Dress Code for Mass

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Is it possible for you to take a change of clothes to work with you? You could change for Mass and then back into working gear afterwards if needs be… (I’m assuming your employment permits of this, of course.)
 
Does your parish have a dress code? Should it?
I remember once when I was in Catholic High School…

We went on a field trip to see a play, and we were required to wear a sport jacket… I got a detention for not wearing one, even though I explained the situation to the Nun who gave it to me…

When I got to the Principal’s Office, he asked me what was wrong…

I told him I didnt have one… He also knew we were a poor family, and I was not obligated to serving the detention…

The fact is, if you set a dress code, you would be marginalizing people, and you would be working to the exclusion of the poor…

This is the second such question you have asked which suggests anti-Catholic sentiments… you say you’ve been in music ministry for 50 years, and yet you say the same ministry should be closed out because people end up conceited because of it… That doesn’t even make any sense… Why would you say a ministry you devoted 50 years to should be closed out because it makes people conceited? . . .
 
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When I attend Liturgy on a weekday, I dress up nice enough for church and work (turtleneck, long skirt). I’ll send you a picture via pm.
 
I’m sorry, but your posts do not reflect someone with 50+ years of Catholic training… It makes me question whether your handle is being run by someone with questionable intentions…
It might be beneficial to re-read them for factual content and for ideas. The Catechism starting at 2475 is also beneficial.
The fact is, if you set a dress code, you would be marginalizing people, and you would be working to the exclusion of the poor…
My happiest days were when I went to Mass five days a week. I sat far from others because I was coming from the overnight shift at Wal-mart. The offenders of dress codes are not the smelly and poor. They are the people who drive to mass in $80,000 Cadillacs, but deliberately dress-down for Mass
people end up conceited because of it… That doesn’t even make any sense
I’d have to re-check my sources. Father Z had it in his blog, and I think it was from the eminently quotable Msgr Pope: “Sometimes the best way to attack a problem is to stop doing (silly) stuff.” We’re doing silly stuff. Perhaps we need to question it.
 
And
Not only the vernacular, but being able to hear it was the big thing.
Why is hearing the word of the Consecration do important to people?
I would must have missunderstood why the Priests said those words.
It doesn’t even matter if they heard the words or not.
Tofay we focus so much on hearing what the Priest are saying. Nowadays it is like the Priest says the words on institution and we just follow along rather than doing our Priest part which in fact isn’t about listening to a Priest.
And at the low Mass, it was usually sped through in about 20 minutes, so they couldn’t even keep up with their missals.
Sounds like that was too fast.
 
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We are praying along with the priest, that is why it is important to hear what he is saying.

The Liturgy is of and for the people, we should be able to hear and participate. It is not just something the priest does.
 
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Glennon_P – Find out what kind of incense your parish is using at Benediction. There is such a thing as non-allergenic incense, and usually that means the traditional frankincense, burned in the traditional way.

No, seriously. This is something you can do. The reason our generation complains about incense allergies, but previous generations didn’t, is twofold:
  1. Cheap incense full of fillers, which does not burn completely and has tons of particulates. Unlike real frankincense.
  2. Somebody using lighter fluid, or easy light charcoal impregnated with chemicals, instead of using real wood charcoal in a knowledgeable way.
(There’s also #3 - you’re allergic to traditional Byzantine rose incense, or to other stuff included in the incense, if they are going exotic.)

Frankincense resin, and all its close frankincense tree resin relatives, are known for creating smoke that has a showy look but very few particulates. The smoke is a natural cough and sneeze remedy, and actually helps the lungs relax and breathe better. It can relieve asthma and allergy attacks, even. So the traditional way to deal with incense smoke was to breathe it in deeply.

If frankincense is burned with fillers, or with chemical-infused charcoal, it does get full of particulates and it can set off allergies. Good natural charcoal, burning well, doesn’t have a lot of particulates, either.

(For me, it was roses. I support the idea of the roses of Constantinople, but it’s no good if you are someone with a bad reaction to geraniol. Ergh.)

If you research what the parish is using and doing, you may be able to get them to do something healthier and better for everyone. What can’t be cured must be endured, but you might be able to cure this one.
  • Boswellic acid is one of the active ingredients in the traditional incense varieties of the frankincense tree; it is an anti-inflammatory, especially in the respiratory system. There are a lot of other interesting beneficial compounds in frankincense, which is why it got used as a medicine throughout history.
 
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We are praying along with the priest,
Very true.
we should be able to hear and participate. It is not just something the priest does.
Yes, though even if we can not hear or can not or do not pray along for some reason or another, we can be confident of the Sacrifice done for us because it is only the priest through the Holy Spirit who consecrates and offers the Sacrifice.
 
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The smoke is a natural cough and sneeze remedy, and actually helps the lungs relax and breathe better. It can relieve asthma and allergy attacks, even. So the traditional way to deal with incense smoke was to breathe it in deeply.
Thank you for that, @Mintaka. I had no idea of the health aspects of frankincense, or of any other incense, or of charcoal. Where did you get all this fascinating information? Is it readily available anywhere online?
 
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Thanks for the suggestion! I will check into this.

The parish has used the same incense for as long as I remember - or at least it has smelled the same for as long as I remember - but my allergic reaction to it developed over the past decade or so.

Maybe they’re using the same brand but new additives were thrown in? Or maybe I’m just developing allergies to things that didn’t bother me before as I go careening down the highway of middle age?
 
We are praying along with the priest, that is why it is important to hear what he is saying.
Of course this logic falls apart when the issue of multilingual issues come up in many parishes. People who don’t speak english, people who don’t speak spanish, people who are deaf, etc. They do not have a smaller participation in the Mass because they may not understand. Liturgically we should be mindful that we don’t swing so far from clericalism that we think that a priest and the people are performing the same function. They are not.
 
Thanks for the link. That is awfully long. Can you point to the pertinent parts?
 
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No, reading the whole thing is very important to understand the how’s and why’s of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II
 
ok. Well I have read it in the past. Not sure what you think supports your view of the priesthood or languages. I guess we can just move on.

It might be worth starting a thread on if you wish. But just posting long documents without focusing the content is counterproductive to discusssion. BUt it is beyond the scope of this thread anyway.
 
yes it does…modest dress for men and women, tending towards a more formal style. At the beginning of the liturgical year there is usually a reminder from the pulpit what constitutes modest wear. Nobody ever says anything…BUT occasionally there maybe the STARE of disapproval from people.
 
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