Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform style.
Uniformity and distinctiveness by order often evolved and changed over time. Interpretation of terms for clothes in religious rules could change over centuries. Furthermore, every time new communities gained importance in a cultural area the need for visual separation increased for new as well as old communities. Thus, modern habits are rooted in historic forms, but do not necessarily resemble them in cut, color, material, detail or use.
In Christian monastic orders of the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Churches, the habit often consists of a tunic covered by a scapular and cowl, with a hood for monks or friars and a veil for nuns; in apostolic orders it may be a distinctive form of cassock for men, or a distinctive habit and veil for women. Catholic Canon Law requires only that the garb of their members be in some way identifiable so that the person may serve as a witness of the Evangelical counsels.
In many orders, the conclusion of postulancy and the beginning of the novitiate is marked by a ceremony, in which the new novice is accepted as a novice and then clothed in the community's habit by the superior. In some cases the novice's habit will be somewhat different from the customary habit: for instance, in certain orders of women that use the veil, it is common for novices to wear a white veil while professed members wear black, or if the order generally wears white, the novice wears a grey veil. Among some Franciscan communities of men, novices wear a sort of overshirt over their tunic; Carthusian novices wear a black cloak over their white habit.
Buddhism
Kāṣāya, "chougu" are the robes of Buddhist monks and nuns, named after a brown or saffron dye. In Sanskrit and Pali, these robes are also given the more general term cīvara, which references the robes without regard to color.Origin and construction
Buddhist kāṣāya are said to have originated in India as set of robes for the devotees of Gautama Buddha. A notable variant has a pattern reminiscent of an Asian rice field. Original kāṣāya were constructed of discarded fabric. These were stitched together to form three rectangular pieces of cloth, which were then fitted over the body in a specific manner. The three main pieces of cloth are the antarvāsa, the uttarāsaṅga, and the . Together they form the "triple robe", or tricīvara. The tricīvara is described more fully in the Theravāda Vinaya.Uttarāsaṅga
A robe covering the upper body. It is worn over the undergarment, or antarvāsa. In representations of the Buddha, the uttarāsaṅga rarely appears as the uppermost garment, since it is often covered by the outer robe, or saṃghāti.Saṃghāti
The saṃghāti is an outer robe used for various occasions. It comes over the upper robe, and the undergarment. In representations of the Buddha, the saṃghāti is usually the most visible garment, with the undergarment or uttarāsaṅga protruding at the bottom. It is quite similar in shape to the Greek himation, and its shape and folds have been treated in Greek style in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra.Additions
Other items that may have been worn with the triple robe were:- a waist cloth, the kushalaka
- a buckled belt, the samakaksika
Kāṣāya in Indian Buddhism
In India, variations of the kāṣāya robe distinguished different types of monastics. These represented the different schools that they belonged to, and their robes ranged widely from red and ochre, to blue and black.Between 148 and 170 CE, the Parthian monk An Shigao came to China and translated a work which describes the color of monastic robes utilized in five major Indian Buddhist sects, called Dà Bǐqiū Sānqiān Wēiyí. Another text translated at a later date, the Śariputraparipṛcchā, contains a very similar passage corroborating this information, but the colors for the Sarvāstivāda and Dharmaguptaka sects are reversed.
| Nikāya | Dà Bǐqiū Sānqiān Wēiyí | Śariputraparipṛcchā |
| Sarvāstivāda | Deep Red | Black |
| Dharmaguptaka | Black | Deep Red |
| Mahāsāṃghika | Yellow | Yellow |
| Mahīśāsaka | Blue | Blue |
| Kaśyapīya | Magnolia | Magnolia |
In traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, which follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, red robes are regarded as characteristic of the Mūlasarvāstivādins. According to Dudjom Rinpoche from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the robes of fully ordained Mahāsāṃghika monastics were to be sewn out of more than seven sections, but no more than twenty-three sections. The symbols sewn on the robes were the endless knot and the conch shell, two of the Eight Auspicious Signs in Buddhism.
