The Manutergium and 1st Stole

Manutergium, alternatively (and legitimately) spelled maniturgium, and also sometimes called the "binding cloth."

On the occasion of their first Mass, it is traditional that the newly ordained priest presents a gift to his parents. 

To his mother he gives the Maniturgium, which was used to cleanse his hands; consecrated and made holy when the bishop anointed them with sacred chrism at his ordination. The Maniturgium is a simple white piece of linen that represents the burial shroud of Christ that protected His sacred body during His 3 days in the tomb. The Maniturgium is given to the mother, because she was the first protector of the newly ordained priest, during his time in her womb. The Maniturgium is a reminder to the people of God of His love and protection – especially towards His priests. When the newly ordained priest’s mother is called home to God, she is buried holding the Maniturgium so that all in Heaven and on Earth will know that she is the mother of a priest. And on the last day when we are raised from the dead, she can present the Maniturgium to Christ the Lord and say, “my son too shared in your priesthood.” 

To his father, the priest presents his first confessional stole. The stole is the sign of priestly office, and the priest wears it when he engages in holy things, like celebrating the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance. In the Sacrament of Penance, we experience God’s justice, mercy and reconciling Love. It was the father of the newly ordained priest who first taught him about justice and mercy. And so the purple stole used to hear confessions, where the priest reconciles the faithful into God’s love, is presented to the priest’s father. And like the mother of the newly ordained, when the priest’s father dies, he is buried holding the purple stole so that all in Heaven and on Earth will know that he was the father of a priest. And on the last day when we are raised from the dead, he can present the purple stole to Christ the Lord and say, “my son too shared in your priesthood.”

Source: Father Maurer, comment, January 13, 2012 (1:10 p.m. PST), on "QUAERITUR: Priesthood Ordination Customs," Fr. Z's Blog, January 13, 2012, accessed December 11, 2013, http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/01/quaeritur-priesthood-ordination-customs/.

The manutergium (from the Latin manu+tergium = hand towel) was a long cloth that was wrapped around the hands of the newly ordained priest after the Bishop anointed his hands with the sacred Chrism (oil). The purpose was to prevent excess oil from dripping onto vestments or the floor during the remainder of the ordination rites. [...] 

The use of the manutergium was discontinued in the current Rite of Ordination. Currently, the newly ordained steps aside to a table after his hands are anointed and uses a purificator to wipe away any excess oil. While it is not technically called the manutergium nor is it exactly the same in design or usage, (for the hands are not wrapped by it), nevertheless this is still a cloth used to wipe away the excess Chrism (oil). 

Manutergium redivivus! In recent years many newly ordained have carefully set aside these purificators in a bag with their name on it so that they may retain this purificator and present it to their mother. The same word has been retained for the cloth (manutergium).

Source: Msgr. Charles Pope, "Lost Liturgies File: The Manutergium," Archdiocese of Washington Blog, June 20, 2010, accessed December 11, 2013, http://blog.adw.org/2010/06/lost-liturgies-file-the-maniturgia/.

In the EF [N.B.: Extraordinary Form], the anointed hands of the ordinandus are closely joined and tied together with a linen cloth, so as to allow the oil to penetrate into his hands. [The newly ordained], then, becomes “a prisoner of Christ” (Eph. 3:1). It is an external manifestation that priests are bound to Christ, the eternal High Priest.

Source: Rev.Fr. Louie R. Coronel, "The Binding Cloth of the Priest’s Anointed Hands," Priest Stuff Blog, February 9, 2011, accessed December 11, 2013, http://prieststuff.blogspot.com/2011/02/binding-cloth-of-priests-anointed-hands.html.