Festive Regalia of Admont Abbey
Concept
The designs for the liturgical vestments, which were developed around the theme of Paradise, are based on the ideas of the Last Supper, self-sacrifice, death on the cross, and the Resurrection on Easter morning. Only salvation through Jesus Christ enables human beings to enter Paradise after death. In the celebration of the Eucharist, people can sense the coming Paradise.
The vestments are designed in the shape of an ellipse. On the one hand, they draw on the theme of the mandola—bread—fish; on the other hand, they reflect the shape of the Gothic or Neo-Gothic pointed arches of the Admont Abbey Church, which are also found in the Admont coat of arms. Two chasubles layered one on top of the other lend the vestment greater three-dimensionality and more volume. They also allude to the Benedictine monk’s habit, particularly the scapular. The basic shape of the chasubles also alludes to bread and thus to Holy Thursday. The white cross, revealed by the golden areas, symbolizes Christ’s Resurrection on Easter morning. The red cross with red panels on the lower chasuble symbolizes the suffering and death of Christ on the cross on Good Friday. These fundamental concepts—and thus the design language—are varied in the other vestments.
