Present Stole

A liturgical vestment composed of a strip of material from two to four inches wide a
nd about eighty inches long. It has either a uniform width throughout, or is somewhat narrower towards the middle, widening at the ends in the shape of a trapezium or spade.
 A small cross is generally sewed orembroidered on the stole at both ends and in the middle; the cross, however, is prescribed only for the middle, where the priest kisses the stole before putting it on. There are no express preceptsconcerning the material of the stole, but silk, or at least a half-silk fabric, is most appropriate. Stoles for festivals are generally ornamented with embroidery, especially what are called vesper stoles".

Present us

The stole is worn only by deacons, priests, and bishops. For deacons and priests it is the specific mark of office, being the badge of the diaconal and priestly orders. The wrongful use of the stole bysubdeacons, therefore, would imply the usurpation of a higher order, and would constitute an irregularity.Deacons wear the stole like a sash, the vestment resting on the left shoulder and thence passing across the breast and back to the right side. The stole of the priest extends from the back of the neck across the shoulders to the breast, where the two halves either cross each other or fall down straight according as the stole is worn over the alb or the surplice. The stole is worn by a bishop in the same manner as a priest, except that it is nevercrossed on the breast, as a bishop wears the pectoral cross. As a mark of order the stole is used in a specialceremony, at the ordination of deacons and priests. At the ordination of deacons the bishop places it on the left shoulder of the candidate, saying: "Receive from the hand of God the white garment and fulfil thy duty, for God is mighty enough to give thee His grace in rich measure." At the ordination of priests the bishop draws the part of the stole that rests at the back of the candidate's neck forward over the breast and lays the two ends crosswise, saying: "Receive the yoke of the Lord, for His yoke is sweet and His burden is light." The Sacred Congregation of Rites has given a large number of decisions concerning the use of the stole. As a general rule it may be stated: the stole is only used, and must be used, at a function peculiar to the deacon, priest, and bishop, a function that presupposes the order (e.g., at the celebration of Mass, when the Blessed Sacrament is touched, when thesacraments are administered), but not for example, in processions or at Vespers. The wearing of the stole by thebishop at Solemn Vespers is an exception; its use by a priest while preaching depends on local custom. The stole is not a specific mark of parochial jurisdiction. The use of the stole is also customary in the Oriental rites, in which, as in the West, it is one of the chief liturgical vestments (Greek, 6pdpiov, the deacon's stole, andirrpaXXtop, the priest's stole; Armenian, urar; Syrian and Chaldaic, uroro; Coptic, batrashil). According to presentOriental custom the stole is a strip of silk about seven or eight inches wide, having at the upper end a hole through which the head is inserted; it is either undivided (Syrian, Coptic, and Armenian custom) or opens down the front from the opening for the head (Greek custom). Among the Chaldeans (Nestorians) the stole of the priestresembles that used in the West, and is, like this, crossed over the breast. The deacon's stole generally hangs down straight from the left shoulder both in front and at the back, but in certain rites is first wound like a sash around the breast and back. Among the Syrians and Chaldeans the subdeacon also uses the stole, but he first twists it like a scarf around the neck, the ends being then let hang from the left shoulder in front and behind.