How cool is this? From the ever-observant Deacon Bill:

I was doing a little surfing about the events and came across the liturgical aid used at this morning’s ceremony…

…To my great surprise, of all the artwork available to the Vatican’s liturgical planners for this event, they chose to use several images of “The Dalmatic of Charlemagne”: and the dalmatic, as we all know, is the vestment now associated with deacons. The particular dalmatic in question was for many years thought to have been worn by the Emperor Charlemagne at his coronation; hence the name. It is now thought to date from the 14th century. Still, this is an interesting choice of image for a number of reasons…

…As the notes printed at the end of the liturgical aid point out, the mission of the deacon is very similar to the mission of the emperor: to serve the people with joy and justice. It is important to see the marriage here of the secular and the sacred: both realms come from God and share in the divine mission of providing for all of God’s people.

Check out the rest here to find another image of the dalmatic, along with a link to the liturgical guide for the cardinal ceremony.