Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Sunday, 12 December 2021

Ambrosian Morello

 
Today being Gaudete Sunday the Roman use assigns to its clergy rose coloured vestments as an alternative to violet. However in Milan a different, and distinctive, colour is worn.

The Liturgical Arts Journal recently had an article about the use in the Ambrosian Rite of the colour morello throughout Advent - as it points out a longer season in Milan than in Rome - and on Lenten Sundays.

As the article points out in Milan the violet of Penance has evolved towards the blue-brown of morello whilst elsewhere violet evolved through the use of vestments in the lightest available shades into rose as an indicator of a relaxation of seasonal austerity, along with the use of music and the presence of flowers.

The handsomely illustrated account of Milanese practice can be viewed at The Ambrosian Rite's Unique Liturgical Colour: Morello


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