The tunicle is a

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

vestment Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...

associated with

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

, and

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Contemporary use

For a description of the tunicle, see

dalmatic The dalmatic is a long, wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, and some other churches. When used, it is the proper vestment of a deacon at Mass, Holy Communion or other ...

, the vestment with which it became identical in form, although earlier editions of the ''

Caeremoniale Episcoporum The ''Cæremoniale Episcoporum'' () is a liturgical book that describes the church services to be performed by bishops of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. History Pope Clement VIII published on 14 July 1600 the first book to bear this ...

'' indicated that it should have narrower sleeves. Sometimes it was also distinguished by a single horizontal band on the front and back, as opposed to the double band of the dalmatic.

History

In Rome, subdeacons had begun to wear the tunicle by the sixth century, but

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...

made them return to the use of the

chasuble The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...

. They began to use the tunicle again in the ninth century, a time when it was also worn by acolytes, a custom that was widespread until the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and can still occasionally be found in some Anglican and Catholic churches for acolytes and

crucifer A crucifer or cross-bearer is, in some Christian churches (particularly the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, Anglican Communion, and Methodist Churches), a person appointed to carry the church's processional cross, a cross or crucif ...

s. In some places outside Rome, subdeacons continued to wear the tunicle even from the sixth to the ninth centuries. The ceremony by which the bishop put a tunicle on a subdeacon whom he ordained began in the twelfth century, but did not become common until the fourteenth. Roman

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

s once wore the tunicle under the dalmatic, and the tunicle was part of the liturgical vestments of other dignitaries also. In the twelfth century it became customary for

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s to wear both a tunicle and a dalmatic as part of their pontifical vestments. Previously they had worn one or the other. Earlier editions of the ''Caeremoniale Episcoporum'' made the wearing of both obligatory at a

Pontifical High Mass A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn Mass, Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word ''pontifical'' is al ...

, but the present edition speaks only of the dalmatic.

References

External links

* {{Lutheran Divine Service Anglican vestments Lutheran vestments Roman Catholic vestments History of clothing History of clothing (Western fashion) History of fashion Byzantine clothing