Speaking of kilts...

What does a man wear under one?

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I think it is a myth that men wear nothing under their kilts. Researching ancient underwear for my St. Sebastian painting, I know ancient people wore underclothes; so I'm sure Scotsmen did too. Contrary to contemporary fantasy.

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But what about cassocks - what do men wear under their cassocks? In the United States, pants of course. Researching this post I came across one from Fr. Longenecker on the subject, and a female commenter wrote, "I have never wondered what a priest wears under his cassock." Good for her - that is because it is a guy thing. Guys wonder what another guy wears under a tunic, kilt, dress, skirt, cassock - what have you. First reason being, they can't imagine wearing stuff like that, and because they wouldn't want to be all exposed if something happened. Well maybe most guys wouldn't give it a thought - but if you ever had to wear something like that, then maybe you would. Obviously Father did.

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Although I always thought wearing trousers beneath a cassock or a habit must get to be rather warm in the summer, not to mention it seems like over-dressing. I know a motorcycle priest who wears jeans under his cassock - that makes sense. In the monastery, we just wore our underwear beneath the habit - no pants - in winter, we wore long underwear. We changed into work clothes (jeans) when we had to be outside for manual labor, although the monks remaining inside usually stayed in their habits. A Carmelite I knew thought it was distasteful not to wear pants under the habit/cassock - he told me in Italy the friars wore nothing. I don't know how he knew that.

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Many years ago the monks (Trappists) usually wore long undergarments, like pants and leggings, as well as underwear, and they slept in all of these clothes, including their habits. During the day, as they busied themselves in manual labor, they hitched up their tunics to their belt or a loop on the tunic, maintaining modesty since they were still all covered up, free to perform the task at hand. I suppose some groups of monks may yet wear leggings or pants beneath the habit, but I don't know for sure.

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Anyway - it's kind of an interesting topic for a blog post, don't you think?