Cassock

[citation needed] The word cassock comes from Middle French casaque, meaning a long coat.

In turn, the Old French word may come ultimately from Turkish kazak (nomad, adventurer – the source of the word Cossack), an allusion to their typical riding coat, or from Persian کژاغند kazhāgand (padded garment) – کژ kazh (raw silk) + آغند āgand (stuffed).

A Jesuit cassock, in lieu of buttons, has a fly fastened with hooks at the collar and is bound at the waist with a cincture knotted on the right side.

The Instruction on the dress of prelates specifies that the two ends that hang down by the side have silk fringes, abolishing the sash with tassels.

This train was abolished by the motu proprio Valde solliciti of Pope Pius XII with effect from 1 January 1953.

[7] With the same motu proprio, the Pope ordered that the violet cassock (then used in penitential periods and in mourning) be made of wool, not silk,[8] and in February 1965, under Pope Paul VI, a circular of the Sacred Ceremonial Congregation abolished the use of watered silk also for the red cassock.

[10] In 1850, the year in which he restored the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, Pope Pius IX was understood to grant to all priests there the privilege of wearing a replica in black of his own white caped cassock.

Nainfa wrote that at that time the garment with shoulder cape was in Italian called a zimarra, a term, however, that in that language is today used rather of a historical loose-fitting overgown, quite unlike the close-fitting cassock with pellegrina worn by Catholic clergy,[14][15] and similar to the fur-lined Schaube [de] that was used in northern Europe.

The latter usually has a single small stem-button sewn at centre front about 12–15 centimetres (4+1⁄2–6 in) below the centre-front neck line which is used to secure the academic hood, worn for Choir Dress.

Piping is also used in the Anglican church to indicate position held with red being used for Deans, Archdeacons and Cathedral Canons.

A comparatively recent custom – since the reign of Edward VII – is that scarlet cassocks are properly worn only by Chaplains to the King and by members of Royal foundations such as Westminster Abbey and some Cambridge college chapels.

[22] Nonetheless, many cathedral canons wear full crimson cassocks rather than with mere piping,[citation needed] as do many servers guilds and choirs due to longstanding practice.

[23] In the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the North German Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, clergy wear the cassock with the ruff as vestments.

It is customary for a minority of clergy to wear it on special high holidays such as Good Friday and Ash Wednesday.

In addition, it is not uncommon to see full-length cassocks worn in the blue of the Flag of Scotland, which is also tied to the academic dress of the University of St Andrews.

During the Edwardian and Victorian era, it was common to see a shortened, double-breasted black silk cassock worn under the gown.

Ordained elders and deacons, as they serve as worship leaders, readers, and administer communion may also wear cassocks which tend to be black.

The term cassock can also refer to a loose-fitting, pullover, hip-length jacket worn by ordinary soldiers in the 17th century.