Mainz Cathedral regalia 2002

Description

Mass vestments for the Mainz Cathedral based on designs by Claus Kilian and Raphael Seitz

According to the wish of the founder, these robes should very discreetly represent a piece of Mainz history or Mainz church history and events that were and are equally significant for Mainz, the history of the city and the church.

Red, the color of blood! These vestments stand for Mainz, which is becoming Christian; the Mainz of the martyr church of the first centuries, in Roman and in Frankish times. St. Stephan, first martyr of Christianity and second patron of the cathedral, who beheaded St. Alban (died approx. 406) and St. Bonifatius (died 754), Archbishop in Mainz and "Apostle of the Germans & #8220 ;, shown.

White (gold), the color of joy! These vestments stand for the “Golden Mainz & #8220; (aurea moguntia). They show St. Martinus von Tours (d. 397), patron saint of the cathedral and the diocese of Mainz, Archbishop Hrabanus Maurus (d. 856), the "teacher of Germany & #8220; and Archbishop Willigis (d. 1011), the builder of the cathedral

Green, the color of hope! These vestments stand for the hopeful, newly blossoming Mainz. Significant figures in Mainze church history & #8211; the abbess Hildegard von Bingen (d. 1179), the Jesuit Petrus Canisius (d. 1597) and bishop Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler (d. 1877) & #8211; are shown.

Violet, the color of repentance and sorrow! These vestments stand for the grieving, the penitent, the hoping, the newly emerging Mainz. The Easter time of penance (Lent) is completely shaped by this color: through repentance (conversion) and through baptism (baptism remembrance) man should become new.
Violet and black are also the colors of mourning; they are used in the liturgy for the deceased (funeral / requiem) and on All Souls' Day, the memorial day of all deceased (November 2nd). Against this background, the purple robes of the Mainz cathedral regalia can be seen. “Remembrance is the beginning of salvation & #8220; says a Jewish proverb, and these robes want to bring to mind: events and people that many Mainz residents still remember because they experienced this time themselves! The memory keeps the longing for peace awake and awakens the willingness to repent.
The vestments show the beatified Pope John XXIII, the Carmelite converted from Judaism to Catholicism and Edith Stein (Sr. Theresia Benedicta of the Cross) murdered in 1942 in the gas chamber of Birkenau & #8211; and a woman "without a name & #8220 ;.
An additional individual garment commemorates the destruction of Mainz in World War II on February 27, 1945.