CÀMICE. — A white linen vestment (therefore called alba in liturgical language), reaching to the feet and used by ecclesiastics in liturgical functions. It derives from the tunic that the Greeks and Romans wore either alone or beneath their other garments. It had no sleeves and reached to the knees; the feminine version descended to the feet, whence its name of talar tunic. In the 3rd century, under the influence of Eastern customs, sleeves were added. At first simple and unadorned, it later acquired long strips of purple or another color, which descended from the shoulders to the feet, both at the back and at the front. It is precisely this white, unadorned talar tunic, with long sleeves tight at the wrists, that clerics used in performing the sacred ministries. The Council of Carthage in 398 established that the deacon should wear the tunic only during the time of the oblation or the readings. In the 6th century the subdeacons also began to wear II. In 830 Leo IV prescribed for sacred functions an alb different from the ordinary one; thus, when civilians ceased to wear the tunic, it was preserved in the liturgy and became a sacred vestment. In the Ordo Romanus I the linen tunic is already certainly a liturgical vestment.
The ancient tunic was quite ample, and ornaments of silk or gold were applied to it, not only at the hem and on the sleeves, but also on the chest, shoulders, and lower edges. With the passage of time these ornaments disappeared, giving way, especially from the 16th century onward, to lace and trimmings of various kinds. Today the alb, according to canonical prescriptions, must be made of white fabric, of sufficiently ample cut, and descend to the heels, gathered around the waist with the cincture. No ornament is prescribed; the established custom may therefore be followed of applying lace around the neck, at the ends of the sleeves, and along the lower hem. Albs made entirely of lace are not permitted; on the other hand, undersides of various colors to be placed beneath the lace of the sleeves and fringe are tolerated, since they represent the color of the celebrant’s cassock. The use of the alb has, since the 12th–13th centuries, been reserved exclusively for ministers in sacris at Holy Mass, and whenever the dalmatic or tunicle is worn. The priest does not wear it at Vespers, Matins, and Lauds, or at funerals. The alb must be blessed by the bishop or by someone possessing the faculty to do so. — Vedi Tav. XXX.