Are you covering your head ? (Directed to the women)

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Where I live aproximately 60% of the women will have a mantilla on in Church. It is a sign of not only respect but they are saying they will be ready to recieve Our Lord as millions of women have over the centuries.

I admire a woman with a mantilla. If she rears upon her hind legs and says," I won’t do that!". Then I loose respect for her.
 
I do cover my head. In my research, I simply could not find any information that stated that this requirement had been lifted for women.

But my main reasons for covering are to show reverence and respect for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and for the angels.

I live in an ultra-liberal diocese and attend an Eastern rite church because the priest is the only one who is orthodox in the area. Although there are not many people in our church who do cover (and I’m by far the youngest), I don’t feel very out of place, simply because the atmosphere is so reverent anyway.

However, on the few occasions I’ve had to attend Mass at the Roman rite churches, I have felt painfully conspicuous. Although I give frequent talks and lectures on NFP, I am painfully self-conscious about my person and abhor drawing attention to myself (our wedding consisted of only 26 people, and I considered that “out of control,” if that gives you any idea of how private I am!). But on those occasions, I have prayed to my angel and asked him to obtain the grace for me not to care what others think. And to take to Jesus any mortification I might suffer for being stared at for the reparation of my sins.
 
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Marie:
The 1983 Canon Law omitted the requirement of the mantilla. It is not suppressed mind you. It may be fully practiced as a personal devotion by individual women.
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Marie,
It’s my understanding that the 1983 version was intended to be a more concise revision of the older Canon Law, so many things that we are still “required” to do were simply not included for the sake of brevity and because, well…everyone has always done it and they didn’t think it needed to be reiterated. Sort of like genuflecting.

Am I wrong about this…?
 
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mdmealey:
Marie,
It’s my understanding that the 1983 version was intended to be a more concise revision of the older Canon Law, so many things that we are still “required” to do were simply not included for the sake of brevity and because, well…everyone has always done it and they didn’t think it needed to be reiterated. Sort of like genuflecting.

Am I wrong about this…?
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Yes, you are incorrect. It was in fact Law, not custom that women cover their heads. The new Canon abrogated that law. You can read more on it Here
Under prior canon law -1917-, women were required to wear some form of head covering at Mass.
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it is certain that the legal obligation ceased with the release of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The reason is that the new Code expressly abrogated the old Code, stating:
Canon 6
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§1. When this Code takes force, the following are abrogated:
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1° the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917;
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The legal requirement made by canon 1262 of the 1917 Code thus lapsed with the abrogation of the 1917 Code itself. For the head covering rule to still be in force, it would have to have a different legal basis. However, the revised liturgical documents do not contain it, and neither does the 1983 Code. In fact, the new Code has no canon that parallels the old Code’s canon 1262 (meaning that at Mass men and women no longer need to sit apart, men no longer need to remove their hats as a matter of law, and women no longer need to wear them).
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I cover my head in the presence of the Eucharist as a personal devotion. I wear a scarf that matches my outfit.

Jessica
 
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Marie:
Yes, you are incorrect. It was in fact Law, not custom that women cover their heads.
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Actually, Marie, it’s you that are not correct.

It was local custom that women keep their heads covered at all times. The head covering showed their position in the village community; i.e. who was eligible for marriage, who was newly married, who was married with children and who was widowed.

In the areas dominated by the Ottoman Empire, it was often the law that a woman could not leave her home without some kind of head covering UNDER PAIN OF DEATH!

Those who have Eastern European roots can remember the wedding custom of removing the bride’s veil just before the Bridal Dance. This was the re-enacting of the ritual of removing the bride’s crown and putting on her marriage cap. This meant that she was no longer a child but had become an adult and fulling functioning member of the village community. She would never leave the house again without her wedding cap, even for her own funeral.

Now, I know somebody’s gonna start screaming about something 'cause you all don’t this answer so go right ahead and scream and rant and rave but I thought I’d let you in on the REAL story…
 
Someone here said that the Church dropped the requirement that women cover their heads in church, and someone else contradicted that by saying Jesus commanded it.

So which is it? The Church would never try to go against a command given by Jesus so this is very confusing.
 
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Exporter:
Where I live aproximately 60% of the women will have a mantilla on in Church. It is a sign of not only respect but they are saying they will be ready to recieve Our Lord as millions of women have over the centuries.

I admire a woman with a mantilla. If she rears upon her hind legs and says," I won’t do that!". Then I loose respect for her.
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I actually think it’s an attractive look. A girl wearing a veil for Mass is definitely more likely to catch my eye. Although, that might be defeating the veils purpose. Oh well…
 
Through the week, I attend Mass in a hospital chapel and I usually am wearing my surgical bonnet, so my head is covered. I have very short hair, so it’s extremely difficult to find a mantilla that will not only stay on, but not be distracting.
 
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LabChick:
Through the week, I attend Mass in a hospital chapel and I usually am wearing my surgical bonnet, so my head is covered. I have very short hair, so it’s extremely difficult to find a mantilla that will not only stay on, but not be distracting.
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I sure hope it’s a clean one…😉
 
My wife recently wore her hat to Mass, and believe it or not, once she got in line for communion, one of the ushers asked her to remove her hat! The hat was not some far-out thing, with bells and whistles, rather, it was simply a straw hat with a brim. The usher was a woman, and she was not wearing a hat. Furthermore, as best I could tell, none of the women (nor the men) were wearing a hat at this Mass – except my wife, who, per the usher’s request, removed her hat.
 
