The Chalice Veil and Burse: What They Are, How They Are Used, and Which Colour

A chalice veil is the square of cloth that covers the chalice from the start of Mass until the gifts are prepared, and again after Communion. A burse is the stiffened square case that carries the folded corporal to the altar and sits on top of the veiled chalice. Both are made in the colour of the day, or in white, and both usually come from the same cloth as the chasuble. In the current Roman Missal the veil is commended rather than commanded; the burse is not mentioned at all and continues as custom.

This article is for the people who handle these pieces: sacristans, altar guilds, servers and masters of ceremonies. It covers what each piece is, the order in which the chalice is vested, what the rubrics say, the colour rule, sizes and construction, and how to keep an embroidered veil from being ruined in a drawer.

What each piece is

Five things travel with the chalice. Two are textiles in the colour of the day; three are white linen. The distinction matters for laundering, because the linens are washed after every use and the veil and burse almost never are.

Piece	What it is	Colour	Position when the chalice is vested
Purificator	A small linen towel used to wipe the chalice	White linen	Folded lengthways across the mouth of the chalice
Paten	The shallow plate for the host	Metal	On the purificator, with the priest’s host on it
Pall	A stiff square of linen that keeps dust off the chalice	White linen; the top may be embroidered	Over the paten
Chalice veil	A lined square of vestment cloth	Colour of the day, or white	Draped over everything below, hanging evenly
Burse	A case of two stiffened boards, joined on three edges and open on the fourth	Colour of the day, or white, outside; lined in linen or silk	Flat on top of the veil, with the folded corporal inside

The corporal, the linen square on which the chalice and paten stand during the Eucharistic Prayer, is the reason the burse exists. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes the burse as “a receptacle in which, for reasons of convenience and reverence, the folded corporal is carried to and from the altar”. Fragments of the host may rest on the corporal, so it is folded inwards and never shaken out. The burse keeps it flat and clean between sacristy and altar.

How to vest the chalice

The order below is common practice in the Ordinary Form. The GIRM does not prescribe the sequence, but it is the same in almost every sacristy that uses a veil, and it is the order the Extraordinary Form requires.

1. Stand the chalice on the vesting table or credence and check it is dry.
2. Fold the purificator lengthways and lay it across the mouth of the chalice, the ends hanging down either side.
3. Place the paten on the purificator with the priest’s host on it.
4. Lay the pall on the paten, embroidered side up if it has one.
5. Drape the veil over the whole, embroidered face to the front. The front edge should hang to the foot of the chalice. Smooth it so the sides hang evenly.
6. Put the folded corporal in the burse and lay the burse flat on top, open edge towards where the priest will stand.

At Mass the burse comes off first. The corporal is unfolded and spread in the centre of the altar, usually by the deacon or a server at the preparation of the gifts, and the empty burse is set to one side. The veil is then lifted off, folded and set aside or handed to a server. The chalice is placed on the corporal, and from that point the veil has no further part until after Communion.

After Communion the chalice is purified and dried with the purificator, and the pieces are rebuilt in the same order. Whether the veil goes back on at the altar or at the credence is local practice. Many parishes re-veil at the altar so the chalice leaves the sanctuary as it arrived; others reassemble at the credence. Neither is required by the current rubrics.

Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form

In the Extraordinary Form (the 1962 Missal) the veiled chalice with the burse on top is carried in by the priest at a Low Mass and placed on the altar at the start. In the Ordinary Form the chalice more often waits on the credence and is brought to the altar at the preparation of the gifts. The vesting order is the same in both, so one set of veils and burses serves a parish that celebrates both forms.

Is the veil still required?

This is the question sacristans ask most, and the answer is one sentence of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. GIRM 118, listing what is to be prepared before Mass, ends: “It is a praiseworthy practice for the chalice to be covered with a veil, which may be either of the color of the day or white.”

So the veil is commended, not required. A parish that has stopped using one is not breaking a rule; a parish that keeps one is doing what the Missal calls praiseworthy. The burse is not mentioned in the current GIRM. It survives as custom, and it survives because it is useful: the corporal has to be carried somehow, and a stiff case is the only way to carry a folded linen without creasing or exposing it.

In the 1962 Missal both pieces are obligatory. The Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry on the burse records that its use spread through the medieval period and that by 1692 Mass could not lawfully be celebrated without one. The same encyclopedia’s entry on the chalice calls the veil and burse “of comparatively recent introduction”, tracing the veil back to the bag or cloth in which the priest once carried the chalice and paten to the altar. Both entries predate the current Missal, which is why they speak of obligation where the GIRM now speaks of praiseworthy practice.

Anglican and Lutheran practice

In the Church of England and the Episcopal Church the veil and burse are used wherever the parish’s eucharistic practice is fuller: Anglo-Catholic parishes almost always, many others often, evangelical parishes rarely. No rubric requires or forbids them, so the altar guild’s custom decides. Lutheran use varies from parish to parish; where a veil and burse are used, their colours follow the same church-year sequence as the paraments, and no Lutheran body treats either piece as required.

Which colour

The rule is the one GIRM 118 gives: the colour of the day, or white. In practice most parishes buy the veil and burse with the vestment set, so a green chasuble comes with a green veil and burse, a violet chasuble with violet, and so on. The seasonal colours themselves are set out in GIRM 346, in chapter 6 of the General Instruction, and the differences between traditions are in our guide to liturgical colours by tradition.

The white option is a practical concession. A parish with one white veil can use it on any day of the year, so a small chapel or a new mission is properly served with a single white veil and burse. It also covers the odd days: a votive Mass in a colour the parish does not own, or a rose Sunday in a church without rose vestments.

