What is the purpose of head covering?

[VoxClamantis]

I was partially curious because of the veiling thread, but also curious because I don't know the theological reason behind it. I've heard of these being the reasons why women cover in Mass:

1. Submission to men
2. Women cover because of the angels
3. Out of reverence for the Eucharist
4. Because a woman's hair is pretty and should be kept covered

Which is it? Do any of these fit the bill? I've been reading up on this for a while but can't find a clear answer. What I've mainly read says it's because it shows a woman is submissive to a man (priest, husband, father), and it's because a woman's hair is a distraction for men in Mass. And yes, I've read men saying that it was a distraction for them.

Re. #1:  "women" don't submit to "men." Wives submit to their own husbands, and children (including daughters) submit to their fathers.  No woman is expected to submit to any Tom, Dick, or Harry out there because she is a woman, and Tom, Dick, and Harry are men.

[introvert]

I was partially curious because of the veiling thread, but also curious because I don't know the theological reason behind it. I've heard of these being the reasons why women cover in Mass:

1. Submission to men
2. Women cover because of the angels
3. Out of reverence for the Eucharist
4. Because a woman's hair is pretty and should be kept covered

Which is it? Do any of these fit the bill? I've been reading up on this for a while but can't find a clear answer. What I've mainly read says it's because it shows a woman is submissive to a man (priest, husband, father), and it's because a woman's hair is a distraction for men in Mass. And yes, I've read men saying that it was a distraction for them.

Re. #1:  "women" don't submit to "men." Wives submit to their own husbands, and children (including daughters) submit to their fathers.  No woman is expected to submit to any Tom, Dick, or Harry out there because she is a woman, and Tom, Dick, and Harry are men.

Yes, but the arguments I've heard are women veil because she submits to a man (husband, father, or priest).

[PrairieMom]

Yes, but the arguments I've heard are women veil because she submits to a man (husband, father, or priest).

That may be true for some women, but most women that I know IRL veil for themselves and their relationship with God, myself included. My husband is glad I'm doing it I think, but it was me that brought it up, not him, and I more or less sought his permission to make sure he wasn't opposed to it. I doubt he would have ever suggested it had I not brought it up.

[Might_4_Right]

I once heard a sister say that women are veiled because they are particularly sacred.  It was by woman that God became incarnate.  They are, for that reason, particularly sacred.  She compared the reasons for veiling to the reasons for veiling the tabernacle and chalice.

This is by far the coolest reason.

[puppy99]

Because of angels.

[JacafamalaRedux]

The purpose of head covering is reverence. Catholics have always conveyed spiritual truths through physical means: the rosary, the scapular, genuflection, incensing the altar, the chapel veil. These are physical things (outward signs) that can inspire grace. So much of that was lost post VII. Why? How dare they take it away from us?

[VoxClamantis]

But saying it's about "reverence" or because of "the angels" just raises the question, "Why do only women veil?" Don't men want to be reverent, too? Aren't the angels present at the Mass even if it's a Mass attended only by men?

That's why I like to focus on the "woman as sacred vessel" concept. We're the bearers of life, as Our Lady is, and men aren't. They're the bearers of other great and necessary things (just take a look around you and see what they've built!), but they're not the bearers of life. At the Mass, sacred vessels are veiled...  It's all very "Cups" and "Swords" LOL

[introvert]

But saying it's about "reverence" or because of "the angels" just raises the question, "Why do only women veil?" Don't men want to be reverent, too? Aren't the angels present at the Mass even if it's a Mass attended only by men?

That's why I like to focus on the "woman as sacred vessel" concept. We're the bearers of life, as Our Lady is, and men aren't. They're the bearers of other great and necessary things (just take a look around you and see what they've built!), but they're not the bearers of life. At the Mass, sacred vessels are veiled...  It's all very "Cups" and "Swords" LOL

Is there Church teaching to support the "woman as sacred vessel"? It's difficult to find exact teaching that dictates what is what at times.

[VoxClamantis]

Is there Church teaching to support the "woman as sacred vessel"? It's difficult to find exact teaching that dictates what is what at times.

I don't know of any official dogma or doctrine, but woman as vessel is an intuitive thing given female physiology. We are, in fact, the bearers of life via the "vessels" of our wombs. Our Lady as sacred vessel shows up in the writings of Saints, poetry, etc. For ex., Our Lady is referred to as "Spiritual Vessel" in the Litany of Loreto, etc.

The Blessed Virgin as the Ark of the New Covenant is another bit of typology based on the same concept, where the Ark of the Old Covenant was a vessel that contained the Word of God (Christ in the New Covenant), Aaron's rod, which sprang back to life (as Christ resurrected), and manna, the Heavenly bread (which foretold the Eucharist).

Even Freudian psychology picks up on that sort of archetype. Cups, purses, sacks, etc., are "feminine" and represent the vagina and womb. Jung's stuff is full of that sort of symbolism. The four suits in a deck of playing cards, ultimately based on the Tarot, include the suit of Cups (which metamorphosed into Hearts) as feminine, and Swords (Spades) as masculine. And so on.

[JacafamalaRedux]

But saying it's about "reverence" or because of "the angels" just raises the question, "Why do only women veil?" Don't men want to be reverent, too? Aren't the angels present at the Mass even if it's a Mass attended only by men?

That's why I like to focus on the "woman as sacred vessel" concept. We're the bearers of life, as Our Lady is, and men aren't. They're the bearers of other great and necessary things (just take a look around you and see what they've built!), but they're not the bearers of life. At the Mass, sacred vessels are veiled...  It's all very "Cups" and "Swords" LOL

Lol, cups and swords. Very cute! Men are sacred, too, right? We just show reverence in different ways because our function is different.