|
I start out with a poem written by Hilary Mary Bernadette Flanery (how's
THAT for an Irish Catholic name?):
Oh lowly, little,
chapel veil,
You are my dearest friend.
For when my hair's all mops and brooms,
You cover, end to end.
And when my hair's not curling right
Or when it sticks out straight,
You gently hold it all in place
And make it look first rate!
But feminists, they hate you so,
You lowly, simple thing.
To them you are so vile, not veil,
To praise Our Lord and King.
And passing by the Church of Seven,
"Autonomy's", their phrase.
They never know the joys of Heaven,
Such as, no bad-hair-days!
For lowly, lacey, chapel veil,
You tame my hair, so wild!
But truth-be-told, though I look nice,
It's really for The Child.
A Gentleman writes:
Veils? I am most
jealous of a woman's outward sign of humility to the presence of Our Lord
in the Sacrament. All I can do is genuflect and bow my head to show my reverence.
I remember my mother and all the woman of the church as a child wearing veils.
Having grown up with that...makes wearing a veil seem normal. The first time
I took my middle son to a Traditional Mass, he was, "creeped out" by the
veils and thought I had taken him to a totally different religion. (Speaks
volumes to the changes that have occured under Vatican II...huh?)
I'm sure you'll find many a funny stories of women forgetting their veils
and what they did to cover thier heads. We now have an emergency veil in
every glove compartment.
The cheapest most beautiful veils can be bought at the Sahara shopping mall
in Las Vegas. Another good reason for ladies to go to Las Vegas.
A woman
writes:
For a long time
I had the worldly, Protestant view that wearing veils was outdated and sexist.
The world would have us believe that there is something somehow diminishing
for a woman to wear a veil. I along with so many others in the seventies
bought the lie that there was something in this that should embarrass us,
that somehow the veil signaled a second class place in the world.
I now know that it is the outward sign of an internal gesture of reverence
to God.
It no longer matters what the world, the flesh and the devil try to convince
me. I understand that they have no place in my courtesy towards God. Wearing
a veil was never a practice that diminished women in any way, but the world
has convinced millions of women that this is the case.
It is enough now to put my veil on as I enter the church to turn my mind
and heart toward the tabernacle.
Simply put, the placing of my veil on my head is the signal for my heart
to begin to greet His Majesty when I enter His house. I cover my head to
shield myself from the world and direct my heart to God.
A woman writes:
I have 3 daughters
ages 17, 10, and 8. We all cover our heads in the Presence of Our Lord and
have for the past 4 years. This has never proven to be an inconvenience;
although at one Easter Vigil, having forgotten my veil, I pinned on the last
paper towel from the restroom as it was the only thing left in the chapel
that was suitable and it was nearly set alight numerous times by the vigil
candle of the small boy sitting behind me!
I am a former corporate working mom and now a work-at-home mom and homeschooler.
Rather than feeling degraded by covering my head, I feel liberated to be
able to publicly express my humility and faith. I am striving to give my
girls the same understanding.
In no way do we consider ourselves repressed or somehow "beneath" our menfolk,
neither are we of the "Amish-Catholic" mindset as are some of our sisters
in the Faith (although we do not condemn this). My oldest daughter attends
public school (mostly for the music studies), my middle daughter is the starting
catcher on an all-star softball team, and my youngest wears overalls and
cowboy boots as she romps around our farm. However, when assisting at Holy
Mass or making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament we make every attempt to
wear dresses or skirts and our heads are always covered. We have even been
known to unexpectedly pass by an adoration chapel and go in dressed casually
(my oldest daughter even in jeans), but our heads are covered. It is so easy
to carry a veil and a few chapel caps in your purse!
A small point you may want to bring up to your readership is that there are
appropriate colors for veils. Married and older women should wear black.
Young unmarried women and girls should wear white or the lighter colors.
I have worn an ecru veil before when black would have absolutely been a
distraction due to the outfit I had on at the time. My older daughter wore
a a black heirloom veil we have that is adorned with tiny pink "pearls" for
her confirmation last year, so there are legitimate exceptions to this suggested
rule. Hats, too, are very acceptable as long as they do not distract. (My
younger daughters often wear black berets with certain outfits.)
As a married woman I try to dress in a way that pleases my spouse and is
yet modest. He is very supportive of our wearing of head coverings as he
feels that both Holy Scripture and Tradition are crystal clear on this point.
One more note on dress, although many women know that it is inappropriate
to wear low-cut necklines and miniskirts, it is also inappropriate to wear
sleeveless dresses in the Presence of Our Lord. Even young girls with still
lovely arms should refrain from baring them at Mass. Well, finally I am finished.
I hope you can use some of the above information. Please do so without using
my name. It is so wonderful to be a Catholic lady and even more wonderful
to be given the opportunity to raise them!
