Vestments & Sacred Vessels

What the priest wears

From the inside out, a priest vests in layers, each with a short prayer traditionally said while putting it on:

• Amice — a rectangular linen cloth tied around the neck and shoulders, worn beneath everything else.
• Alb — the long white garment reaching to the feet, symbolizing the purity of soul required to approach the altar (from the Latin albus, "white").
• Cincture — a cord tied around the waist over the alb, symbolizing chastity and self-mastery.
• Stole — a long narrow band worn around the neck, the specific symbol of priestly and diaconal ordination; a priest wears it hanging straight down, a deacon diagonally across one shoulder.
• Chasuble — the outer, often ornately decorated garment worn over everything else at Mass, in the liturgical color of the day (see the Liturgical Year page).

Other liturgical attire

A deacon assisting at Mass wears the dalmatic, a wide-sleeved tunic, instead of a chasuble. Outside of Mass, clergy have traditionally worn the cassock, a long, close-fitting black robe, sometimes with a surplice (a shorter white garment) over it for other liturgical functions. A bishop adds his own distinctive items: the mitre, a tall pointed hat; the crosier, a shepherd's staff symbolizing his pastoral care of the diocese; and, at solemn non-Mass ceremonies, a cope, a long cape-like vestment.

Sacred vessels

Because they will hold the Body and Blood of Christ, the vessels used at Mass are treated with particular reverence, traditionally made of precious metal or lined with gold:

• Chalice — the cup that holds the wine, which becomes the Precious Blood.
• Paten — the small plate that holds the host, which becomes the Body of Christ.
• Ciborium — a covered, cup-like vessel used to hold consecrated hosts for distributing Communion to the congregation, and for reserving the Eucharist in the tabernacle.
• Monstrance — an ornate stand with a glass window, used to display a consecrated host for Eucharistic Adoration.
• Pyx — a small, often pocket-sized case used to carry Communion to the sick or homebound.
• Cruets — small pitchers holding the water and wine brought to the altar at the Offertory.

Sacred linens

A few specific cloths complete the altar's furnishings: the corporal, a square white cloth spread on the altar beneath the chalice and paten to catch any fragment of the host; the purificator, a small cloth used to wipe the chalice; and the pall, a stiffened square card, often covered in linen, placed over the chalice to keep dust or insects out.

Walk through the Elements of the Mass