A new priest hat to covet
I could kick myself for not getting a Spanish biretta when I was in Madrid. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I guess I’ll have to go back.
That said, I spotted a new priest hat to covet.
Here is an image of a newly ordained priest in China.
I want one.
According to that über-source for all things ecclesio-haberdashical, Philippi, this is a jijin. A jijin is a “sacrifice or ‘festival” towel, wrap or head cover) is a square hat, worn by Catholic priests and missionaries in China during the late Ming (ca. 1615) and the Quing Dynasty (1644-1911).” “Jijin were most commonly seen during the 19th and very early 20th century. By the 1920’s it began to disappear as Western clerical garb became common. End of the 19th century the Holy See asked the clergy not to relaunch the jijin again where it was abolished.”
ABOLISHED?!?
Look, we are living in an age when things that were not actually abolished but claimed to be abolished have been revived (e.g., the TLM, ad orientem worship). We are also living in a time when certain things have been abolished but they are still been perpetrated (e.g., use of glass vessels, etc.).
I say, FIGHT BACK! We need, along side the standard Roman biretta (with or without pom), Spanish birettas with the great pointy horns and this Jijin thing!