A Gentleman writes:
Okay, I'm male,
but here are my "two cents". Yes, I am a very big believer in chapel veils
and mantillas for the following reasons:
1) Saint Paul explicitly talks about this practice in 1 Corinthians 11:4-5:
"Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered, disgraces his head.
But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces
her head." To say that Saint Paul's teaching was "cultural" or "conditioned
by his time" is a "stone's throw" away from those liberal theologians who
make similar claims regarding Biblical teaching on homosexuality, contraception
and even abortion. It is better to take Saint Paul's words literally and
have believed "too much" then to be wrong by having believed "too little".
2) Chapel Veils were explicitly required in the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Canon
1262.2 states, "Men should be with head uncovered in church or outside of
church, when they assist at the sacred rites, unless the approved customs
of the people or additional particulars of the circumstances call for something
else; women, however, should be with head covered and modestly dressed,
particularly when they approach the Lord's table." As we all know, the 1983
Code is a bastion of modernism; whereas the 1917 Code is a compendium of
the Church's teachings and laws over the centuries.
3) Not wearing a veil (or a dress/skirt) to Mass is simply a capitulation
to the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s, which, of course, gave modern
civilization those two great "pillars of evil", abortion and contraception.
4) It is a matter of divine and natural law that a woman, within a sacramental
marriage, be "obedient and submissive" to her husband "in all things not
inconsistent with Christian piety" and that he love her as "Christ loved
the Church" and as he "loves his own body". The veil symbolizes both modesty
and submission, both of which are pleasing to the One and Triune God.
5) For many centuries, the Church's tradition was that women wear veils (in
addition to dresses/ skirts) to Mass and that they be modestly dressed. All
that changed during the 1960s due to the influence of "the World", not "the
Church".
A (most intelligent and passionate and wonderful) woman writes:
I love wearing
the Veil. I always did. Hard to describe the feeling, but there is a bit
of "Bride of Christ" in so doing. I always loved being a woman, and welcomed
things which emphasized that fact. There is also a feeling of obedience and
humility, which, contrary to the distorted views of feminists, made me feel
whole - and softer. Those are my feelings, and of course, feelings shouldn't
dictate our behavior; there is the FACT that St. Paul commanded it, as well.
I wish I could wear a veil all the time...but I'm also a frustrated nun.
No, not quite; I've wanted to BE a nun, and that never happened... This is
probably all to the good; had I "entered" in 1966, I'd probably be casting
spells and drawing down the moon by now.
A woman writes:
I used to be a
rabid feminist, brainwashed by books like Ann Moir's "Brain Sex" and all
the rot that came from "the sisters" during my childhood and adolescence.
I quite simply didn't know any better, and didn't have the grace to see the
beauty of God's plan for the sexes. Even during that time, though, I was
attracted to all the "stuff" of being a true Catholic woman. I couldn't explain
my attraction, it didn't match my worldview, but I ultimately was jealous
of women who seemed so sure of themselves as women.
Now I believe in Christ and His Church and know the reasons for that
"unexplainable" longing: women are simply different from men, and women playing
a man's game lose. An obvious fact, I know, but not so obvious to one whose
education was in the hands of feminists and modern culture. When I wear the
veil, I feel more womanly somehow, yet paradoxically, more brave and more
sure of myself as I truly am: a woman. It's hard to explain, but in some
way it makes me feel less shy. Maybe in the back of my mind I see millions
of Catholic women from throughout the eons standing by me, with Mary in
front.
Our culture is so weird about the sexes. It seems that everything that is
masculine in terms of goals is considered "the norm" (while masculinity itself
is derided). Feminine goals and the feminine -- that is, the truly feminine
and the desire of a woman to be a woman and not an imitation man -- is
mercilessly mocked. It's OK if you want to be a whore, a stripper, a rodeo
clown, a soldier, a prosecuting attorney, an exec at a Fortune 500 Company,
but if you just want to be a WOMAN -- if you want to be married and raise
kids and cook and keep a house, if you like the idea of a man being more
powerful than you, if you don't want to compete with your husband, if you
want to be treated like a lady -- you are considered nothing. The feminists
talk nonsense about "taking back the night"; I say, let us real women take
back the night -- and the day, and our homes, and our families, and our lives.
Let's be women and be proud of it!
Alicia writes:
I wear a veil for
worship and prayer. It seems that I wear the veil more than not. In all my
study of the issue of wearing a veil, it never ceases to amaze me that a
little bit of fabric can cause so much contention. I do not believe that
God is behind the fussing that is caused over that little bit of fabric rather
another who does not like to see anything of God glorified or honored.
As I enter the church and get myself prepared to enter the presence of God
it is just a little extra perk to know that God knows my heart and the angels
see my submission in the veil. All the angels, good and bad. |
|
