Episcopal gloves

Episcopal gloves are used only at a Pontifical Mass, and then only up to the washing of the hands before the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. In the pre-Vatican II rite of consecration of a bishop, the consecrator, aided by the assisting bishops, put the gloves on the new bishop just after the blessing. The Caeremoniale Episcoporum, as revised in 1984, omits all mention of episcopal gloves. They are very rarely seen today except in celebrations of the 1962 form of the Roman Rite or yet earlier forms by some traditionalist Catholics. Evangelical Catholic bishops in Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholic bishops in Anglicanism, and Old Catholic bishops also sometimes make use of the episcopal gloves. ==Material and ornamentation==

, episcopal gloves are knitted by machine or hand-woven from silk thread. They are normally ornamented on the back with a cross; the border of the opening for the hand is also, as a rule, embellished. Many are embellished with metal thread, either as an integral pattern or as embroidery or lace. Charles Borromeo, in his 1577 instruction on clerical vesture, states that "The bishop’s gloves must be interwoven and prominently decorated on the top with a golden circle". The colour of the gloves must correspond with the liturgical colour of the feast or day in the services of which they are worn; episcopal gloves, however, are never black, as they are not used on Good Friday nor at a Requiem. == Ritual Significance ==

Episcopal gloves are symbolical of purity from sin, the performance of good works, and carefulness of procedure. According to Thomas Aquinas, the episcopal gloves, along with other eight vestments worn by bishops but not by priests, signify the "nine things which they can, but priests cannot, do, namely ordain clerics, bless virgins, consecrate bishops, impose hands, dedicate churches, depose clerics, celebrate synods, consecrate chrism, bless vestments and vessels." ==History==

The use of episcopal gloves became customary in Rome probably in the tenth century, outside of Rome they were employed somewhat earlier. Apparently they were first used in France, as the earliest traces of the custom are found in this country, from where it gradually spread to other parts and eventually to Rome. The chief reason for the introduction of the usage was probably the desire to provide a suitable adornment for the hands of the bishop, rather than practical considerations such as the preservation of the cleanliness of the hands or something as such. Episcopal gloves appertained originally to bishops, but at an early date their use was also granted to other ecclesiastics, thus no later than 1070 the abbot of the monastery of San Pietro in Cielo d'Oro at Pavia received this privilege, the first certain instance of such permission. ==See also==