Cowl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the garment used by monks. For other uses, see Cowl (disambiguation) or Cowling (disambiguation).
The cowl (from the Latin, cuculla, meaning "little house") is a long, hooded robe, with wide sleeves, worn by some Catholic monks when participating in the liturgy. Developed in the Middle Ages, they became the formal garment for those in monastic life. They were worn to give greater warmth to people who often spent long hours in unheated and drafty churches.
In common usage, the term is often used (incorrectly) to refer to the hood of a religious habit worn by the members of male religious orders.
[edit] Religious use
They are most commonly bestowed upon the monk at the time of his making solemn, or lifetime, vows. They are generally worn in conformity with the color of the monk's tunic, with the Benedictines wearing black, and other groups which follow the Rule of St. Benedict, e.g., the Camaldolese and Cistercians, wearing some form of white. The cowl, without a hood, is also worn by nuns of these orders in the same manner.
[edit] External links
- "Cowl". Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV, 1908
