Headcoverings and fellowship

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grasscutter said:
That was a lovely post! At my parish, pretty much (with rare exceptions) the only headcoverings I see are elderly women wearing “going to Church” hats.

I would love to join you (because our motivations seem the same), except I’m afraid that I will be looked at askance. Mainly because Im a pants and shirts sort of woman and I dont quite know how to do a headcovering with that. A nice going to Church hat would look ridiculous. And maybe also some manner of scarf or mantilla… :o
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You can wear a scarf worn babushka style. I think it will go with pants and shirt.

I used to wear the babushka style headcovering with either pants or skirts. My mom wears the mantilla.
 
Hello everyone,

Firstly my apologies for starting a new thread and then not being around to talk more. I hope I haven’t offended anyone. It is interested to read everyone’s thoughts on this. One little thought to add of mine, I find the more I cover the more I wish for longer hair, I’m growing it out right now back to a length I can tie up properly underneath a scarf with out ‘bits’ creeping out. Does anyone else find they prefer longer hair for neatness or am I just a bit too odd like that?!

If anyone wishes to chat again that would be great, I will aim to not let things in my life stop me from keeping up with the threads I start and ask people to join in with! 😊🙂
 
I’m the opposite - sort of. I haven’t cut my hair - other than trims - since I was in 9th or 10th grade. That was a LOT of years ago! 😃

Before I started covering, I sometimes thought about getting my hair cut & styled, but it was just too much bother. Wearing my hair in a braid, held back with a clip, or in a bun was easier. After my daughter moved out & wasn’t braiding my hair for me, I mostly did a bun. But not being talented with hair, it often didn’t look real good, especially at the end of the day. So when I started covering I found that it looked neat & tidy all the time. And a bun is still the easiest hair-do.
 
Definitely, I like a bun best, I find that my hair dos get more conservative/a bit boring for sure, as I need the easiest way to tie up my hair under the scarf, I’ve never really worn coverings with my hair down.
 
Hello everyone. This is my first post, and I am so happy to have found this topic.

We are a military family living in Japan. I have just recently felt the call to veil myself at Mass, and I have even bought a veil for myself and for my daughter should she want to be like mommy (she is 8). No one in our very small chapel wears a veil, however, and I am very nervous to “be the only one.” I also don’t want to draw much attention to myself.

What are your thought and opinions? I was thinking of starting to wear it for Lent, then if it feels right to continue to wear it. Thank you for ny and all opinions. I am so happy to have found this site!
 
Hi Genki, nice of you to comment and pleased you feel you have found some support here…

In my experience I found I got used to being the only woman who covers at Church and now I hardly think about it, whether I’m the only one, one of a few women who cover or at Latin and there might be a group of us. The more I wear a headcovering the more natural it feels and I can’t imagine going to Mass without it, it becomes a ‘uniform’ like putting on my boots or taking my Missal. That said I feel a bit less noticable covering at Latin even if I’m the only one, as a black mantilla feels more ‘normal’ there.

🙂
 
 
Thank you for the warm welcome, StPio. I have decided to begin veiling on Ash Wednesday. My daughter, who is 8, wants to wear a veil also, which warms my heart immensely! We have our veils folded neatly anxiously awaiting their debut. Thank you for the encouragement. I am always so nervous to be the only one doing something and draw attention to myself. Thank you again for your kind welcome.
 
Hi there, my husband recently joined the forum and found this thread, so I wanted to jump on and say ‘Hiya’ 🙂

I’m a bit of a home-bird too and recently (6 months ago) felt the call to cover my head for prayer, for modesty and for submission to God. This is my experience, and I don’t intend to tell anyone else how they should live their life 🙂

When I decided to start covering my head, I decided to do a 40-day trial and see how I felt during it. I was nervous about what other people would think, it felt strange because it was different, but I also felt I was being obedient, submissive and closer to my Father in Heaven. Wearing the head covering also reminds me that I “need to pray without ceasing”. Of course I get distracted with the day-to-day things, but it also reminds me too.

I am the only woman at our church who covers their head and I am a Caucasian 44 year old in a small village in country Australia, population 2500. A bigger town is only 15 minutes drive away that has a university and population of 25,000. There are a number of Muslim women who cover for religion as well as small communities of Bruderhof and Brethren people. And I have to say that whenever I saw these women with their heads covered, I had respect that they were doing what their God told them to do for Him.

headcoveringmovement.com/

facebook.com/headcovering

Anyways, I just wanted to say Hi and let you know that there seems to be a bit of a movement happening around the world in terms of head covering. There are a few websites dedicated to it and I hope you don’t feel so lonely these days 🙂

May He bless and keep you, Maudie
 
Hello! I cover full time, Day to day I generally cover tichel style, usually for Mass as well. I do have a lovely navy blue mantilla that I do wear from time to time however.
 
Hello!

It’s been a while since I have posted anything. I am so glad that I found this thread. I just starting wearing a headcover to Mass. I have been thinking and praying about for almost a year. Then the day I renewed my Consecration to Jesus through Mary at that Mass I finally got the nerve to wear a head cover, which was during Lent. I started with just a scarf and since then I have made 2 lace infinity scarfs, one black and one cream. I also feel that I am more prayerful because of the respect and reverence I am give to Jesus who I am there to be with.

I still feel nervous about it, I am sure that will pass. 🙂 I do get some looks but I just smile back at them. I see a few ladies in my church that veil so at least I know I am not alone. But oh the looks I get when I am an Eucharistic Minister. As I said I just smile a big smile and I usually get a smile back.

