Q: My concern this time is about the ornamentation on liturgical vestments. GIRM 344 says that “Ornementation on vestments should, moreover, consist on figures, that is, of images or symbols, that denote sacred use, avoiding anything unbecoming to this.” Talking about images, can this be also the image of a founder or foundresse of a religious congregation, whether saint or not yet. Thank you.
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A: This is a matter of taste, but I would advise against putting such images on vestments. GIRM 344 uses the word “figures”, or figuras in Latin, where it is in correlation with images (imagines) and symbols. These words do not immediately suggest images of saints or founders, but different ways of describing symbols and decorative elements.
The vestments are at the service of the liturgy, not at the service of themselves or of some extraneous goal. Images of saints and founders more appropriately decorate the space, not the vestment.