E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

THE VESTMENTS. 17
the berretta was unknown as late as the ninth century.
Its ecclesiastical use began when priests gave up the
ancient custom of covering their heads with the amice
till the actual beginning of the Mass." (Cath. Diet. p. 86.)
As the priest puts on the amice he repeats the
words : Impone, Domine, capiti meo galeam salutis ad expug-
nandos diabolicos incursus
"
Place, O Lord, on my head
the helmet of salvation, that so I may resist all the
assaults of the devil."
After the amice comes the alb, which was undoubt
edly some sort of tunic or inner garment reaching to
the ground. Formerly clerks in minor orders wore
a shorter alb ; from this rose the surplice now worn by
the priest and the rochet by the Bishop. The priest
says : Dealba me, Domine, et munda cor meum, ut in Sanguine
me
Agni dealbatus Make gaudiis perfruar sempiternis
"
that being made
white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart ;
white in the blood of the Lamb, I may deserve
eternal reward."
The whiteness of the alb signifies the purity of con
science which should belong to a priest.
The girdle is required to fasten the alb and to
prevent it from trailing along the ground;
it also
signifies chastity : Pvacinge me, Domine, cingulo puritatis
et extingue in lumbis meis humorem libidinis, ut maneat in me
virtus continentia et castitatis
" Gird me, O Lord, with
the girdle of purity, and quench in my
reins the fire
of concupiscence : that the virtue of continence and
chastity may
abide in me."
Next the maniple. Originally it served the purpose
of a cloth or handkerchief, but since the ninth
century it has become one of the priest s vestments.
It is the same colour as the chasuble.
The priest says, while he places the maniple on his
c