English
GermanDalmatic
It was a normal item of clothing at the time when ecclesiastical clothes began to develop separately around the fourth century, worn over a longer tunic by the upper classes, and as the longest part of the dress of men of lower rank.
The dalmatic is a robe with wide sleeves; it reaches to at least the knees or lower. In 18th Century vestment fashion, it was customary to slit the under side of the sleeves so that the dalmatic becomes a mantle like a scapular with an opening for the head and two square pieces of the material falling from the shoulder over the upper arm. Modern dalmatics tend to be longer and have closed sleeves, with the sides being open below the sleeve. The distinctive ornamentation of the vestment consists of two vertical stripes running from the shoulder to the hem; according to Roman usage these stripes are narrow and sometimes united at the bottom by two narrow cross-stripes. Outside of Rome the vertical stripes are quite broad and the cross-piece is on the upper part of the garment. Traditionally, in the Roman Rite, at a Pontifical High Mass, a dalmatic (usually made of lighter material) was worn by the bishop under the chasuble.
Traditionally the dalmatic was not used in the Roman rite by deacons during Lent. In its place was worn what was called a broad stole, which represented a folded dalmatic. This tradition when back to a time at which the dalmatic was still considered an essential secular garment and thus not appropriate to be worned during the penitential season of Lent.
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