What Do Priests Wear?
Examples of Holy Joe’s Garb Over the Years

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While being pulled around on the snow in a saucer sled by Schultz (our German Shepherd) I wore a head-to-toe snow suit, mittens and all. Is this why Germans always say, “Got Mittuns”? Anyhow, I still love snow and German shepherds, but I’ve slightly outgrown that snow suit.

Apparently bow ties were all the rage in 1962. I don’t actually remember ever wearing one. Must’ve been so traumatic that I’ve blocked it from my memory. However, I do remember wearing braces from 4th through 9th grade!

When I volunteered to assist St Norbert’s parish annual Oktoberfest by sitting in the “dunk tank”, shorts and tanktop seemed appropriate since I kept getting dunked. However, it must be noted that my confrere Father Gabriel Stack also sat in the same dunk tank, but dressed in the complete Norbertine habit! This had two unexpected results. First, nobody dared to dunk him, so the tank made no money for the first hour or so. Secondly, the mother of singer Jose Feliciano walked by and saw Fr Gabriel in the dunk tank and asked how much it would cost to “bail him out”. Somebody jokingly said “One thousand dollars”. She immediately donated $1000 and not only saved Fr Gabriel’s habit from a soaking but also saved the dunktank from going broke. By the way, the shirt says “University of Notre Dame” and the hat says “Bubba Gump Shrimp”.

Playing Scrabble™ with Dad and wearing muftis.

On the other hand, while singing for Pope Paul VI or Pope Saint John Paul II and his entourage at St Peter’s in Rome, I wore an alb, as did everybody else assisting with the Mass.

So, what do priests wear? Hopefully the same as everybody else: whatever is appropriate.

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