A new Catholic (married) woman with a question about headcovering?

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mommamaree

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Can those who support headcoverings for women give me some direction on this topic? If I was informed that the Church in Her wisdom urged headcoverings for women, I would be obedient to its authority. I trust the leading of the Church, but I also see that certain topics, like headcoverings, are fraught with conflict. I have seen only one older lady in our parish wear beautiful hats to Mass every week, but I have never seen anyone else wearing any kind of headcovering. I am very interested in seeing references to Church documents that I could use to learn what the Magisterium or Canon Law says (whichever type of authority applies here, and I am still so ignorant about these things).
My husband and I have talked about this issue several times in the past few months as we were entering the Catholic Church. He and I are in agreement that if the Church teaches that women should be covered, then it would be appropriate to do so. But when there is no precedent for such a thing, and our RCIA class never covered it, I get very confused when I see threads here at CAF asserting that the Church never withdrew its ‘rules’ that women wear headcoverings.
Anyway, I am a baby Catholic and still trying to figure all of this out, so please be kind. I just want to figure out what the real teaching or rules of the Church are, because I trust the Church to accurately lead us to live the life that is pleasing to God. But there is so much to learn and understand that I feel like I don’t know where to begin!:)🤷
 
Found this article:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=455948

I really liked this part:
The moral law requires all women to wear the veil on their hearts.

A woman should not wear the veil on her head, until she is wearing it first on her heart.

A woman who wears the veil on her heart accepts the place that God gives to women in the Church, the family, and society.

Women who wear the veil on their hearts are imitating the Virgin Mary in her humility, submissiveness, and obedience to Christ.

The veil should cover her head, but not her face. It is first and foremost symbolic of humility, submissiveness and obedience.

Nowadays, people don’t seem to like the word obedience. As a person with authority issues, I find it fascinating that I have no issue with submitting to the Church, the Magisterium and my husband.

Also, scripturecatholic.xanga.com/703978386/1-should-women-wear-veils/
"In Fr. T. Lincoln Bouscaren’s 1957 Commentary on the 1917 Code, he notes that “popular customs may modify this provision [of canon 1262] as the text indicates” (p. 691). This shows that even before Vatican II, there was recognition that canon 1262.2 **(this deals with head coverings) **dealt with liturgical law not divine law. According to no. 83 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we should distinguish unchanging Tradition from “the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical, or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time…In light of the great Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s magisterium.”

Hope this helps!
 
Covering your head in church is now optional, unless you have an audience with the Pope, when it is an outward sign of respect.
 
Here try this, Douay Rheims Bible; 1 Corinthians 11:1-15. If I find other verses I’ll post them.
My wife never enters a Catholic church unless she covers her head. Its a very traditional act of reverence. Even when we go to a strange Novus Ordo church she covers. And yes we kneel alot.

As someone mentioned before, there is no church law that either requires or prevents the covering of the head. Its a trad thing.
 
Thank you for your replies everyone. I will continue to learn more about this. I am not sure if other new Catholic women in our parish (which has no TLM) are giving this any thought, but I have spent much time thinking about it. I have wondered if there is a reason for the strength of my curiosity regarding headcoverings…I don’t know, maybe I am feeling led to do it, too? I will continue to learn what I can about this practice and praying about it, as well as talking with my priest.
 
mommamaree said:
Thank you for your replies everyone. I will continue to learn more about this. I am not sure if other new Catholic women in our parish (which has no TLM) are giving this any thought, but I have spent much time thinking about it. I have wondered if there is a reason for the strength of my curiosity regarding headcoverings…I don’t know, maybe I am feeling led to do it, too? I will continue to learn what I can about this practice and praying about it, as well as talking with my priest.
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If you feel led to cover, then jump right in! I have never seen anyone else covered at my Church, which is fine–I’m an old woman and I don’t care what other people think or how they dress. I want to cover, so I do!

I’ve only drawn a handful of comments, but all were positive and complimentary. 🙂

Since I cover outside of Church as well, I wonder if people assume that it’s a personal habit or fashion statement, or a medical reason, etc.?

