The stole is worn at all priestly functions.
A stole is a long, narrow garment worn by Catholic priests and other ministers. It is worn around the neck, draping from the back of the neck, over the shoulders and down the front of the body roughly to the knees. It symbolizes the priestly office and the yoke of Christ, the work the priest takes on himself in service to Christ. Because the garment has symbolic significance, making one is more complex than merely sewing. The choice of fabric and decorations are crucial.
Instructions
1. Purchase a commercially available stole pattern. Contact your local diocese's Office of Worship and ask for its recommendations regarding reputable vestment pattern sources. A stole is not as simple as it looks. Certain shapes are traditional; others will look wrong. A pattern will guide you to an appropriate size and shape.
2. Purchase or create a design for the ends of the stole. Again, contact your local diocese for recommendations regarding embroidery or appliqu pattern sources. Designs should be large enough to be seen at a distance, but simple and symbolic. Crosses, the chi rho, wheat or a lamb are traditional. So are symbols of the season in which the stole will be worn: palm fronds, a Christmas star or a dove.
3. Select the fabric. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal directs that: "it is fitting that the beauty and nobility of each vestment derive not from abundance of overly lavish ornamentation, but rather from the material that is used and from the design." Choose a good quality silk, silk blend or rayon and acetate blend. Satin and brocade are traditional.
4. Select the color. A white stole is used during the Easter and Christmas seasons; red is used on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Pentecost Sunday and on celebrations of martyr saints; violet or purple is used during Advent and Lent; green is used during Ordinary Time. A single-color brocade is acceptable. Multi-color prints are not traditional.
5. Cut the stole using the pattern.
6. Appliqu or embroider the design onto the stole. If the design is thick or heavy, you might want to stitch through both the canvas interfacing to stabilize design on the fabric.
7. Assemble the stole according to the pattern instructions.
8. Embroider a cross in the center of the back of the stole. The cross will lie on the back of the neck when the stole is being worn. As the priest dons the stole or takes it off, he will kiss this cross as a symbol of his devotion to Christ and his cross.
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