Deus invicte virtutis auctor, et omnium rerum creator ac sanctificator, intende propicius ad preces nostras, et hec indumenta levitice et sacerdotalis glorie ministris tuis sumenda tuo ore proprio benedicere ✠ sanctificare ✠ et consecrare digneris omnesque eis utentes, tuis misteriis aptos, et tibi in eis devote et amicabiliter servientes gratos effici concedas. Per Christum Dominum. _Benedictio Amicti._—Oremus. Benedic Domine quesume omnipotens Deus amictum istum levitici seu sacerdotalis officii et concede propicius ut quicumque eum capiti suo imposuerit benedictionem tuam accipiat; sitque in fide solidus et sanctitatis gravedine fundatus. Per Christum. Etc. The vestment thus dedicated was sprinkled with holy water after each prayer. The ritual uses of vestments may be conveniently described in two parts; discussing in the first the persons by whom they were worn, and, in the second, the occasions upon which, and the manner in which, they were worn. The vestments were distributed among the different orders of clergy in a manner similar to that in which the early vestments of the second period were allotted (see p. 28), but on a more complex system, as befitted their greater elaboration. Some hints of this system have already been given in the preceding pages; it will be convenient here to amplify this information. The seven orders of the Western Church are the three minor orders (_ostiarius_, _lector_, _acolytus_), and the four major orders (subdeacons, deacons, priests, and bishops; we may divide the last into three subdivisions, bishops proper, archbishops, and the Pope). All ranks wore the _alb_, and all the major orders the _maniple_. All those above the rank of subdeacon wore _amice_ and _stole_, and all above the rank of deacon the _chasuble_. Subdeacons were distinguished by the _tunicle_, deacons by the _dalmatic_; both vestments were added to the outfit of bishops, the latter with a remarkable distinction already described (p. 79). The _stockings_, _sandals_, _subcingulum_ (originally), _mitre_, _gloves_, _ring_, and _staff_ were peculiar to bishops and to certain abbots to whom these _pontificalia_ had been expressly granted by the Pope.[95] Archbishops added the _pall_ to this lengthy catalogue, and the Pope (who dispensed with the pastoral staff) reserved the _orale_, and in later times the _subcingulum_, for his exclusive use. We now turn to the consideration of the occasions upon which, and the manner in which, these vestments were worn. The vestments worn at the mass by the celebrant and his assistants were those which we have described under the heading of 'Eucharistic Vestments,' and of these one, the chasuble, was worn exclusively at this service and at no other.