these matters, and they will therefore avoid technicalities, while endeavoring at the same time to present the facts with a fidelity which will not, it is hoped, be unacceptable to the specialist.”- as the Editor’s note proclaims at the beginning of each slim volume.
These little books may be found on ebay, A Libris, Bibliofind, and other out of print online dealers in the 30-50 dollar range. I have had the most success in finding them in England. Well worth the investment!!
odist background, I must confess to being very intrigued with the textiles and metalware of the Church. Spending my high school years in a Roman Catholic convent school probably had something to do with fostering an interest in All Things Liturgical. I came right in on the heels of Vatican II, but our nuns were a little slow getting around to the little changes, so I still vividly recall having to wear a little lace veil to Mass (which was in Latin), and seeing all of the textiles from maniples to ciborium veils which were used prior to 1969. In some Episcopal churches, even today, many of these veils, and other textiles may still be seen. The most familiar, of course, is the frontal which covers the altar. Frontals or frontlets are 
usually in the color of the feast of the day, or liturgical season. They are, in a sense, a veil for the altar. Many churches in our diocese still use the vested chalice which employs a silk chalice veil, usually matching the vestments of the day.
tabernacle veils (or curtains) -often in silk the color of the paraments for the day. These are usually fringed, handsomely embroidered, and suspended on a brass rod. Many from the 1800-1900′s have small ivory rings at the top which thread over the rod. Cylindrical tabernacles have a sort of canopy arrangement. Inside the tabernacle (or aumbry) there is often a pair of fine linen veils or curtains. These are sometimes trimmed with fine handmade lace. At St. John’s church we always launder these on 
Good Friday when the tabernacle is empty and open. I recall the nuns (training we young sacristans) emphatically scolding us that only the priest or deacon should be opening the tabernacle and handling consecrated elements.
From the booklet of Saint Veronica’s Guild, 1921 and just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day, here are the familiar rosette and fan pattern which was a popular edging for albs and surplices for so many years. 
