MANIPLE

or MANUPLE. Originally a narrow strip of linen suspended from the left arm of the priest, and used to wipe away the perspiration from the face: gradually it received embellishments, it was bordered by a fringe, and decorated with needle-work. It is not improbable that its use might be to clean the sacred ve els, as has been supposed by some, for in the eleventh century it was given to the subdeacons as the badge of their order. It is distinguished from the epigon at on by being worn on the left side. The maniple is not retained among the ecclesiastical vestments of the Church of England.