Clergy collar | Tab & band clergy shirt
Catholic Church clergy collar | Tab & band clergy shirt
The collar is a strip or white band that is placed on the shirts, polo shirts or breastplates that a priest wears on a daily basis. The collar, also known as a priestly band, is one of the identifying elements of the priests when they are not wearing their liturgical clothes.
Clergy collar origin
Until the middle of the Middle Ages, the use of the black cassock with a white collar was not generalized among Catholic priests. Through this black robe with a white collar, members of the clergy identify themselves as a different group from the laity.
Over the years the distinctive white collar of the priests evolves and takes on more and more ornate forms. Sometimes even with lace, lace and other types of decorations that are too loaded.
Faced with this trend, the Catholic Church, in the seventeenth century, decided to establish aesthetic criteria that would govern clergy clothing to avoid excesses that were inappropriate for men of God.
Pope Urban VIII proclaims that the use of ornaments, lace, lace, etc… is not considered appropriate as elements of a clergy clothing.
There is a wide variety of bands that can be worn on priest shirts: clergy dresses with full collar, roman collar clergy shirts, scoop neck shirts, strip neck shirts, etc.
The Catholic Church, nowadays, only allows men to wear a clergy collar shirt. In other religions, women may also wear a tab collar clergy shirt.
What does the clergy collar represent? Clergy collar meaning.
The clergy collar, like most liturgical vestments, has an important symbolism. In other words, wearing a clergy collar or band serves to identify a member of the clergy but it serves much more.
The priests, when they wear the collar, show their conviction about a series of Catholic values:
1. The clergy neckband is a sign of priestly consecration to the Lord. The person who wears a collar, be it a bishop, a priest, a deacon, a seminarian, etc… shows the world his commitment to Christ and to Holy Mother Church.
By wearing collars, the priest can avoid awkward situations, since anyone who sees him can be immediately aware of his status as a religious person.
It also serves as a source of inspiration for other people. The good deeds of a clergyman dressed in a collar will quickly be recognized as works of Holy Mother Church. Many people will be able to follow suit.
2. The collar, and by extension the clergyman's shirts and the cassock, are a symbol of authority. Some simple garments through which the priests want to show their commitment to the material poverty that Jesus promulgated during his life.
3. The collar and spiritual habits have been at the center of the communications that the Catholic Church has sent to its clergy and bishops. Many Popes have insisted on the importance of wearing a collar and/or clerical habit not only as appropriate clothing but also as a reflection of a lifestyle dedicated to the Lord.
4. Through the collar, the clergy reminds himself of the importance of seeking holiness. To seek to do good among his flock at all times and places. As well as being a reminder that she is a representative of God on earth.
5. On occasions, wearing collars can be uncomfortable. It can be a sacrifice. It serves as Penance to be closer to Christ.
6. The priest recognizes wearing the collar that his life is not his. His life belongs to God whom he has pledged to serve throughout his earthly life.
How to put on a clergy collar?
The appearance of our technologies and clothing tools, collars have evolved adapting to the needs of priests: the classic Roman collar, collars with white stripes, etc...
Especially important was the appearance of detachable collars. Easily adaptable and replaceable pieces that gave great freedom to the priests. This type of collar allows clergy to place and remove the white collar as they please. Today, clergyman collar shirts are designed so that attaching the white stripe is extremely easy.
Clergyman shovel collar shirts usually have some type of fastening so that the pull remains fastened. The fastening can be the buttons of the shirt, brackets incorporated into the strip itself, etc.
The neckband shirt, due to the shape of the neck itself, is supported without any problem.
In Roman collar shirts, the fastening is usually the shape of the shirt collar itself. The roman shape allows the band to stay attached.