All Those Funny Stoles

The Lord Jesus Christ Teaching in the Synagogue, Covered with the "Tallit", the Ancestor to the Christian "Stole" 

By Bishop Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West) 

In our Diocese, we have established several of our young postulants as "Readers" over the last few months. In my episcopal plan, I have mandated that such young men work on preparing Scripture readings and simple sermons to be delivered to their local communities, so that they can get used to functioning in a semi-pastoral capacity. This undertaking has been daunting to several of our postulants, but I believe it to be an extremely helpful exercise, allowing for good priestly formation and for the gradual incorporation of "Reading Groups" as missionary plants into our Diocese. 

The Nine Ranks, Minus Archpriest (Canon or Archdeacon) and Bishop 

There are Nine Ranks of Ecclesiastical Order, starting "Porter" and ascending through the "Reader" or the "Lector", which is now the first rank of the minor clergy, through to the Episcopal rank. A Reader was made by the Bishop handing a qualified young man a book and telling him to "read." Over time, in many Eastern Churches, this order was mixed with the monastic rank of "Novice", and so, tonsuring, the cutting off of hair as a symbol of being set apart, also became a part of the blessing of readers. Because readers are a blessed part of the choir, and often serve as acolytes in the liturgy, they may wear the stole of an altar server in the Eastern Churches, crossed in the front and back in the Greek Church, or wearing a mini phelonion/chasuable in the Russian tradition. In the West, short stoles of light blue or pink were worn by altar servers, and this developed into the "Reader's Tippet" in the English tradition (although the early origins of the Tippet were as a long-eared hood, which eventually lost the head-covering aspect and bifurcated into the stole and academic hood we have for secular Academia today).

A Reader-Acolyte in the Greek Tradition Can Wear the Same Vestments as a Sub-Deacon

A Reader in the Russian Patrimony Wears a Miniature Phelonion 

A Blue Reader's Tippet from the English Patrimony

Reader's are charged with the careful reading of Scripture and other liturgical texts. They may, with permission, preach and exercise other pastoral capacities, as representatives of the Bishop. The white robe they wear has been used from the earliest days to represent our new natures in Christ, received in baptism. They are baptismal robes, the common inheritance of all believers. The blue tippet is an Anglican tradition that represents the right to speak “in the congregation”, given by the bishop to brothers of good character and sound doctrine. It means that the wearer has the right to teach and preach, and that he does so as a representative of the bishop. This tippet is replaced by a deacon’s stole, which was a towel worn over the shoulders by deacons in the 1st century. This is the mark of the diaconal office, and shows that the deacon serves as a “waiter of tables” in the Church. 

A Western Diaconal Stole

An Eastern Diaconal Stole or "Orarion"

The priestly stole, which is worn around the neck, like the reader’s stole, is the Christian version of the Jewish prayer shawl, which was worn by priests and rabbis, and was continued as a liturgical garment in the Christian context, without putting it over the head, as per St. Paul’s exhortation to pray with the head uncovered. This garment, which has always had fringes, like the Jewish prayer shawl, is wider in the East than in the West, where it gradually became a narrow band hanging around the neck. But, traditionally, it maintained the white and blue theme, up until the 6th century, when liturgical colors began to be used. It always had tassels on the bottom, like the Jewish usage. This represents the priestly office, which continued from the Old Testament, through Christ, to the Apostles and the bishops and priests that follow after. If is a sign of prayer, of our submission to God, and a “yoke” of the ministry, which is our reasonable service of self-sacrifice, offered to the Lord.

The Rabbinic Tallit Stole, Worn Over the Head and Shoulders in the Jewish Tradition

Ancient Christian Priestly Prayer Shawl

The Eastern Orthodox "Epitrechalion", a Wider, Joined Stole

The Western Priestly Stole, Long and Narrow, Crossed at the Chest to Signify Priestly Rank (As Opposed to Episcopal Rank)

Over time, the outer garment of the Christian priest, called a "Chasuble", was cut differently in different places. We see the front cut out in the East, and the sides cut out in the West. Athonite monks still have the original style chasuble, but with buttons to keep it up while serving the liturgy. "It seems like both East and West cut the Chasuble/Phelonion around the same time, around the 13th century. The East in the front and the West on the sides (Roman "fiddle-back" style Chasuble). The purpose was practicality and, in the West the increased fear of knocking over the chalice while celebrating. The weather also played a part. Hotter climates saw lighter materials (silk) and cut down vestments. Even today, clergy in the Northern hemisphere gravitate to lightweight green vestments as it is mostly summer months during the Sundays after Pentecost." (From Abp. Anthony of New York) 

The "Sticharion" or the "Alb" is the Baptismal Robe of all Christians

The "Chasuble" or "Phelonion", which was a respectful Outer Garment in Late Roman Culture

The ancient western episcopal vestments and the eastern vestments were one and the same. They both held the pallium/omophorion to be the outward symbols of episcopal authority. The historical development of the once universal episcopal pallium, which used to be the only outward sign of episcopal order, was worn by all bishops as a symbol of their synodal equality, and is still worn as an "omophorion" by the Eastern churches. In Rome, it is given by the pope to archbishops and to those with metropolitan/ordinal episcopal authority. 

This Outer Garment was covered with another Stole, called a "Pallium" or "Omophorion" for Bishops

The Development of the Pallium in the Western Tradition

Pope Benedict XVI Wearing the Pallium

An Eastern Orthodox Bishop Wearing the Wide Pallium of Eastern Tradition, called the Omophorion

An Armenian Orthodox Bishop Wearing the Armenian Omophor

The Blue Tippet is the first order of ministry and the basis for everything else that we do in our diocese! Being blessed to wear it makes you into a “lay minister”, which is, in effect, what we believe all Protestant ministers are - laity who have been baptized but who have not had the Apostolic laying on of hands. This use of the stole as a tool for "setting aside" is also seen in how many churches from the Latin Tradition use stoles for "First Communion" or "Confirmation."

Protestant Ministers Replaced the Baptismal Robe with a Black Academic Robe, and Use the Stole to Signify the Office of Preaching, Not Priestly Ministry

The Black "Tippet" Preaching Stole is Often Accompanied by "Preaching Bands", which is a Ceremonial Collar given to State-Certified Preachers by the Governmental Authority 

Two Variations on Protestant Ceremonial Dress, the Example on the Left Incorporates a More Sacramental Stole and the Example on the Right is Secular Academic Dress with Preaching Bands

Graduates wearing Stoles that Represent their Achievements, Being Set Apart to a New Rank, which is a Hold-Over from the Tradition Inherited from the Christian Academic Practice of Graduating Monks and Priests in Holy Orders

Confirmation Stoles, Symbolizing the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the Laying On of Hands

These stoles and vestments represent the outward symbol of the internal ministry and function, show continuity with God's Covenant throughout time, and are extremely important for the maintenance of good order and smooth administration of the Church. We should endeavor to understand and propagate these symbols of function within our congregations, rather than minimizing them. Thus, all these vestments are valuable tools for our priestly and pastoral roles, and should be passed on faithfully to the next generation, along with a sincere desire to do the work of the ministry for the glory of God, and not for our own vain pride or personal agendas. By embracing our identity as Apostolic and Orthodox Christians in the Anglican Patrimony and outwardly marking ourselves to service through the use of these stoles, we can use them as a time-proven method of identification and demarcation, to distinguish our individual gifts, serve each other as stewards and householders, and contribute to the health and well-being of the whole Church through self-sacrifice.