A Prayer for God's Blessing on our work

The work of the Saint Bede Studio, which is conducted in modest arrangements here in Newcastle, Australia, is able to continue because of God's blessing upon it.

Most days, we receive a message from a customer or an enquirer thanking us for the work we do to beautify God's house and with a promise of prayer.

Your custom and your prayer are the two foundations upon which our work continues.  We have many commissions and more enquiries than we can manage.  And perhaps an equal amount of difficulties.

This prayer has appeared on the Studio blog before.  Perhaps you will pray it remembering all those who work to sanctify God's House.

AMDG.

This prayer has received the Imprimatur of the Bishop of Maitland & Newcastle (Australia).

Suscipe Sancta Trinitas

One of the prayers which didn't survive the Missale Romanum final cut in 1970 was this one:

Accept, holy Trinity, this offering which we make to you in remembrance of the passion, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in honour of blessed Mary ever Virgin, of blessed John the Baptist, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of those whose relics rest here, and of all the Saints. To them may it bring honour, and to us salvation; and may they, whose memory we keep on earth, be pleased to intercede for us in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

This beautiful prayer, intended to be recited quietly after the washing of the hands during the Preparation of Gifts or Offertory, is a summary of the things a Catholic should keep in mind when praying the Mass. It reminds us firstly that all our worship is offered to the One God, who is a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Secondly, in reflecting the Anamnesis after the consecration, the prayer insists on the unity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery that is re-presented for us in sacramental form: His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension. Finally, it asserts that a secondary end of the Mass is the honour of the Saints (that is, the victory of Christ in His members is being praised), and accordingly it begs their intercession for us on Earth. 

One can only wonder at the mentality which saw fit to excise this prayer from the Mass. If there was one prayer that ought to have been retained at the Offertory, this was the one. After washing his hands and before inviting the people to prayer (Pray, brethren), the celebrant bowed before the altar and quietly prayed the Suscipe Sancta Trinitas.

If you are a priest reading this, you might consider praying this prayer at the Offertory when you offer the Ordinary Form of the Roman Mass. If you pray it according to the rubrics of the 1962 Missale Romanum, (namely bowed and silently) no one in the pews will be disturbed.  We won't tell Cardinal Roche.

How beautiful it would be if once again this prayer were recited at every Mass!  The Angels would rejoice.

The Throw-away Culture

 

The throw-away society we live in, where the value of anything is measured in short-term satisfaction, is consumerist and ungodly.  The Church is not immune from such a mentality, unfortunately.  Vestments can be purchased ONLINE quite readily and affordably and the merit of this is all measured by convenience.

The Saint Bede Studio wishes to offer an alternative to this culture.  Our vestments are made to last decades (if well cared-for).  They are the product of artistic and careful design, not mass-production (no pun intended).

One such is shewn in this post - a glimpse of a set of green vestments in the mediaeval style.  The vestments were made from a lovely shade of English ecclesiastical brocade and lined in taffeta of a deep red colour.  

The ornament was formed from a lovely braid in colours of red and ivory, upon black.  These vestments are simple in their ornamentation, but striking.  The maniple is finished with solid fringing in colours of green and ivory.  There is no need here for fine embroideries, but the effect is created with strong colours and contrasts.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

On the Feast of Apostle James

On this beautiful Feast of the Apostle James, the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present this image of a set of red vestments, the colour used for the Apostles, Martyrs and the Passion.  

The set was made from dupion silk in a subdued shade of red.  It is not the fiery-red used for the Feasts of the Holy Spirit, but closer to colour of blood.  The vestments were ornamented in the Roman style, with a TAU at the front and a column at the back, formed from a damask in colours of red and straw gold and an outlining galloon.  The lining was made of bronze-coloured taffeta.

The chasuble is in the Studio's Saint Philip Neri style, which is the product of years of research into historical vestments and refinement of dimensions for comfortable use.  The Studio revived this more ample 16th century style of the Roman chasuble in 2007 and since then we have made many of them.  Beware of poorly-designed imitations!

The work of the Saint Bede Studio is distinctive for its artistic qualities and the pains taken with every detail, such as the alignment of ornaments.  Even a restrained set of vestments like this is striking for its combination of colours and fine workmanship.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

Festal Vestments

We are pleased to present these images of a distinctive set of festal vestments.  This set was made according to the size of chasubles of the 16th century, being more a variant than a reproduction of such vestments.  They were made from a delightful brocade with a floriated woven design in gold and chocolate brown upon a  base colour of ivory.  The vestments were lined in silk taffeta in a beautiful and muted shade of green.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics. 

  

The vestments were ornamented with a vintage orphrey braid made of silk; it features a Cross in two shades of gold upon a vibrant yellow base.  

These vestments were ornamented with a simple column, back and front, which is attached to the chasuble.  We might say a little more about this ornament.  An unfortunate trend in vestment-making is employing a column of great width to ornament the chasuble.  Sometimes this amounts almost to 30 cm (12") !  This always looks disproportionate, even unseemly.    

