New vestments for Westminster

The Westminster diocese website's Archbishop Vincent Nichols - Installation Blog has some interesting news. New vestments have been commissioned by the friends of Westminster Cathedral for the Installation Mass. They will be made by the respected firm Watts & Co. Here is the description:
The vestments are inspired by the Neo-Byzantine architecture of the Cathedral and in accordance with Francis Bentley's ideas.The main fabric is Cloth of Gold, woven in the UK, with a design of Griffins, emblems of the dual nature of Our Lord, enriched with plain gold fabric. All the vestments will be entirely hand made in the great tradition of sacred vestment making.
Some photos of the new vestments being made should be up on the blog early next week. They are to be used for Christmas, Easter and other major feasts.

To pre-empt the usual stuff, shall we run through some salient points?
  • The Catholic Church is the largest healthcare provider in the world, the largest education provider etc. (see the video Catholics Come Home)
  • At the heart of the life of the Catholic Church is the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy which is the source and summit of its charitable work
  • Enhancing the Sacred Liturgy does not detract from the charitable work of the Church but encourages it
If you want to go with the "this money could have been spent on the poor" argument (H/T Judas Iscariot) you could probably get a hearing in a certain Catholic weekly.

Seriously, though, it is very good news that the installation of Archbishop Nichols is to be marked by this investment which will be modest in terms of cost but highly significant in terms of commitment to excellence in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.

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