CINGOLO. - From the secular use of a belt to keep the tunic fastened around the hips arose the sacred garment in the form of a cord, with two tassels at the ends, used to gird the alb. The first references to the c. occur in a letter of Pope Celestino in 430 to the bishops of Narbona and Vienna in Gaul. Later the monks, mindful of the Lord’s words, “let your loins be girded,” deemed an ungirded tunic incompatible with their state, and thus helped to generalize the use of the c.
From the simple leather or cord belt of the monks, liturgical practice passed to a silk band richly adorned with precious stones and gold studs, especially during the Middle Ages. Then there was a return to primitive simplicity, and, the band having been eliminated, the cord was resumed. The Church has determined neither the form nor the colour of the cincture; it may therefore be made of silk, linen, wool, or cotton; its colour may always be white or else similar to that of the vestments. Its symbolic meaning varies according to the authors, but almost all agree in regarding it as the symbol of chastity, as is indicated by the liturgical prayer which the priest must recite when girding himself.