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TNT:
I have seen this statement on 2 other “veil” threads. Each time I ask, where canon law or other edict negated it.
NO ANSWER YET !.

Does someone have the source document location ?
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Hi everyone,

I am not saying this article is the final authority on the subject, but it did answer a lot of questions for me. I have cut and pasted a few passages that I thought were important to this disucssion. Feel free to e-mail me privately for the entire article. I thought it was too long to post here. This is from Fr. Fox in the July 2004 edition of Immaculate Heart Messenger.

Many Blessings!

Susan

“When and why did the Church change the teaching that a woman should wear a head covering while attending Church services? Answer: The Church has never changed its teaching. There is nothing by the Magisterium stating that the wearing of the veil has been abolished. On April 3, 1969 when Pope Paul VI promulgated the new Roman Missal reporters gathered at the Vatican and quizzed those who were announcing the new missal. One reporter asked,“ Does the new Missal say anything about women we a ring head coverings in Church ? ” The answer given was simply, “No.” Other reporters picked up the response and interpreted it that women no longer needed to wear any head covering in

Church . That was a conclusion not even implied in the “ No” answer The Missal had never ever been the place where women were told to wear head coverings . Why should the new Roman Missal so state what concerned the rubrics for the priest celebrating Mass ?
The Church has never changed its teaching concerning women wearing the veil . The nearest anyone could come to this claim is that it was not mentioned in the new Code of Canon Law published in 1983. Those who are familiar with Canon Law know that it did not, in any way, say the women should not wear a veil .

Please read the documents to find it. It is not there! And since they, like

most Catholics , depended on the clergy to educate , they were badly misdirected .

In the new Code of Canon Law, Can . 2 1, we read: In doubt ,the revocation of a previous law is not presumed; rather, later laws are to be related to earlier ones, as far as possible ,harmonized with them . Dear readers,if the law concerning the veil had been revoked , which it was not, you would still have to harmonize with the later, which

was to wear the veil . Then from Can . 2 7, we read: Custom is the best interpreter of law. The veil has two thousand years of being a custom to its credit . (The Rosary does not come close to that. Yet who would try

to discourage people from praying the Rosary?
 
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sapulizzi:
Hi everyone,

I am not saying this article is the final authority on the subject, but it did answer a lot of questions for me. I have cut and pasted a few passages that I thought were important to this disucssion.
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You are definitely on the right track. For a more detailed discussion, pro and con, you might try www.catholicintl.com The subject is still of interest, and I believe can be linked from the home page at this site. Enjoy.
 
I don’t understand. I wear a headveil. I keep hearing that you don’t need to wear one! Where is the Church document that says women don’t have to wear a headveil anymore? …and if that’s the case then why is it a must in front of The Pope! If we can be reverent for the Pope we can be reverent for Our God!
 
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im_wildrose:
Something I heard recently in regard to this topic is that women are required to cover their heads in the presence of the pope. If we are required to cover our heads in the presence of the Holy Father, why aren’t we required to do so in the presence of Our Lord at Mass?
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I have been in the presence of the Pope (God rest his soul) several times and was never told to wear a head covering. Where do Church teaching/ Church documents say we have to? --KCT
 
DrBull said:
I am covering my head, and you ?
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I’m a guy, but I’ll chime in…

I’m “young” enough not to remember the days when this was required or in wide use. First time I noticed it was last fall when I went to an (approved) Tridentine Rite mass nearby out of curiosity.

Lots of head coverings there (young and old alike), lots of reverence all around, most everyone was “dressed up”, confessionals going with long lines right up until start of mass time, and kneeling at the altar rail to receive Communion was a new experience for me.

In short, I was very impressed. Now if I could just get my wife to wear one… 😉

Peace,
DustinsDad
 
I notice that a lot of women have posted that they would gladly wear a veil or head covering if it was required or if others wore them. I would love to wear a veil but just as several others here have commented, no one wears a veil at the church I attend. There was a Sunday I came close to wearing one but chickened out after I got to church and saw everyone entering without a head covering. I do not want to draw attention to myself. I know that’s not the best reason but I fear that if a woman wears a veil when no one else does, she may be looked at as trying to be “holier” than everyone else and that is certainly not my intention!

My question is: How can we encourage the practice of head coverings in church among women? Any ideas? Since this is a national/international forum, maybe we can stimulate a new trend (or essentially revive an old practice) across the country!! Looking for ideas… 🤓
 
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MrS:
You are definitely on the right track. For a more detailed discussion, pro and con, you might try www.catholicintl.com The subject is still of interest, and I believe can be linked from the home page at this site. Enjoy.
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Thank you MrS, now I finally have the proof to show those who question me on this. I have been wearing a mantilla for years, even when it meant being the only female in the parish or at a paticular mass to do so. I have known in my heart it was is the right thing to do, even after being told by more than one priest that it was no longer nesscary. My response has always been that is for me.
Linda H.
 
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