St. Martin’s Vestments
For St. Martin’s Cathedral in Rottenburg
by Christof Cremer
Conceptual Approach – A Design for the 21st Century
“Martin constantly reminds us: The church is a diaconal church—a church that helps and heals. … In Martin, Jesus himself lives on, calling us to follow him and to walk in his footsteps. … The Church’s influence … is never independent of its visible and perceived form, of the concrete way of life and practice through which the Spirit that reigns within it is expressed.” (Gebhard Fürst, Martin of Tours, Icon of Charity, p. 111 ff.)
In his account of Martin’s life, Sulpicius Severus vividly describes Martin’s charity when he gave half of his cloak to a poor man at the gate of Amiens. “When night had fallen and he (Martin) had fallen asleep, Christ appeared to him, clothed in the part of the cloak that he had given to the poor man. … Truly, the Lord remembered the words He had once foretold: ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.’” (Martin of Tours, Life of Martin by Sulpicius Severus; ed. Joachim Drumm, p. 25)
This draft design for a “St. Martin’s chasuble” takes up these ideas and interprets them artistically. In the act of sharing and cutting the cloak, the Church—which helps and heals, invokes Christ in its actions, and is guided by His deeds—becomes visible. And in and through the active Church, Christ Himself becomes visible, tangible, experiential, and indeed comprehensible.
Pope Francis never tires of calling on the Church—that is, the many people who profess their faith in this Church—to turn toward the defenseless, the weak, and the least among us, and—just as Martin did—to share their cloaks. Martin is a role model for the 21st century, a time when so many have so little, a time when so many depend on the kindness of others. Where people share, there Christ, the light of the world, becomes visible.
The garment that, in the story of St. Martin—in addition to the actual, warmth-providing cloak for the beggar—has also become the universal symbol of charity and sharing par excellence—and has done so for one and a half thousand years now, with an impressive legacy of influence throughout global Christianity —this shared garment is now to become a meaningful symbol in its own right, in both form and design, in the drafts for the St. Martin’s vestments.
Foreword by Bishop Gebhart Fürst
“Garments of Salvation” by Wolfgang Urban
“Contemporary Liturgical Vestments—The St. Martin’s Vestments as an Example” by Wolfgang Stracke
Related links:
Complete Bible for the 102nd German Catholic Convention in Stuttgart
