Humeral veil

The humeral veil is one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Rite, also used in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. It consists of a piece of cloth about 2.75 m long and 90 cm wide draped over the shoulders and down the front, normally of silk or cloth of gold. At the ends there are sometimes pockets in the back for hands to go into so that the wearer can hold items without touching them with the hands.

There is no clarity on when the humeral veil first appeared, though it was certainly in use in the continental Tridentine Rite and in other pre-Reformation usages including the Sarum Rite.

The humeral veil is of the liturgical colour of the day on which it is used, or else is white or cloth of gold.

The humeral veil is most often seen during the liturgy of Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. When priests or deacons bless the people with the monstrance, they cover their hands with the ends of the veil so that their hands do not touch the monstrance as a mark of respect for the sacred vessel and as an indication that it is Jesus present in the Eucharistic species who blesses the people and not the minister.