Exciting News!

If you have been following along on our Facebook page, we have some exciting results from a long weekend of hard work. Ecclesiastical Sewing is tickled pink to share the news that we have five stoles, finished and ready to purchase, on our website. Now, the number five is not the quantity, it is the number of stole styles available. Each unique style is named after one of the Church Fathers.

Now that we have decided on the styles of various stoles, our next task is to create a seasonally colored stole in each style. So far we only have one or two colors season per style of stole, depending on the stole style. But, give us a few more weekends where all of our busy little bees put in 100% like they did this past weekend and we will have that goal accomplished very soon!

With the greatest of pleasure, please let me introduce our stole styles, in no particular order:

The First is Saint Gregory Silk Dupioni

This liturgical pastoral or priestly stole uses silk dupioni as the main fabric with one large orphrey band on either side. The orphrey bands are made from the regal Evesham brocatelle fabric. There is also a gold cross at the neckline and tassels adorning the bottom edges.

Gregory the Great—AD 540-604—was the last of the four great Western Church Fathers (Ambrose, Augustine, & Jerome). He served as a civil servant, before donating all his wealth to helping the poor and making a monastery in his family villa. After that he was made a deacon and an ambassador to Constantinople. Then in 590 AD Gregory was chosen to be the bishop of Rome, the Pope. He was devoted to mission work. Throughout his service to the Church, he went to great lengths to ensure that the Gospel was spread, especially in England to the Saxons, who had conquered the Britons. Finally Gregory worked to better the church music, part of the church liturgy that needed order and guidance.

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¹Roberts, Carrie. Saint Gregory in Red Dupioni. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

The Second is the Saint Ambrose Stole

This priestly or pastoral stole is made from the magnificent liturgical Fairford brocade in solid colors and Fairford Two-Tone for the orphrey band. There is also a gold cross at the neckline and tassels adorning the bottom edges.

Saint Ambrose was a powerful civil servant, even becoming the governor of the province of Milan. While overseeing the election of a new bishop, he was actually chosen to be the Bishop of Milan. He was a great theologian, a firm opponent to heresy. There are several hymns and other church music that is attributed to this man. Finally, Ambrose was a great influence to St. Augustine and his mother, Monica.

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²Roberts, Carrie. Saint Ambrose in Violet Fairford. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

The Third is the St. Michael Stole

This stole has Glastonbury as the base fabric with one small orphrey band and one large orphrey band on each side. The orphreys are made from the regal Evesham brocatelle fabric. There is also a gold cross at the neckline and tassels adorning the bottom edges.

Angels appear throughout the Bible as messengers and even as beings that war against Satan and the fallen angels. Michael is mentioned in Daniel, in Jude, and Revelations. Although not much is known about Michael and the Angelic Hosts, the Bible does speak about them and they are existent in Church tradition, hymns, and liturgy. Obviously St. Michael is not a Church Father, but he is respected in the Christian Tradition and so Carrie chose to name a stole after this special Angel.

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³Roberts, Carrie. Saint Michael in Green Glastonbury. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

The Fourth is the Saint Jerome Stole

This stole is silk dupioni as the main fabric with one small orphrey band and one large orphrey band on each side. The orphreys are made from the Aragon Lurex Tapestry fabric. There is also a gold cross at the neckline and tassels adorning the bottom edges.

Saint Jerome is yet another example of a highly educated man in the secular world, who used his talents for the service of the Christian Church. A devoted student to the Greek classics, Jerome was able to study Hebrew quite easily and was a great translator of the Biblical texts. He also wrote many letters and works of theology that were influential and beneficial to the Church. Fond of the ascetic lifestyle, Jerome lived as a hermit for much of his life. Although never becoming a bishop, he was ordained as a priest, but was free from the restriction of serving at one church.

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⁴Roberts, Carrie. Saint Jerome in Purple Dupioni. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

And the Fifth is Saint Augustine Stole

This stole has a base of silk dupioni with one small orphrey band and one large orphrey band on each side. The orphreys are made from the magnificent liturgical Fairford brocade. There is also a gold cross at the neckline and tassels adorning the bottom edges.

Saint Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 AD and received an outstanding education in the secular world. Augustine led a worldly life, although his mother prayed fervently for him. And eventually the famous mid-life conversion to Christianity too place. Augustine then used his well-developed intellect to serve in defense of the Christian Church. He defended the church against schisms and false doctrines; and he was the author of many great books.

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⁵Roberts, Carrie. Saint Augustine in Black Dupioni. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

Finally, there is a sixth stole in our store: the Alpha-Omega Stole in ivory.

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⁶Roberts, Carrie. Alpha Omega Stole 1. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

This stole is one of a kind. There are only three of this style of stole. The fabric is not from our main supplier, and therefore can no longer be acquired.

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⁷Roberts, Carrie. Alpha Omega Stole 3. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

These are truly unique and a limited edition.

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⁸Roberts, Carrie. Alpha Omega Stole 4. January 9, 2017. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

If you want this one, you had better hurry and make sure you purchase it quickly before all three are gone!

One final note before I conclude this post. Today, January 10, the Church remembers the Cappadocian Church Fathers: Basil the Great of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The first two were biological brothers and Gregory of Nyssa was their good friend and brother in Christ. These three were orthodox confessors of the Trinity. They did not sway from the doctrines that stated that the Trinity is one substance yet three distinct persons. They stood firmly against Arianism and a lukewarm version of Arianism, writing against these heresies and patiently trying to bring the practitioners of these heresies back into the fold. I encourage you to go read about them and read their writings.

Thanks for following along!

~Nihil Sine Deo~

Be sure to visit our online store front Ecclesiastical Sewing where you may shop for Liturgical Fabrics, altar linen fabrics, church vestment making patterns, liturgical machine embroidery designs,  church vestment trims and notions and so much more. You may also find us on  Ecclesiastical Sewing  on Facebook , Twitter, and Pinterest. Sing up for our mailing list  at the bottom of the page on our online store front and receive a free copy of our Small Linens Booklet as our way of saying thank you for following along.