Miz
 
mommamaree said:
Thank you for your replies everyone. I will continue to learn more about this. I am not sure if other new Catholic women in our parish (which has no TLM) are giving this any thought, but I have spent much time thinking about it. I have wondered if there is a reason for the strength of my curiosity regarding headcoverings…I don’t know, maybe I am feeling led to do it, too? I will continue to learn what I can about this practice and praying about it, as well as talking with my priest.
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Talking with your priest is a very good idea. I imagine if you posted your question in a different section other than the “Traditional Catholicism” section you may get other suggestions although the ones here are good too. I hope you find out why your thoughts are focused on this superficial element.
 
whatischarity said:
Talking with your priest is a very good idea. I imagine if you posted your question in a different section other than the “Traditional Catholicism” section you may get other suggestions although the ones here are good too. I hope you find out why your thoughts are focused on this superficial element.
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Superficial? (I bolded the word in your post) Now, was that a kind choice of words? It seems very condescending to refer to a time-honoured spiritual discipline employed by faithful people the world over as ‘superficial’. And posting this question in the Traditional Catholicism forum was exactly what I should have done, considering it is a tradition (with a little ‘t’) that has fairly recently fallen out of favor with most of the U.S. Catholics, except for those who find that they gravitate toward aspects of Traditional Catholicism.
Whatischarity, I would ask that you use more charitable language here.
 
bnbkaine said:
Also, scripturecatholic.xanga.com/703978386/1-should-women-wear-veils/
"In Fr. T. Lincoln Bouscaren’s 1957 Commentary on the 1917 Code, he notes that “popular customs may modify this provision [of canon 1262] as the text indicates” (p. 691). This shows that even before Vatican II, there was recognition that canon 1262.2 **(this deals with head coverings) **dealt with liturgical law not divine law. According to no. 83 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we should distinguish unchanging Tradition from “the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical, or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time…In light of the great Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s magisterium.”

Hope this helps!
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There is a definite difference between interpretting and applying a principle (e.g., that a woman cover her head, which has been mandated since Apostolic times not only in the Bible but also recorded as early as Pope St. Linus, the second Pope) and ignoring Apostolic Tradition. It appears that a woman covering her head could fall under divine law on account of its requirement in the New Testament. At the very least, it has been required by the Church since Apostolic times, and (until recently) such traditions have never been broken in the history of the Church. To settle any dispute throughout Church history, it was sufficient evidence to prove one’s point if he could show that the practice dated to the time of the Apostles. I highly commend you for adopting this practice that all Christians have used for 2000 years.
 
I cover my hair at every mass (EF or OF) and whenever I am in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. I wear a mantilla, but that is me. I don’t recall seeing any women obviously covering at the parish where I entered the church or the others I attended. I first began covering when I started attending a “traditional” N.O. parish.

There are several women at the mostly N.O. parish where I attend daily mass now who always wear a hat or some covering (scarf, gele). I also do see some other women wearing chapel veils at OF masses in this area.

One issue is comfort, ie if you cover it is not about what others think or will think. There are very subtle and almost sheer chapel caps/veils. You also might decide to wear a hat, a scarf or bandana.

Also, I am not one to argue fine points of church law and code. My personal opinion would be that the mandate that women cover their heads in church was not included in the 1983 code because that horse was already out of the barn. The time to assert that women should still cover was in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s when women were ceasing to cover.

I cover out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament and because I do believe in what it represents just as I dress modestly for the same reasons.
 
OP, it sounds like you already feel drawn to wearing a mantilla or veil. By all means, go ahead and wear one. The 1917 law requiring a headcovering was abrogated, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wear one.

By all means wear a veil or mantilla if you feel drawn to that. But please show the same charity that you expect towards those of us who do not veil.
 
faithfulscribbler.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/headcovering-catholic-women-there-are-more-of-us-than-you-think/

I have recently blogged about this very topic.

I do not cover because it is now, or was ever a “rule”. I cover because I believe it pleases the Lord, and it IS an outward sign of my respect, submissiveness and love for my Church and it’s traditions.

edited to add: i am almost the only woman at mass who covers, and I am 27 years old. I live on Long Island in a fairly liberal area, and I have in the past year drawn a lot of stares. But now it’s second nature and for the most part people stop looking at me. I can’t imagine going back to bareheadedness in church!
 