The set of five

When a vestment set is described as a “set of five” the count is chasuble, stole, maniple, chalice veil and burse. The maniple has fallen out of general use in the Ordinary Form, but the veil and burse remain the natural companions to a chasuble because they are cut from the same cloth and carry the same orphrey or motif. A veil bought later to match an existing chasuble rarely matches, because dye lots differ and brocades go out of production. If you are ordering a chasuble and expect to use a veil, order the veil at the same time. Our article on what is in a vestment set covers the other pieces.

Our own chalice veils are sold singly in the colours a parish is most likely to need: a green veil with Chi-Rho and wheat for Ordinary Time, a purple veil with a cross and crown of thorns for Lent, a white veil with IHS, chalice and wheat for the festal seasons and for any day when white stands in, with red and Marian blue veils alongside them in the altar hangings and paraments collection. The blue veil is for parishes whose tradition or indult allows blue; the Roman rite does not list it as a colour.

Sizes and construction

A chalice veil is a square, typically 20 to 24 inches (50 to 60 cm) on each side. The size depends on the chalice: the veil should fall to the foot at the front and to roughly the same depth at the sides and back, so a tall chalice needs the larger size. Measure from rim to foot, double it, add the width of the cup, and you have the minimum square that will cover it. Oversized veils drag on the credence and are awkward to fold at the altar.

The burse is smaller. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives “about twenty-five centimetres (or ten inches) square”, and most burses today are 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25 cm). It is two boards, each faced with vestment cloth outside and linen or silk inside, joined along one edge so it opens like a book, closed along two more, and open on the fourth. The boards must be stiff enough to hold the corporal flat and light enough to stand on edge. Card was the traditional filler and warps when damp; many makers now use a rigid plastic board.

Lining and hang

The veil is lined so that it hangs cleanly and hides the back of any embroidery. A lining heavier than the face cloth pulls the veil out of square and makes the corners flare; one too light lets the veil cling to the chalice. In the workroom we line a veil in the same weight we use for the chasuble of the set, and we cut face and lining on the same grain so the square stays square after months of handling.

Where the embroidery goes

Embroidery on a veil is placed so that it shows when the veil is on the chalice, not when it lies flat on a table. The motif sits in the centre of the front panel, a little above the midpoint so it falls on the flat face of the cloth rather than curving over the pall. A motif placed dead centre of the square ends up on top of the chalice, hidden under the burse. On the burse the motif is centred on the upper board; a competent maker chooses whether it reads upright when the burse lies on the chalice or when it stands on the altar, and tells you which.

Care and storage

Veils and burses are not laundered like the linens. They are vestment cloth and should be treated as you would treat the chasuble: brushed, aired, spot-cleaned, and dry-cleaned only when necessary. Our vestment care guide applies in full.

Store the veil flat. A veil folded on the embroidery damages the thread along the fold, and the crease shows when the veil is on the chalice. The best storage is a shallow drawer wide enough to take the veil open, with acid-free tissue between colours. If the drawer is too small, fold once along a line that avoids the motif, with tissue in the fold, and change the fold line each time. Do not leave a veil draped over the chalice all week; dust settles on it and the weight of the burse crushes the crown.

Store the burse closed and flat, with nothing heavy on it. Never leave a damp corporal inside, or the board will warp and the lining will mark. If a burse gets wet, open it, stand it upright and let it dry for a day before closing it.

The two accidents that reach a veil are candle wax, when the veil is set down too close to the altar candles, and altar wine, when a chalice is re-veiled before it is fully dry. Both are made worse by rubbing. Our article on removing wax, wine and chrism stains gives the method for each.

Common questions

Is a chalice veil required at Mass?

Not in the Ordinary Form. GIRM 118 calls it “a praiseworthy practice”, which means recommended but not obligatory. In the Extraordinary Form (1962 Missal) it is required. Anglican and Lutheran churches have no rule either way and follow parish custom.

What colour should the chalice veil be?

The colour of the day, or white, according to GIRM 118. Most parishes use a veil that matches the chasuble; a white veil may be used on any day and is the sensible first purchase for a parish that does not yet own every colour.

What goes inside the burse?

The folded corporal, and only the corporal. The purificator goes on the chalice, not in the burse. The burse is opened at the altar, the corporal spread, and the empty burse set to one side until the corporal is refolded after Communion.

What size is a chalice veil?

Usually a square of 20 to 24 inches (50 to 60 cm), chosen so the veil reaches the foot of the chalice at the front. A burse is about 9 to 10 inches (23 to 25 cm) square. If your chalice is unusually tall, tell us its height before ordering from the altar hangings and paraments collection.

Can the veil be white when the vestments are green?

Yes. GIRM 118 allows white on any day, so a white veil at a green Ordinary Time Mass is correct. Matching is preferable where the parish owns the colour, but white is never wrong.

Checking what you own

If your parish uses a veil, the next step is to lay every veil and burse out flat, match each to the chasuble it belongs with, and note which colours are missing, which veils are creased on the embroidery, and which burses have warped boards. A missing green veil is the most common gap, because green is used for more than half the year and wears fastest. A single white veil covers the rest until the budget allows.

Veils and burses are usually the last pieces added to a set and the first to be lost when vestments are inherited piecemeal. Our article on what is in a vestment set explains how the pieces fit together, and the vestments explained guide covers everything that goes on the priest rather than the chalice.

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on the burse
• same encyclopedia's entry on the chalice
• chapter 6 of the General Instruction