The column orphreys made by the Studio to ornament our chasubles are constructed to careful measurements.  Often we use one of our unique braids as the basis for such columns, which we enhance by running a galloon along either side.  The above photograph shews just such an arrangement.  The wider orphrey braid is carefully arranged at the neckline and the bottom of the chasuble, so that its particular decoration is not truncated.  In this case, the particular is a stylised Cross, which is repeated at intervals along the orphrey.  A galloon of knotwork in burgundy and gold has been mounted on either side of the wider orphrey braid.  This same galloon is run around the perimeter of the chasuble and the neckline.  For most of our chasubles, the perimeter is trimmed with a narrow galloon.  

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG 

On the Feast of S. Mary Magdalen

On this lovely Feast, the Saint Bede Studio is pleased to present this set of Festal vestments.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics. 

This set of vestments is in the style we call Borromeon.   Although ornamented in the Roman manner, this is an earlier and more traditional form of "the Roman chasuble" being both wider and longer.  As made by the Saint Bede Studio, this style of vestment is very comfortable to wear.

This particular set was made from a beautiful silk damask in a shade of ivory, it was lined in a crimon red shade of taffeta and ornamented in the Roman manner : a silk damask outlined with a burgundy and galloon.

Please click on the images for an enlarged view.

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG 

Mitre and Vestments

In this post, we feature a chasuble and mitre set made for the Bishop of Maitland & Newcastle (Province of Sydney, Australia).

The chasuble was made from moiré taffeta, which is noteworthy for its vertical watermark effect, created during manufacture.  It is a fabric which is not too flimsy and has pleasing drapery.  Ornamenting the chasuble, back and front, is a column formed from straw-gold dupion silk, upon which is imposed one of the Studio's unique braids Saint Edmund.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

The mitre has the same decorative scheme, but its ornamented is formed from a much narrower version of the Saint Edmund braid.

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

The Season Per Annum 2026 : 9

In this post is depicted a new set of vestments in a beautiful shade of green dupion silk and ornamented with braids in colours of straw-gold upon red.  

These vestments are in one of our Gothic Revival styles.  The chasuble and accessories were lined in rust-red taffeta.

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

Enquiries : stbede62@gmail.com

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for optimal viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

Our Ladye of Mount Carmel

On this beautiful Feast, we are pleased to present these images of one of the Studio's most popular sets of vestments, which we call Ave Maris Stella.  This is made in various Gothic styles and from different fabrics, but always and is ornamented with the now-familiar braid.

The Saint Bede Studio : vestments made by Catholics for Catholics.

We should describe this braid, for those who have not followed previous posts closely.  It employs two shades of blue, one a sky blue, the other Royal Blue and upon these two colours, the ornamental design is figured in (non-metallic) gold.

Within a Royal blue quatrefoil (four-leafed flower) is a stylised monogram being the letters MR.  This is the Latin abbreviation of Maria Regina (Mary the Queen).  It was very typical in the Mediaeval period for such monograms to appear as decorative schemes in churches and upon vestments. 

These quatrefoils alternate with another emblem, which is upon a light blue base.  Here is a crown emphasising the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin.  Below it, in heraldic lettering, is the greeting AVE.  From this is derived the name of this braid and based on the beautiful Marian antiphon Ave Maris Stella (Hail, Star of the Sea).

Running along either side of this orphrey is a row of smaller quatrefoils in gold, upon the Royal Blue base.

Although not directly-based on the work of the Gothic designer AWN Pugin, this Ave Maris Stella braid incorporates Puginesque elements.  No matter whether you shop for your vestments in Poland, India, England or America, you will not find another braid like Ave Maris Stella.  It is just one of the Saint Bede Studio's unique braids, designed by the writer of this blog and made exclusively for the Studio's use.

Click on the images for an enlarged view. 

The vestments of the Saint Bede Studio are beautiful in design, sound in construction and distinctive in appearance.

Enquiries.

Information on placing an order.

Please note that posts on this blog are set-up for viewing via a web-browser, not via a mobile phone.

AMDG

Saint Camillus de Lellis

A kindly priest customer of the Studio sent us this rare portrait of Saint Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614), co-Patron Saint of Nurses.  Saint Camillus spent most of his life caring for the sick. Read more about him here.

Saint Camillus was ordained a priest in 1584 by the last Catholic English bishop, Lord Thomas Goldwell. 

The adjacent image of Saint Camillus is said to be only contemporaneous portrait of him and shews him during the Offertory of the Mass.  The Saint is wearing a style of chasuble common in the sixteenth century and often associated with Saint Philip Neri. Saint Philip was a spiritual mentor of Saint Camillus.

The chasuble is made from an ivory-coloured silk brocade interwoven with gold, but perhaps its most interest feature is its orphrey ornamentation.  The orphrey appears to be formed from a woven braid in colours of black and gold on an off-white base.  Most interesting is the design of this braid, being a series of interlinked geometric motifs: quite unlike the style of ornament found on other chasubles of this period and in the two centuries following.

AMDG