Expert: Fr. Michael - 5/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: What type of head wear would a Catholic priest have worn around 1938, Brooklyn Diocese, New York when performing a marriage ceremony?

ANSWER: The traditional headgear then and now (not typically used in the Newchurch of the New Order) is the biretta.  A distinctive black (for priests) hat that has three peaks.

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QUESTION: Would a priest performing a marriage ceremony wear all white vestments with some gold embroidery and then wear a black biretta with the white?  Someone else told me that for a wedding ceremony nothing would be worn on the head.

Answer
It does not matter what color the vestments may be; the priest's biretta is always black and is worn when prescribed in the rubrics (approaching and recessing from the altar, when seated for the Gloria and Credo, when preaching, etc.).  If you are speaking simply the Matrimonial ceremony without Mass, the biretta would be worn throughout.