CINGOLO. – From the profane use of a belt to keep the tunic fixed around the hips there arose the sacred garment in the form of a cord, with two tassels at the ends, which serves to cinch the alb. The first references to the cingolo are found in a letter of Pope Celestinus in 430 to the bishops of Narbonne and Vienne in Gaul. Then the monks, mindful of the Lord’s word, “Let your loins be girded,” deemed a girded tunic incompatible with their state and thus helped to spread the use of the cingolo.
From the simple leather or rope cincture of the monks, the liturgy progressed to the silk sash richly adorned with precious stones and gold studs, especially during the Middle Ages. Later a return was made to primitive simplicity, the sash was discarded, and the cord was resumed. The Church has never determined either the form or the color of the cingolo; they may therefore be made of silk, linen, wool, or cotton, and their color may always be white or similar to that of the vestments. Its symbolic meaning varies according to different authors, but almost all agree in regarding it as the symbol of chastity, as the liturgical prayer which the priest must recite while putting it on indicates.