ASK FATHER: Vestments - Part 3 - How does the Priest begin Vesting?

​If you’ve never been in the sacristy while the priest is preparing for mass, you may be asking yourself what it would look like. While there are many things to prepare, like the chalice, paten, hosts, water and wine, and other items, the priest usually dons his vestments as the last thing to do before mass begins.
 
While he is vesting, there are prayers that he says which accompany each vestment, calling to mind the character of the vestment and the symbolic meaning that shows the identity of Christ which he has been given at his ordination. These prayers help him to remember the sacred duty he is about to undertake, and aid him in being recollected to not just ‘do mass’ or another liturgical event, but to pour out his heart and commit his mind to the sacred offering he is about to make to the Father in the place of Jesus Christ, whose identity he has by ordination.
 
In the next few articles we will look at each vestment, it’s meaning, and the prayer that is said as it is put on.
 
Check back over the next few weeks for subsequent articles on the liturgical vestments.