ALB

A vestment worn by Roman Catholic priests in celebrating mass, and prescribed also for the Church of England by the first prayer-book of Edward VI. ("a white albe plain, with a vestment or cope"). See VESTMENTS AND INSIGNIA, ECCLESIASTICAL. The name was applied also to the white garments worn by the newly baptized in the early Church; and from this, since Easter was the usual time for baptism, came the name for the Sunday after Easter, Dominica in albis (sc. depositis).