Chasuble

(casula, a hut, the name of the frock worn by the Roman peasants in the rain), the outer dress worn by the priest at the altar-service; called also poenula. It succeeded the old Roman toga. The poenula was a circular cloth, with an aperture to admit the head in the center, while it fell down over the body, so as completely to cover it. It was otherwise called φαινόλιον, amphiballum, and planeta. This paenula, worn rather longer than common, was adopted at an early age for the outer dress of the clergy. The Romish Church has altered it by cutting it away at the sides, so as to expose the arms, and leave only a straight piece before and behind. The color of the vestment varies according to the different festivals of the Church at which it is used. The Greek Church retains it in its primitive shape. It often appears on the older sculptures and mosaics, and also in old brasses in England. — Palmer, Orig. Liturg. 2:309; Hook, Church Dictionary, s.v.; Siegel, Alterthuimer, 3:63 sq.; Martigny, Dictionnaire des Antiquites, 146.