clothing

10 Reasons to Remove your Watch When You Enter the Temple

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rolex-submariner

Remove your watch when you enter a house of the Lord. -Elder Richard G. Scott

This last weekend in General Conference, Elder Richard G. Scott gave an incredibly good talk about the temple and the importance of temple attendance.  I will break down more of this talk in a future post to glean more from the great insight he gave us.

One of his “interesting suggestions” for gaining more benefit from temple attendance was this — “Remove your watch when you enter a house of the Lord.”  I immediately took notice of this counsel, as you might have also.  I have not heard the General Authorities recommend this before.  I did find it “interesting” because it is something that I have already practiced since the first time I went to the temple.  It didn’t feel right for me to wear that piece of apparel into the sacred space.

But how could something as trivial as wearing a watch affect what we gain from the temple?  While it is unlikely we can easily know why Elder Scott counseled us so, let me offer some personal reasons why I don’t wear my watch when I enter the temple, and why it might be a good idea for you too. [Read more…]

Gremiale – An Apron-like Catholic Liturgical Vestment

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Pope Benedict XVI wearing the gremiale, and apron-like vestment

Pope Benedict XVI wearing the gremiale, an apron-like vestment

The gremiale, also called gremial, is an apron-like vestment worn by the bishop as part of the Catholic Mass or other sacred orders.  The Catholic Encyclopedia describes the current understanding of this vestment in this way:

A square or oblong cloth which the bishop, according to the “Cæremoniale” and “Pontificale”, should wear over his lap, when seated on the throne during the singing of the Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo by the choir, during the distribution of blessed candles, palms or ashes, and also during the anointments in connection with Holy orders. The gremiale is never used during pontifical Vespers. The primary object of the gremiale is to prevent the soiling of the other vestments, especially the chasuble. The gremiale used during the pontifical Mass is made of silk. It should be decorated by a cross in the centre, and trimmed with silk embroidery. Its colour must correspond with the colour of the chasuble. The gremiales used at other functions are made of linen, to facilitate their cleansing in case they be soiled. Little is known of its history; apparently its origin dates back to the later Middle Ages. The Roman Ordo of Gaetano Stefaneschi (c. 1311) mention it first (n. 48); soon after it is mentioned in the statutes of Grandison of Exeter (England) as early as 1339, In earlier times it was used not only any bishop but also by priests. It is not blessed and has no symbolical meaning. ((http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07026a.htm))

This is an intriguing vestment, particularly since “little is known of its history.”  So I did some research and found a bit more about it.  [Read more…]

Hats with Lapel Cords

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Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Boater hat (also known as skimmer, katie, basher, or sennit hat)

Recently my wife was reading a book entitled A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) by Betty Smith when she came across a passage which was interesting that she shared with me:

One day, Hildy asked Johnny to bring someone for Katie, her girl friend, the next time they went dancing.  Johnny obliged.  The four of them rode out to Canarsie on the trolley.  The boys wore straw katies with a cord attached to the brim and the other end to their coat lapel.  The stiff ocean breeze blew the hats off and there was much laughter when the boys pulled the skimmers back by the cords. ((Betty Smith, A Tree Gorws in Brooklyn, 57, link.))

I had not heard of this kind of hat before so I did a bit of research.  I couldn’t find any reference to a katie hat, but I was able to find a hat called a skimmer, which is also known as a boater, basher, or sennit hat  ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boater)).  Basically it is what we commonly call a barbershop hat today (see picture).  They are still popular in Italy where they are known as boater hats among gondoliers.  But there was something else in this passage that I wanted to research a bit.  [Read more…]

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 4

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After changing their gowns mid-ceremony the graduates enter and bow to the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors. Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.

(Continued from Part 3)

Some more tidbits of information from Wells’ The Oxford Degree Ceremonies that might interest you:

  • The oath or charge to “observe the ‘statutes, privileges, customs and liberties’ of his university” and the accompanying affirmation “Do fidem” (“I swear”) are most likely over 700 years old, and initially were important to keep a unity among those who had subscribed to the university, and to keep out encroachments. ((Joseph Wells, The Oxford Degree Ceremonies, 19-20.))
  • The M.A.s are “exempt from Proctorial jurisdiction…” and “It is the M.A. who is admitted by the Vice-Chancellor to ‘begin’, i.e. to teach (ad incipiendum), when he is presented to him,” and many universities now call the end of the academic study “Commencement” because of this. ((ibid., 23.))
  • A degree is a “‘step’ by which the distinction of becoming a full member” of the university is acquired.  Wells notes Gibbon’s idea that “the use of academical degrees is visibly borrowed from the mechanic corporations, in which an apprentice, after serving his time, obtains a testimonial of his skill, and his license to practise his trade or mystery.” ((ibid., 24.))  [Read more…]

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 2

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Exterior, Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford University where most degree ceremonies take place - built 1664-1668

(Continued from Part 1)

Dr. Hugh Nibley’s opening remarks in his earthshaking address, “Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift,” given at the BYU commencement ceremony on August 19, 1983, would have fit even more perfectly in an Oxford setting. In refering to his statement in a commencement prayer he gave in 1960 in which he said, “We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood,” he took this opportunity to explain:

Why a priesthood? Because these robes originally denoted those who had taken clerical orders; and a college was a “mystery,” with all the rites, secrets, oaths, degrees, tests, feasts, and solemnities that go with initiation into higher knowledge.

But why false? Because it is borrowed finery, coming down to us through a long line of unauthorized imitators. It was not until 1893 that “an intercollegiate commission was formed . . . to draft a uniform code for caps, gowns, and hoods” in the United States. Before that there were no rules. You could design your own; and that liberty goes as far back as these fixings can be traced. The late Roman emperors, as we learn from the infallible DuCange, marked each step in the decline of their power and glory by the addition of some new ornament to the resplendent vestments that proclaimed their sacred office and dominion. . . .  [Read more…]