With the warm weather coming I am looking for a headcovering that is not an infinity scarf. My church gets really warm. Does anyone have a good place to get one or even a good pattern for making one?

WOW, what a long post for someone who hasn’t been here in a while. I promise not to be a stranger.

Peace Everyone!!
 
Hi kitafraya! Have you considered a lace infinity scarf? If you want to stick with that sort of style that’d work wonders.

It’s been interesting reading this thread. I’m very interested in starting to cover myself but haven’t had the courage to do so yet. I’ve just moved to a new area and haven’t started attending mass here yet but perhaps now would be a good time. Sure, I’ll stand out but no one there is used to seeing me without one so at worse I’ll just be “the weird new girl”. Which is how my mind interprets every new situation so I should be practised at handling it!
 
Hello all!

I’m new to CAF so just wanted to say hi to everyone here!

But on the topic of headcoverings, I started wearing a veil to mass a few weeks ago and I find that aside from a few older ladies, I’m the only one my age (mid-20s) to be wearing a headcovering.

I wear 2 veils (both ordered through Veils By Lily, she’s awesome!). A black Spanish mantilla for weekday mass and a gray lace infinity scarf for Sunday mass.

I can’t wear it when I go to mass with my parents though because my mother disproves 😦
Has anyone ever felt like they can’t veil because of something their family member says or reacts to it?

But, I’ve been pretty happy and excited to start this beautiful devotion and hope to continue and inspire other young women to do the same!
 
Wearing a covering on my head (scarf or veil) always seemed to help me focus on the Mass or my praying. May not work for others though.
For women who don’t cover, the practice has not been put on their hearts more than likely. If you feel it is right, that would seem to me to be a reason to do so.
 
I just wanted to say thank you for this thread and praise God for all the great information and ideas!!! I have thought on and off for a few years about head covering and I was quite surprised as a recent convert to find it not so popular to wear a hat/scarf in the Catholic Church anymore. But thanks to this thread I have now decided to take the plunge and I have ordered two infinity scarves and I am looking forward to them arriving so I can start covering at least in church if not full time. I will be the only woman who does this though apart from the nuns that attend mass 🙂

God bless you all
 
The first reactions that I got for the most part were supportive (most didn’t really care one way or the other).

There have been a couple of people who hesitated, but said nothing.

Even had a couple of people ask “why”, so I answered them. Upon the death of my father a few months back, the dynamic of my relationship with Our Lord changed. My covering my head for Mass reflects the change in that dynamic.

They understood me when I said that. They knew how much my father’s death, and the Mercy Our Lord had shown him, touched me deeply.
 
Dear OP,

I guess that head covering is either comfortable or not to a lot of us depending on what others do. I like to cover and believe it’s a wonderful tradition but I do feel like I’m drawing attention to myself when I cover at a church when no one else does. I’ve seen an internet thread where someone called a lady at their church “bat s… crazy” and “holier than thou” for wearing a mantilla when no else did. Who wants to be called that? I have a triangular mantilla that matches my dark brown hair color and I tie it in the back when I go into a Catholic church. I don’t think it makes me stand out at all, so if anyone feels like it does it’s their problem.

I am Orthodox though and I usually go to the Russian Orthodox church in Nanuet, NY. I was there the other day and all women wore head scarves. A man came in with his daughter who was six or seven years old, she wore shorts and a t shirt and nothing on her head. A little bit into the service the father came up to me and asked me where he could find a head scarf for his daughter because she wanted one! I guess the little girl wanted to be like all the other women present. There were no scarves in the church available unfortunately, so he gave the little girl his handkerchief and she managed to tie it on her head even though it was way too small, and she was happy.
 
Nadege said:
I’ve seen an internet thread where someone called a lady at their church “bat s… crazy” and “holier than thou” for wearing a mantilla when no else did.
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I suppose that’s what people may say about me, except I don’t wear a mantilla, I wear a kerchief. And I wear it all the time. I started just wearing it to Mass, then all day Sunday, then I started wearing it every time I went into town.

I’ve found it to be wonderfully practical, but it is a little bit noticeable. No one has ever said anything negative to my face, and if I get 2nd looks, I haven’t noticed.
 
Bonnie said:
I’ve found it to be wonderfully practical, but it is a little bit noticeable. No one has ever said anything negative to my face, and if I get 2nd looks, I haven’t noticed.
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What style do you wear and what color is it? Is it like a cotton or polyester headscarf you tie under your chin, or around your chin then on the back, or you tie it behind your head? Depending on where you live that may just be part of your outfit or a personal little fashion statement. What the people were referring to in the thread as “crazy” was from what I understood a fancy beautiful mantilla with ends flowing down. While those are indeed beautiful and glorious, in an environment where no one covers it is really better to opt for something more low-key. I even have a very wide lace headband which is so big it covers most of my very short hair, and sometimes I only have the courage to wear that, cuz - it’s just a headband!
 
I have now been covering my head full time for a week. I have noticed only positive reactions both at church and in the wider community, even my teenage son has said that I have received more smiles and general greetings from strangers than normal. The benefits generally have been wonderful such as not worrying about my hairstyle to not getting a sunburnt head (my hair is thinning and I have always been self-conscious of this) but the best and most important change has to be the closeness I feel to Blessed Mother Mary and Jesus. I feel more focussed in church and in my private prayer time. I find myself more thoughtful of God generally throughout the day.

Headcovering is amazing and I will be continuing to cover now, full time. And I recommend to anyone who is thinking about trying it, whether at church only or full time, to go for it. It is the best thing I have ever done in growing my faith.
 
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