Textile Art & Artisans — Today
Our Cathedral artisans are people who give their time and talent to continue the tradition of beautiful worship at the Cathedral. Care for the aesthetics of worship at our Cathedral invites worshipers and curious visitors into a multi-sensory experience of awe that transcends description—therefore we invite you to visit us!
Recent projects of a Altar Guild artisan include a set of funeral vestments, the altar frontal shown below. Continue to the end of this page to see the needlework of another Cathedral artisan who creates cushions for our chapels.
Vestments are textiles which adorn both the sacred ministers and the objects used in worship during both the daily and Sunday services. Sets are made to correspond to the color of the liturgical season or feast celebrated. Vestments have many names and types, but all are of a design so that those who serve in the Mass appear as a worshiping unity with the priest as celebrant leading the Church—the Body of Christ—in receiving Christ, in the Holy Eucharist.
The vested sacred ministers process through the liturgy of worship within the Cathedral’s carved Neo-Gothic interior. The vestments combined with incense, the music of organ and Choir, and the hymns and prayers help the people worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Embroidered images—salvaged and repurposed or bought and sewn into traditionally-made fabric from an English supplier in the service of Her Majesty the Queen—can be seen on the back of the celebrant pointing to beauty and meaning in the Mass. One example above shows a bird plucking her chest to feed her chicks with her own blood—a symbol for Christ dating back to medieval times.
If you would like to be a part of this ministry of beauty by supporting the Altar Guild with a donation, we gratefully invite you to do so by clicking the button below:
Above: altar “kneeler” from the Cathedral’s St. Michael Chapel.
Cushioned “kneelers” are also part of traditional worship and are designed and executed in needlepoint by Cathedral artisans. Worn cushions, as with other textiles, must periodically be replaced due to their use by all who visit the altar.
Left and above: altar cushions from the Cathedral’s St. John Chapel.
The Cathedral is blessed with a resident artisan who continues the tradition of making needlepoint cushions uniquely suited to The Cathedral of All Saints. If you would like to make a donation for the purchase of wool and velvet for completion of cushions, please do so below:
Visit our Textile Art-Yesterday page to see past projects of the artisans of the Cathedral’s Altar Guild.