A little bit shocked

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Kathleen18

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I was able to attend part of Mass in a different city on Friday. It was an unexpected blessing, as I really only wanted to say the rosary before The Blessed Sacrament. However, I recieved quite a shock when in line to recieve our LORD in the Eucharist. There was a woman who wore a black veil covering her face, her head was shaved, and she literally was wearing a huge sackcloth! Albeit with grey sweats because of the cold. Did I miss something in the Catechism? Do we still wear sack clothes and perform such a ritual?
 
😳 I have never seen that!

Happy cake day! Haven’t seen you around lately.
 
Thank you! I have been struggling with some stuff. I hope you have been well😊
 
Merry Christmas to you, and may God guide you in your struggles!
 
Nollaig Shona Dhuit!! Thank you, and may HE hold you in the palm of HIS hand☺
 
Lol!! Yes, I have some Irish Ancestry. And I am interested in my heritage. But, I meant every word. ☺️☘️
 
I don’t know, it does seem like an OT description.
Kathleen18 said:
Do we still wear sack clothes and perform such a ritual?
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Not that I know of, but there are so many inexplicable behaviors we can only guess. Wearing sackcloth is a bit what the Franciscan habit is still supposed to be, wearing a face veil is still used in some cultures. This was a mixture of uncommon elements, a rare eccentricity, or a specific practice I didn’t know of. It does stand out in the crowd, I’ve never seen the practice, and I’m at a loss to explain it.
 
Yes! A combination of OT and cultural veiling practices? The strange thing of the veil was that it was cut to only “hide” her face. It did not even cover her shaved head. With all charity, I am not sure if this woman was all mentally well.
 
I’ve never heard of that before to be honest. I remember though the first time my wife visited Ireland when we were dating. We went to mass in Dublin and there were Extraordinary Ministers distributing communion. In Latvia, my wife’s country they just don’t have EM’s at all.
She was kneeling at the rail and saw this little old lady approach the altar rather casually and take a ciborium. She was so surprised that she uttered “What the H***” in a rather loud voice. I knew immediately what she was talking about and had to hold in my laughter til I got back to my seat.

Hopefully you didn’t make any verbal exclamations of surprise in this case…lol

😅
 
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Was she mourning? It is not common now but some people still wear mourning veils, which is a black veil. I am one of the people who wear veils to church- although this is not common anymore.
If it is a death of someone that is close to me, for example a close friend, I would wear a black veil as a respect to the person who has departed. But I wouldn’t wear a sackcloth- just a veil.
 
I think the words, “What in the world?!” came to mind.
That was a great story! 😊
 
I can only hazard several theories as to why she was dressed in this way.
Sidenote: I have a veil, and I am considering wearing it more often.
 
Kathleen18 said:
I have a veil, and I am considering wearing it more often.
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Oh cool! You should try wearing it (only if you want to)
It’s only a sacramental so you are not obligated to wear it.

In Korea, wearing sackcloths are common in funerals but not in Catholic culture- like in Korean traditional culture. In traditional dramas, you would see men and women wearing sackcloths and weeping for the death of their loved one. In my family, we have never done that but probably my ancestors did.
 
i seen a person with a sackcloth who wears it all the time ,a nun said to me he was an postgraduate in management studies,he started to wear such clothes after reading few saints books,it was a shocker to all who looked at him, but he was cool !
 
Kathleen18 said:
Yes! A combination of OT and cultural veiling practices? The strange thing of the veil was that it was cut to only “hide” her face
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My best guess is along that line, a peculiar cultural practice. The face veil would be called Niqāb and is usually related to Islamic veiling. But that does not exclude some African countries having tiny Christian minorities dating back centuries that could have adapted that practice (or even a contemporary case of conversion, where the person maintains integrally her former cultural practice). The short trimmed hair can be a sign of penitence or renouncing in several countries, Hindu woman can shave their long hairs on occasion as a work of devotion. I can’t honestly place the last variable of wearing sackcloth, but since it’s scriptural the practice is bound to continue somewhere.

Off course, without knowing the country or ethnicity of the person all this is guessing. It can even be a sign of recent widowhood or deep morning - I would take it as a very strong sign.
 
The first picture is form Egypt and the second from India, where these practices could come together I don’t know.

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Her veil was of black lace, and only covered the very front of her face. It was held in place by an attached elastic band that went around her head. Her sack cloth was the size of a dress and most likely at one point carried potatoes if I remember correctly. She was pretty thin and her complexion was somewhat greyish. I wonder if she had been fasting for awhile. The second picture you showed of the shaved head was exactly like hers. Though the lady I saw appeared to be of European extraction. I would gather somewhere in the middle of the continent.
 
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I have tried it a few times. I need to find a way to pin it so it doesn’t keep falling off my head or unwrapping itself. How fascinating that they also use sack clothes in Korean culture!!
 
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