Monday, February 18, 2008

Christian Brothers: to be clothed in the habit...


In Rome it's always nice to "habit watch." Here we see the habit of the Christian Brothers. All Catholics should know that the religious habit is a holy garment. It is an article of clothing which has been blessed and each piece of it has a symbolism and a history - each to be known and talked about.
It was nice to chat with this professed brother. He's from Puglia. In the Rome of today one meets many Italian clergy from Puglia, where the Faith still thrives strong amid countryside families.
Christian Brothers taught both my grandfathers in high school from 1925-1929 and 1934-1938).

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

John Paul

Can you comment about the bands around the neck: very much like British barristers (advocate attorneys) wear.

John Paul Sonnen said...

The collar might be made in France (they're a French religious order). Although these collars are now made in plastic, too, I have a hunch it's starched 100 percent linen. Very old school and a great witness to the kids at that school: they range in age from 2.5 years to 18 years old.

Anonymous said...

if only the irish christian brothers would wear their habits

Anonymous said...

The collars you see here worn by the Brothers were commonly worn by all the the French clergy up the c. 1930s. French Bishops and other high clergy wore a purple coloured version.-

Unknown said...

it's the lasalle brothers o brothers of the cristians schools traditionnal habit. I'm one of theme form france.
see you

if you want, you can visit our blog in french "le blog des Frères"

http://blog.lasalle-fec.org/

Anonymous said...

In the Calvinist branch of the Christian family, we call them "Geneva bands", or preaching bands and they were the mark of acadaemic achievement, that pastors and dominies (pastor/religious school teachers) wore both in Switzerland as well as in Scotland. In Scotland, and in some American churches, we still wear them; they are considered very formal liturgical wear and are attached underneath the 'dog-collar' of one's cassock, with an open black preaching robe worn over the cassock.
And yes, they were worn by French curés for centuries as well, for much the same reason that Presbyterians wore them--in contradistinction to frivolous fashion and to indicate a love of learning.

Anonymous said...

The stiff white collar....split in the middle....worn by the De la Salle Christian Brothers is called a "rabat." Prior to 1950s they were made of heavily starched linen. They were eventually replaced by celluloid for ease of care. Even though the brothers began in France in 1680, their Generalate (headquarters) is in Rome, Italy. The white rabats are made in Italy.