Meeting people in Rome

Near the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, there are several shops selling vestments and Church plate. Meeting priest friends there is almost inevitable and the other day was no exception. In addition, I made the acquaintance of a most affable priest from the Society of St Pius X, working in County Dublin, who kindly told me that he reads this blog. (Very good to meet you Father!)

Shop windows in Rome, like those in Oxford Street, tell something of changing fashions. For some time, Gammarelli has had Roman vestments displayed; but Barbiconi is now catching up fast with no fewer than three such vestments in one window:

Here is a closer view of that purple vestment:

Even De Ritis (which Fr Guy Nicholls and I used to refer to jokingly as "De Ritibus") has a roman vestment alongside the cowled polyester garments.

Notice that the Roman vestments are always arranged to display the back of the vestment whereas the modern ones are "facing the people" ;-)

BTW - in response to enquiries: yes I will post photos of the green vestments that arrived from Gammarelli's the other day. I will also make sure that photos are taken when they are first used (i.e. next week since tomorrow is the feast of Christ the King in the old calendar.)

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