{"id":2148,"date":"2022-01-05T10:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.holyart.it\/com\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2022-09-07T17:01:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T15:01:55","slug":"the-meaning-of-the-mitre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.holyart.it\/com\/religious-items\/the-meaning-of-the-mitre\/","title":{"rendered":"The meaning of the Mitre"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does the Mitre represent, the strange headdress worn by the bishops at different moments in the Liturgy? We discover the origin and deeper meaning of this indispensable and precious element.<\/h4>\n\n

All of us will have happened to see, during a solemn celebration, a Bishop wearing a strange hat with an elongated shape, which ends with two points. Even Pope Francis himself, on liturgical occasions, presided over by him, does not wear his usual white skullcap but is flanked by the master of ceremonies in charge of placing the curious headdress on his head and removing it according to the different moments of the celebration.<\/p>\n

This is the\u00a0mitre<\/strong> or\u00a0miter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It immediately becomes clear that we are not talking about a common hat, also because the mitre<\/strong><\/a>, especially the papal one, is woven with gold threads and embellished by rich decorations and even precious stones.<\/p>\n

But where does this strange hat come from?<\/h2>\n

The word\u00a0mitre<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0comes from the\u00a0Greek<\/strong>\u00a0\u03bc\u03af\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1, m\u00edtra, “band”, “bandage for the head”, “turban”. This ornament likely derives from a cloth band used in ancient Greece by warriors, which later evolved into an ornamental strip that women wore around their foreheads. Scholars maintain that even in pre-Christian times there was a priestly headdress from which the mitre would derive, probably a specific headdress of the priests devoted to Mithras, in fact, a Persian deity also worshipped in the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0mitre<\/strong> or\u00a0miter<\/strong> has been used in the Catholic Church as a characteristic element of clergy clothing since the fifth century. At first, it was probably a non-liturgical accessory that the Pope wore during solemn processions. Subsequently, the Supreme Pontiff adopted the tiara<\/strong> as a characteristic headdress, a symbol of papal authority, which remained in use until the pontificate of Paul VI (1963-1978).<\/p>\n

After the 10th century, the Bishops also began to wear the mitre<\/strong>, according to literary and iconographic sources, but we have to wait until the 12th century for this headdress to take the shape we know today.<\/p>\n

The mitre is today the most important and solemn headdress of the Catholic Church, as it represents the\u00a0splendour of the holiness<\/strong>\u00a0embodied by the Bishop, his dignity and authority.<\/p>\n

What is the shape of the Mitre?<\/h2>\n

The mitre that we are used to seeing on the heads of the Bishops and the Pope has a shape that resembles a little bellow. It is elongated and bicuspid (i.e. ending with two points).
\nThe headdress is composed of two pieces of rigid fabric cut out with a triangular shape and joined partially at the sides, to form two points. These points, called\u00a0cornua<\/em>, are not random elements: in fact, they represent\u00a0the Old\u00a0and the\u00a0New Testaments<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In ancient times the mitre was more like a\u00a0cone<\/strong>, then a bonnet<\/strong>\u00a0tied\u00a0under the neck and pressed in the middle to form the two horns. The ribbons were used to fasten it under the neck and later became the two long\u00a0bands<\/strong>\u00a0that hang on the back of the current mitre and the shoulders of the wearer, the so-called\u00a0baleen, or infule, or vitte<\/em>, while the\u00a0horns<\/strong>\u00a0first assumed a rounded shape, then to the cusp, and took the name of\u00a0cornua<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"mitre\"<\/div>\n
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Bishop’s items<\/a><\/div>\n
Here you can find bishop croziers for solemn celebrations, bishops rings and pectoral crosses for bishops.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The mitres were once adorned with many\u00a0precious elements<\/strong>, so much so that they became part of the liturgical treasure of numerous churches. Some were so decorated with gems, gold and silver embroidery, and even feathers, that they were very heavy to wear on your head!<\/p>\n

There are\u00a0three different types of<\/strong> the mitre, codified at the time of Pope Gregory X (1271) and distinguished according to use and decorative elements:<\/p>\n