Friday, August 14, 2009

Papal vestments: what the fanon looks like...


You can see the silken mantle around the shoulders - striped in read and gold. This is the fanon worn by the pope when he celebrates Solemn Pontifical Mass. This particular fanon is kept by cloistered nuns in the sacristy of the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Rome (let's say a prayer BXVI will make a visit there and then wear it, too!).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one of the most exquisite chasubles that I have ever seen. How did they ever manage to get John Paul II to wear it? I have only seen him in modern chasubles (at least as Pope), and I figured he did not care for the Roman style.

Lover of Futility said...

The special vestment on the Pope's shoulders is the fanon.

The bands hanging down at the back of the mitre are the infulae.

Geoffrey said...

John Paul the Great did many "traditional" liturgical things before Archbishop Marini became Papal MC... he even said Mass facing east in the Sistine Chapel once.

Archbishop Marini himself said that John Paul II wasn't a liturgist and left everything to him. Benedict XVI, however, IS a liturgist!

Anonymous said...

The vestments belong to the Basilica of S. Cecilia. They are used every year on her feast day.

Lover of precision said...

Infula is the Latin term. Both in English and French the term is fanon. John is correct.