www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Altar Server Clothing

Dear brothers and sisters,

I have read some threads about the vestments of altar servers but I wasn't able to identify, what is wrong and what is right in the UGCC.

As altar server, not subdeacon/reader, etc. I am wearing a stikharion/dalmatic. If you wear a t-shirt or shirt underneath, it very often looks quite unfitting at the collar. It would be better to wear the black cassock under the stikharion. It closes the collar and it helps looking neat, when the stikharion is a little too short at the legs. I heard and read, that only subdeacons, readers and other minor or major clergy are allowed to wear the black cassock.

The descriptions in the forum always mentioned "walking around in church" with only the cassock. I am not planning on doing that. I would just wear it underneath the stikharion and taking it off with the stikharion after liturgy. It is just to make the stikharion look more neat and tidy and to give our liturgy a nice and harmonious look together with the priest.

Which rules are there for wearing the cassock. Is it okay? I would never wear it without asking the priest first but is it okay to ask or will he rule it out from the beginning, because it is forbidden for altar servers?

Thank you for all answers!

God bless you!

Christ is in our midst!!

Josaphat24,

Welcome to the forum. We hope your time with us is spiritually fruitful.

I'm puzzled by your fear of asking your priest the simple question you pose to us. In the end, it all rests with him. I've never heard of any restrictions like the one you pose, but I am a Latin Catholic so I cannot give you an answer.

In the Latin Church in parishes that still have minor servers, there seems to be no restriction on the use of a cassock. Boys and girls alike wear them under a surplice; seminarians wear them the same way.

Bob
Moderator

From the East bank of the Bosporus:

https://www.pittsburgh.goarch.org/documents/1185523/4354318/A+Guide+to+Readers+and+Subdeacons.pdf

" A reader or subdeacon does not wear the cassock to coffee hour or at other church functions except when the Metropolitan (or other hierarch) is visiting."

Christ is in our midst!

Father Deacon Thomas,

I think your instruction to servers, readers, and subdeacons is similar to the experience I described above. Wearing a cassock is only done when serving in church; not other places--and only when a priest is serving. I think what our questioner was asking was proper use of the cassock when serving in church. I have seen Ukrainian versions of the vestment worn by minor servers and it was midcalf. That may have been a Latinization because the Latin surplice is that length or shorter.

Wear a black or white Oxford shirt and black pants. Problem solved.

Yes, wearing a Black Shirt and Black Paint with White Adidas Shows is always rock...