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Papal fanon


The fanon (old Germanic for cloth) is a vestment that around the 10th or 12th century became reserved for the Pope alone and for use only during a pontifical Mass. The Cardinal Patriarch of Lisboa have the same privilege.

It consists of a doubled shoulder-cape (somewhat like a mozzetta) of white silk ornamented with narrow woven golden stripes, so that the colors alternate white and gold. The first layer of the fanon is placed under the stole and the second over the chasuble, under the white pallium. The two pieces of the fanon are nearly circular in shape but somewhat unequal in size and the smaller is laid over and fastened to the larger one. To allow the head to pass through, there is a round opening in the middle with a vertical slit running down the neckline at the back. The front part of the fanon is ornamented with a small cross embroidered in gold.

The fanon is similar to an amice; it is, however, put on not under the alb, but above it. Previously, the pope wore it only when celebrating a solemn pontifical Mass, that is, only when all the pontifical vestments were used. The manner of putting on the fanon recalled the method of assuming the amice universal in the Middle Ages and that continued to be observed by some of the older religious orders. After the deacon vests the pope with the usual amice, alb, the cingulum and sub-cinctorium, and the pectoral cross, he places the fanon on the pope by means of the opening (with the embroidered cross in front), and then pulls the back half of the upper piece over the pope's head. Then he vests the pope with the stole, tunicle, dalmatic, and chasuble, after which he turns down that part of the fanon which had been placed over the head of the pope, draws the front half of the upper piece up from under the chasuble, and finally arranges the whole upper piece of the fanon so that it covers the shoulders of the pope like a collar. The pallium is placed over the fanon.


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Wikipedia

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