STOLE (Gr. stole, Lat. sVa, a robe) is the name of one of the sacred vestmerts used in the Latin elmrch, and with some modification, in the Greek church also. It origin aced in a wide and flowing robe of linen. called also orariorn., which hung from the shoulder, and which had a narrow embroidered border of a different color, as we learn from St. Ambrose's sermon on the death of Satyrus (n. 43). and from Jerome's letter to Nepotianus (Ep. 52), The present stole seems to be the traditionary representative of the embroidered border of the orarium in the Roman Catholic church, and cousists of a narrow band of silk or precious stuff, edged and fringed with gold or embroidery. It is worn over the shoulders by priests and deacons, but in a different fashion—the former wearing it over both shoulders, with the ends hanging in front, or crossed upon the breast; the latter carrying it only from the left shoulder to the right side, where the pendent ends are fastened. In the eastern church the stole is worn pendent, over both shoulders by priests, over the left shoulder only by deacons. The stole is worn at mass, and id the administration of sacraments, in certain blessings, and in more solemn forms of preaching. It is also used, in some cases, as a symbol of jurisdiction, in which sense
it is constantly worn by the pope, even when not officiating; and there is a very re markable usage in Italy and other Catholic countries, illustrative of the same principle as to jurisdiction, of the parish priest, after he has administered extreme unction to a sick person, leaving the stale upon the foot of the bed, not to be withdrawn until the death or recovery of the invalid. Like the other sacerdotal vestments, the stole must be blessed by a bishop, or a priest delegated by a bishop. In the English church the stole is now gen erally used by the clergy, and is worn with the same difference by priests and deacons. In the case of dignitaries, doctors, and chaplains of noblemen or bishops, it is worn in the form of a scarf. The use of the stole in the English church appears to rest only up on ancient custom, as it is not specified in any rubric or canon. It is usually of black silk, fringed at the ends, with sometimes crosses embroidered.