I received the holy mysteries yesterday from someone who celebrated wearing brown shoes.
The shoes in question were beautifully polished and the feet that they were on were of the most reverend quality, (the Most!) but it still bothers me 24 hours later.
Time we rewrote the canon on clergy dress, I think.
Tell me someone do, is my desire for shiny black footwear at the altar of the Lord merely my own sad fetish which I should deal with quietly and with appropriate counselling?
Kelvin, don’t worry. I told the colour sensitive Brandane that the only brown shoes I had were strappy sandals, and that they were never getting anywhere near the sanctuary. Though it must be said that she interrupted that sentence with a heartfelt cry of ‘even better’. Clearly an unreliable guide, for all her anecdotal evidence.
p.s. — though it is only fair to say: she’s right about the bride’s maids dress; though I think good taste might have kept the black shoes and ditched the gold dress.
Brown strappy sandals in the sanctuary . . . sounds wonderful! I’m with the rebel out in Argyll!
Bridesmaid’s dresses were the choice of the Matron of Honour who was pea green all through the day, poor love, and all of whose sins are to be excused as she is about to make me a grandmother. The bride of that day was the only daughter with real dress sense, and you have to admit she did look striking.
And I’m so tired I’ve let a barrow boy’s ‘ into the above, soz, soz, soz.
oh, I see. Gold and green was the theme there too.
😉
The issue of bridesmaids raises an excellent point. When one is flanked by deacon and subdeacon, suitably vested in dalmatic and tunicle to match the chasuble, they also should be sporting black shoes. Or black sanctuary slippers, if only they were still sold.
Cathedral chorister daughter – ooh that sounds good – favours black sequinned hi-top Converses. As the sequins are black, it is difficult to argue with her, on the grounds that they are black, shiny, silent and cover the whole foot.
But then it’s always difficult to argue with her.
Yes Aaron. Deacon, Subdeacon, MC, Choristers, Acolytes, Thurifers etc
Black shoes all.
Bridesmaids are optional in the Western Rite. No shoe provision is made.
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