Historically men have worn hats, or at least they did until John F. Kennedy made going bareheaded fashionable, and the Capuce is the "hat" of the Dominican habit. The capuce is one of the three parts of the white Dominican habit and has a short shoulder cape attached to it. It is worn over the scapular, which is wore over the tunic. There is also a black version, which is worn over the white one when the cappa (a long black cape) is worn. The raising and lowering of the capuce is analogus to the lay practice of doffing one's hat, and to the parallel use by secular clergy of the biretta. The capuce is the only head-covering used by Dominican friars, with the exception of the doctoral biretta worn by those with ecclesiastical academic titles. And those birettas are never used in liturgical functions. Of course, this rule did not prevent wearing of a black zuchetto to cover the tonsure or, today, baldness. Well, at least that is the theory, and perhaps it was so in the Middle Ages. Photographs of friars working outside in habit under the sun, wearing wide staw hats, can be found from the 1800s in our province archives. And I have seen plenty of pictures of friars from my province at the Angelicum in Rome, some as recent as the 1980s, showing them wearing the cappello romano, the broad-brimmed Roman clergy hat. To the above right is a photo of some Angelicum students in the early 1950s on an excusion in the country outside of Rome, with their "Roman hats."
Before discussing the raising and lowering of the capuce in the traditional rite, a couple of general observations are in order. First, although the practice was never completely uniform (cf. Caeremoniale S.O.P. (1869), n. 536), the practice was, and is, for non-priest friars to remove the capuce before putting on the surplice and then put it back on so that the shoulder cape is on top. Priest friars wear the surplice over the capuce and shoulder cape, so only the hood is visible. The practice with the alb and amice has changed over the years. In the Ordinary of Humbert (1256), the capuce was removed before putting on the amice and alb. Although this was later changed, many friars, to this day persist in removing the capuce before vesting with the alb, a practice regularly reprobated by liturgists of the Order into the 1960s. The problem is that the shoulder cape tends to bunch up under the amice and alb. To prevent such unsightly bumps, the deacon and subdeacon were to help the priest vest and then help each other vest (Caeremon., n. 808).
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When the ceremonial spoke of use of the capuce at Office and Mass (nn. 378ff.), it was assumed that it was usually up, so the rubrics merely list the times when it is lowered. At Office the capuce was lowered: 1. at the beginning of each hour until the completion of the Gloria Patri (which means, at Compline, also during the short chapter and the Confiteor). 2. At the Magnificat, Benedictus, and Nunc Dimmittis. 3. At the Preces with its verses and Pater Noster. 4. At the Collects (at which the friars also bow). And finally, during the Salve Regina until the end of the devotions attached to Compline.
The major ministers did not follow the choir rubrics for the capuce during Mass: they kept their heads uncovered from arrival until the recessional. During Mass, honwever, the friars in choir kept the capuce up, except for: 1. The priest's intoning of the Gloria; 2. The singing of the Gospel; and 3. The Elevation proper.
I suspect that most of these practices have very close parallels in the other western rites, as well as the Roman itself.
Upcoming Dominican Rite Masses
I would like to take this opportunity to remind readers that this coming August, 2008, there will be two Sung Dominican Rite Masses in the Northwest. The first, a Solemn High Mass of St. Dominic on August 8, will honor the 100th Anniversary of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle. It will be at 7 p.m. in the church, and the celebrant will be Fr. Daniel Syverstad, O.P., former provincial of the Western Province and current pastor there. Then, two days later, on Sunday, August 10, at 11:30 a.m, a Mass for the transferred celebration of St. Dominic will be sung at Holy Rosary Parish in Portland. The celebrant will be the pastor, Fr. Anthony Patalano, O.P. This is currently planned as a Missa Cantata, not a Solemn Mass. I expect to be at both celebrations; if you are a reader and present, please introduce yourself.