Lazarette said:
By all means wear a veil or mantilla if you feel drawn to that. But please show the same charity that you expect towards those of us who do not veil.
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I hope you are not feeling that I have been uncharitable here. I don’t know when I would have been uncharitable, so it troubles me that you felt like I needed a cautionary word there. I am not currently covering my head at all, but I am quite curious about it. I am not interested in playing holier-than-thou. As an example, just because I am now a Catholic, I do not believe that I have suddenly become holier than all of my non-Catholic Protestant relatives. I really like the Litany of Humility, which ends with:
“That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.”
 
yellowdaisy said:
faithfulscribbler.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/headcovering-catholic-women-there-are-more-of-us-than-you-think/

I have recently blogged about this very topic.

I do not cover because it is now, or was ever a “rule”. I cover because I believe it pleases the Lord, and it IS an outward sign of my respect, submissiveness and love for my Church and it’s traditions.

edited to add: i am almost the only woman at mass who covers, and I am 27 years old. I live on Long Island in a fairly liberal area, and I have in the past year drawn a lot of stares. But now it’s second nature and for the most part people stop looking at me. I can’t imagine going back to bareheadedness in church!
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing your blog post. I really enjoyed reading it. Blogging helped me greatly in finding my way to the Catholic Church. My posts were becoming increasingly Catholic in nature, and others reading my blog noticed it, too. I knew it was time to actually get myself to Mass and begin RCIA. I have since given it up for a time, preferring to remain focused upon learning about the faith. But I still love to read a good blog post! 🙂
 
One caution prompted another. Not you specifically, just generally. When you said to someone about being charitable, it reminded me of the multitude of uncharitable comments that have been said on the topic. I think that person was indeed out of line because veiling is obviously nota superficial topic for you.

What I don’t understand is all the angst this topic brings up when someone is considering wearing a mantilla. (not just you) Yes, for some people (on both sides), it’s Making a Statement.

But if wearing a mantilla draws you in more to prayer, then just wear it. It’s no one else’s business. If they try to make it their business, just say that it helps you to focus on prayer, or whatever your reason is.
 
Lazarette said:
One caution prompted another. Not you specifically, just generally. When you said to someone about being charitable, it reminded me of the multitude of uncharitable comments that have been said on the topic. I think that person was indeed out of line because veiling is obviously nota superficial topic for you.

What I don’t understand is all the angst this topic brings up when someone is considering wearing a mantilla. (not just you) Yes, for some people (on both sides), it’s Making a Statement.

But if wearing a mantilla draws you in more to prayer, then just wear it. It’s no one else’s business. If they try to make it their business, just say that it helps you to focus on prayer, or whatever your reason is.
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Ah, okay. I am glad that nothing I said sounded uncharitable. I always worry that my enthusiasm for things will translate as condescension to those who are not so sure about those things. I don’t understand the angst either. For me, it’s merely a question of whether this is just a curiosity for me or if it is God leading me to adopt a beneficial spiritual discipline. Only time and prayer will tell, as well as the guidance of my priest. I have a tendency to think about things for a very long time before jumping in (consequently, I chose St. Frances de Sales as my confirmation patron saint, because he is known for waiting to act on God’s own time, not his own. 🙂 )
Thank you for your encouragement.
 
mommamaree said:
For me, it’s merely a question of whether this is just a curiosity for me or if it is God leading me to adopt a beneficial spiritual discipline. Only time and prayer will tell, as well as the guidance of my priest. I have a tendency to think about things for a very long time before jumping in (consequently, I chose St. Frances de Sales as my confirmation patron saint, because he is known for waiting to act on God’s own time, not his own. 🙂 )
Thank you for your encouragement.
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That makes a lot of sense I can see where one might wonder if it’s just curiousity or something deeper. Also, I have to admit to having a tendency for a long “thinking about it time” and then one day, I seemingly just do whatever it is. That’s nice to know about St. Francis de Sales. I’ll have to read up on him 🙂
 
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