Jiāshā in Chinese Buddhism
In Chinese Buddhism, the kāṣāya is called gāsā. During the early period of Chinese Buddhism, the most common color was red. Later, the color of the robes came to serve as a way to distinguish monastics, just as they did in India. However, the colors of a Chinese Buddhist monastic's robes often corresponded to their geographical region rather than to any specific schools. By the maturation of Chinese Buddhism, only the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage was still in use, and therefore the color of robes served no useful purpose as a designation for sects, the way that it had in India.in Japanese Buddhism
In Japanese Buddhism, the kāṣāya is known as the kesa. In Japan, during the Edo and Meiji periods, kesa were sometimes pieced together from the theatrical kimono used in Noh theatre.Christianity
Catholicism
in his post-apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata says concerning the religious habit of consecrated persons:Nuns
The religious habits of Catholic nuns typically consist of the following elements:- Tunic: This is the central piece of the habit. It is a loose dress made of serge fabric pleated at the neck and draping to the ground. It can be worn pinned up in the front or in the back to allow the nun to work.
- Scapular: This symbolic apron hangs from both front and back; it is worn over the tunic, and Benedictine nuns also wear it over the belt, whereas some other orders wear it tied under the belt.
- Cincture: The habit is often secured around the waist with a belt of leather, wool or a lanyard. The cincture of the Franciscan orders has three knots standing for the vows.
- Coif: This is the garment's headpiece and includes the white cotton cap secured by a bandeau and a white wimple and guimpe of starched linen, cotton, or polyester. It is sometimes covered by a thin layer of black crêpe.
- Veil: This element is worn pinned over the coif head coverings. Some veils can be worn down to cover the face or up to expose it. The veil sometimes includes a white underveil as well. The colour of the veil depends as well from the habit of the order and the status of the sister or nun.
Different orders adhere to different styles of dress; these styles have changed over time.
Sisters
Historically, the religious habit of Catholic sisters was a visible sign of a woman's consecration to God. Different orders adhere to different styles of dress; these styles have changed over time. For example, in former times, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul wore a cornette instead of a veil. Due the ecclesiastical document Perfectae caritatis, many congregations decided to simplify their habits, to conform to the attire of the culture they are working in, or to even discard their use entirely.While styles vary, for those wearing the traditional habit, three pieces are consistently worn: tunic, belt/cincture, veil. The habit of some Dominican Sisters consists of a tunic, belt, scapular, veil, rosary, and on formal occasions a cappa. Even for orders that have chosen not to wear a habit, these sisters often share a common appearance: calf-length skirt, blouse or sweater, visible cross necklace.
Monks
Monks in the Catholic church wear a tunic, a cincture, a hooded scapular, and, for the Liturgy of the Hours, a mantle or a cowl.Friars
Canons regular
Owing to the different traditions and origins that exist, there is no singular common habit worn by the Canons Regular. Historically the common habit was the distinctive white cassock, with white fascia, over time some communities of Canons have changed to wearing the black cassock with black fascia. The only item of the habit that is common to all Canons is the linen rochet a mark of the canonical status.In the Netherlands, some wore a cacullae Some communities of canons, notably in Austria and Switzerland wear a sarotium, coming from the Latin sacrum rochettum, 'the sacred rochet'. It is a thin band of linen worn over the cassock when not in choir. As part of their choir dress, some communities of Canons wear a mozzetta, either black or purple over the rochet.
Outdoors Canons wear a black cloak and hood, but again adaptations have been made to this in some of the communities. Canons also traditionally wore a biretta.
Clergy
Usually, secular priests wear either a black cassock or an ordinary men's garb in black or another dark color along with a white clerical collar. White cassocks or clothes may be worn in hot climates. Also, a ferraiolo could be worn along with the cassock. Priests also traditionally wore a biretta along with the cassock.Deacons, priests, and bishops belonging to religious institutes wear the habit of their institute.