Spirit Daily excerpts from The Unveiled Woman:
.
It is an honor to wear the veil. But by publicly repudiating it, a woman dishonors her feminine dignity, her sign of female subjection, just as the military officer is dishonored when he is stripped of his decorations.
.
In summary, the reasons that St. Paul advises women to cover their heads in the church are:
- Our Lord commanded it;
- It is a visible sign of an invisible order established by God;
- The Angels at mass are offended if women don’t use it;
- It is a ceremonial vestment;
- It is our heritage.
Wow - another set of rules.
.
I wonder... with this type of thinking, can women even be saved?
.
From today's first reading at Mass: "Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1
.
FYI: Before Jackie Kennedy, very few American women of Northern European ancestry ever wore mantillas, much less a veil - unless it was netting that was attached to a hat. WRONG! I was just informed Catholic school girls in St. Paul wore chap-caps and veils back in 1945! Oh! My! Gosh!
Well, this is another "diversion", I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteWe're not Moslems, after all, (is that a criminal offense to say?...better get my lawyer on my case!).
This is a traditional and ancient practice, the veiling of women...but I'm afraid that in this culture, this is either not understood or misunderstood...better left to the discretion of the particular female...I'm not gettin' involved in this...uh, huh...;-)!
"I wonder ... can women ever be saved?"
ReplyDeleteI wonder that to sometimes when reading some stuff people come up with.
I once read someone saying that beautiful women should not dress to look beautiful, because then they might cause people to envy them, and that would be creating scandal. So the verdict was that beautiful women should suppress their natural beauty in order not to make other women envy them. No word on good-looking men.
So maybe women can get to heaven ... but only unattractive ones.
Mercury - it almost seems some women think like that sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see a good-looking guy, my reaction is almost always "good for that dude!"
ReplyDeleteJust for the record:
ReplyDeleteI believe that unmarried women, in the ancient practice, were not veiled...
Once women were married, they were veiled...and thus, the practice of veiling "consecrated virgins"...Nuns...they were "taken", so to speak...
However the "veiling of women", per se, happened, I have no idea...I'm just acquainted with the "veiling" of consecrated women...virgins and widows...
and the practice of the Church until VII seems to be pretty clear that women should "cover their heads"...me Mum (a non-Catholic, by the way) bought a hat to attend my aunt's wedding in a Catholic Church (in 1968)...it was enforced then, I guess, either by custom or by law.
It's a venerable ancient custom, and if it was ever enforced again, so be it. But it's wrong for people to say women are sinning by not doing it. There's nothing I hate more than when people assert sin where there is none.
ReplyDeleteI was once on a question forum where a girl started her question "I know it's usually a mortal sin to wear a tanktop, but ..."
Seriously, it's sad.
And isn't it funny that when people make up new sins, it's always a mortal sin?
ReplyDeleteThe wedding photos of my grandmother and grandfather getting married in a Catholic Church in the 20's...she has a picture hat on..no veil. Not even a netting...although she does have a big gauzy bow on the hat..
ReplyDeleteHer wedding dress is also mid-calf...scandulous!!
But I also have a way cool photo of her dressed in a flapper costume...she was quite the trend setter...
She never left the house without gloves and lipstick, even to go to the grocery store..a class act.
She would have insisted on a Hermes scarf :)
Sara
Sara
Sara - what a woman! Coco Chanel said a woman should wake up before her husband and put on her make-up and arrange her hair so she would be beautiful when her beloved awakened. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI wear a mantilla. I worry mre about these women who wear almost next to nothing at Mass. And I dislike those couples who insist on PDAs during Mass. So inappropriate. And I didn't appreciate that crack about unattrative women either. Superficial creep!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteI really hope you detected the sarcasm in my post. I was making fun of some attitudes you find online. If that were what I really think then I might as well convert to Islam.
At one time I thought being a Catholic would be really, really different from being a protestant but I was so readily relieved of my preconceptions that I don't actually recall even having a honeymoon period which I can morn the loss of.
ReplyDelete...therefore our practice should be dictated by convention? Not sure why there's such an issue with the traditional mantilla here. It's not a fashion statement.
ReplyDeleteFor the record: I grew up in St. Paul's Nativity parish (and attended Nativity school, and we all wore veils or hats. My grandparents attended St. Lukes and the Cathedral where the women wore veils (or hats.) When I attended Derham Hall, we all wore veils. I was born in 1945, so you can do the math. I have no idea of what the rest of the country was doing.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I would not wear a veil today. If someone else wants to wear a veil - fine.
As to Coco Chanel's advice about being pretty for her husband? It was exactly what we were taught by the Sister's of St. Joseph at Derham Hall. Really!
Adrienne - I mis-informed the public then - I didn't realize you were that - I mean I didn't realize chapel caps and veil were worn by the ladies of Derham Hall. LOL! I'll remove the Jackie O statement right away lest I lead young fashionistas astray.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the poor side of town and the girls from there went to St. Joe's Academy. BTW - I thought beanies were the thing back then? My sister was cool and wore her's folded in two, pinned with bobby-pins at the crown of her head.
Did you ever think back then that the idea of wearing a head covering - or veil - would take on the importance of dogma in the later days?
I'm doomed, doomed I tell ya!
ReplyDeleteJust because one source on the internet makes an argument and claims not veiling is sinful (which, wasn't it viewed that way at one time in the Church - doesn't mean such belief was always observed, though) hardly makes it an issue of dogma. No coquettish winks for me, thanks. But I think there is also a certain amount of over-reaction and preening about women who do wear veils - "oh, it's alright if you want to wear one, dearie....," with a certain implication that the person wearing them is trying to one-up everyone. Perhaps a bit of self-doubt....?
ReplyDeleteWhy not have a more distinctively Catholic culture and practice of the Faith? Catholics, wittingly or not, have come to adopt many of the views and practices of America's dominant semi-protestant semi-pagan culture, perhaps the return of more dignified dress at Mass and women wearing veils could be a small part of starting to re-assert a more distinctively Catholic way of practicing/living the Faith.
So sorry Adrienne - I thought you wrote you graduated in 1945.
ReplyDeleteveneremurcernui -
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone here is really disagreeing with you. Many people here absolutely and positively support the tradition. But I believe this post was about those who want to elevate a venerable tradition to dogma and accuse people of sin where there is none.
Thanks Mercury.
ReplyDeleteCan someone please enlighten me as to the difference between a veil and a mantilla?
ReplyDeleteHi! I went anonymous yesterday because my password wasn't accepted. Sorry about the name calling( ie-superficial creep-) It's just that when you're fat like me, you get sensitive.
ReplyDeleteNo problem, Denita. I was just relaying some of the more 'out there' attitudes one finds among the ranks of the self-righteous.
ReplyDelete