Birettas & Chasubles

18/9/05

I notice at some Festivals, from the pictures displayed, some clergy still use birettas. From my experience over the last 30 years of the Roman Church, my wife is a life long Roman Catholic and I attend occasionally with her, I have never ever seen a Roman priest use a biretta. Also, is there a practice now in the Anglican Church that the chasuble, where it was used, is going out of fashion with the priest wearing alb and stole? I remember years ago when I was a server in Liverpool joining in various Festivals and the late Father Milburn , of blessed memory, at that time at St Stephens, Grove Street, Liverpool, telling me that "albs were priestly garments" - just as my own church, St Dunstan's, Edge Hill, Liverpool were kitting us servers out in albs!

Eddie Bestwick
Stoney Stanton, Leicestershire.

REPLIES

Peter Graham - 20/9/05

Provided we all love Our Lord, and proclaim God’s love for all the people we encounter in our lives, I think that whether we wear a biretta or not could well be left to personal taste!

A friend of mine was recently made a Canon of the Roman Church, and was presented with a biretta with a red pom on the top. We wondered what this might be useful for, and experimented with using it as a Frisbee. It was very unstable and did not fly well.

It is all fun – we do need a bit in our Christian lives!

Peter Graham
E-mail: Peter Graham

Eddie Bakker - 20/9/05

Hello Eddie,
Greetings from New Zealand. I recall from my younger days in Holland that in the fifties Roman Catholic Priests were using the biretta. I have a feeling that this custom lasted a lot longer in countries such as Poland and Italy. Your comment in relation to the use of alb and stole, this is very much middle of the road or low Church practice. You would definitely not see this in Anglican Catholic ( or High Church ) circles.
It is also the custom in some High Church Parishes for severs to wear cassocks, albs and amices ( I am thinking of my last Parish in Melbourne where I was serving in the sanctuary like that ).
Yours in Christ,
Ed Bakker
Oxford
New Zealand

28/11/05

I'm told that in this new television series 'Priest Idol', the priest whose parish is being scrutinized is in the habit of wearing a cassock and biretta *in the street* and whilst doing the washing up! No wonder his congregation numbers
are falling, some would say.

Terry Delaney - 16/12//05

Birettas were always used by the catholic clergy in the 50's and 60's they also wore a chasuble whether gothic or Latin, the only problem was at High Mass was that the MC kept the Birettas were kept in the right order on the Sedilia during the Gospel and returned to the right minister at the end of the mass, sometime with comical results when a priest/deacon received a berreta that was much too small for them!

Kind regards
Terry Delaney
Suffolk

Eddie Bestwick - 23/12//05

Thanks for the replies. I recall our group of enthusiastic servers wanting to buy a biretta for our new vicar who walked about the working class parish of St Dunstan, Edge Hill, Liverpool in his cassock (this was in the early 1970's) only to find just how expensive one was. So, one of our number made one out of a cake box! Unfortunately it did not collapse properly and was wrong size ..but did have a use at a party....Anglicans of a Catholic persuasion did have the capacity for humour then ...and I trust still do.
Incidentally, our vicar did not find his cassock was a barrier between people and him. In fact the number of monthly christenings increased substantially as the people saw in him a very approachable, friendly person ..who was different ..but there to serve them..and they responded accordingly. There was only one person I saw who did not and that was in a local pub..one chap voiced his strong objections to the priest coming in to the pub in his cassock...because he, the objector, felt inhibited in his use of colourful language or blue humour.

Eddie Bestwick, Stoney Stanton.

Peter Pritchard - 11/11/07

Eddie

I read with great amusement and fond memories your notes on birettas at St Dunstans, Edge hill, Liverpool.
You might recall I was the person that made the biretta from a cake box.
I would love to hear from you again.

Peter Pritchard
Wallasey
Wirral

Suzan Yerkes Fox - 25/5/09

This is a Biretta question. Who is allowed to wear a red Biretta with a red pom-pom? At first I thought it was a Cardinal, however, they don't wear red poms. Thank you,
Suzan Yerkes Fox

7/8/09

As far as I am aware, no one has the right to this curious form of biretta. Only a cardinal would wear a red biretta, but his would be without a pompom. Where have you seen it?

28/11/09

The doctors in sacred theology are those who wear the red 'pom-pom' biretta.

Terry - 29/1/10

I have noticed that the Bishop of Fulham has used a Scarlet Biretta with a Pom Pom
but there in the days of yore The Archbishop Canterbury wore his Canterbury Cap. all were acceptable and correct I suppose!

In any event it is nice to see THE BIRETTA is back in fashion again.

Regards
Terry
Suffolk

27/3/10

I am a seminarian, and I wear a biretta and I absolutely love my biretta! People always come up and ask me about it, which makes for a wonderful moment for evangelism!
I am an Anglican, and in our tradition much of ones dress, both casual and formal, is left to personal choice tempered with regional or church specific traditions.
I happen to be the only seminarian at my seminary who currently wears a biretta, but hopefully that will change!

To the best of my knowledge, the biretta is worn thusly:

Black, three pointed, no tuft - seminarian OR priest with no M.Div.;

Black, three pointed, with tuft - ordained priest, with M.Div. and adding a fourth point for a PhD;

A canon or monsignor is allowed purple piping and purple tuft, again adding a fourth point for a PhD;

A bishop wears his biretta in bishop's scarlet/purple, again adding a fourth point for a PhD;

A cardinal wears his biretta in cardinal's red, with tuft of the same color, again adding a fourth point for a PhD;

Only the Pope wears a white biretta.

These rules could be changed in different ecclesiastical traditions, but are true of the Roman Catholic and Anglican (Catholic) churches.

23/3/10

Just to correct the previous post: A priest or deacon does not need an M.Div. to wear a biretta with tuft. A Cardinal's biretta does not have a tuft. The Pope never wears a biretta. For full information this site http://dappledphotos.blogspot.com/2005/01/biretta-sightings.html might be of interest.