I like old habits

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I wish more nuns would wear habits (at least a head covering to preserve some modesty and semblence of religious life living to the outside world) and all priests would wear around town, their priest clothes (preferably cassocks with the hat but no sportcoats, unless they are cold–they are not businessmen, but priests).
With all the dirty bumper stickers, outfits and street signs and other signs of a secularizing society out there, it would be nice to see a sign of heaven. It would be strengthening for the soul. Humans think that way. We can’t shut our eyes and internally evoke this stuff (as I understand many reformers in the spirit of Vatican 2 told my parent’s generation as they did a number on Catholic Churches that would make Henry VIII, Protestant reformers since the 1500s and others who want to undo the Church proud) and think of God as much; we need symbols. If we can’t get what symbols we need from our Catholic Churches (see Michael Rose’s “Ugly as Sin”) or the liturgy we need, let’s see more of occasional reminders of God’s kingdom and the one to whom we are answerable upon death.
 
I read somewhere that more and more young seminarians seem to make it a rule to wear their cassocks at all time. Vocations in religious orders where distinctive habits are worn are also increasing. My generation seems to be getting more and more orthodox (praise God!); it’s interesting period of the Church… we’ll see how things go, shall we? 👍
 
Our assistant priest removes his collar when he goes to the shopping centre. I wonder if he is ashamed that he is a priest? 😦
 
Ashamed to be a priest? Probably not. Perhaps he does not yet possess the complete internal faith and dependance on God for strength. How many times do we deek out of a situation where we could have stopped to proclaim the Truth? Or refrain from commenting when the Lord’s name is taken in vain, or a cruel comment is made?

Perhaps you should mention that you enjoy identifying priests by their collars on the streets…

I have often considered becoming a nun. Even now though, I enjoy wearing modest clothing, long skirts and sweaters, not homely but attractively modest. That is something I’ve always admired about young muslim women in my city. They look attractive, in long pants or skirts, but they wear the head scarf, and I love the look of it!
 
I should not have said that plain-clothes nuns’ clothes are not modest in and of themselves but, in relation to their calling, there is a temptation against it, I would think. Of course, the whole thing about being more on par with the unconsecrated is more often than not a cover for wanting to look unfashionable. I seriously don’t believe people are repelled by the habit of a nun. The beloved Mother Angelica wore a very concealing habit. I think that is an excuse.

I don’t mean to say anything about the character of plain-clothes priests and nuns but we subconsciously miss something when we don’t see them walking arounds like that. We can’t tell one of them from a social worker. You can’t tell a social worker, in many cases, your problems without paying them money; a priest you can tell for free. If someone were borderline suicidal and they would kill themselves if they couldn’t find a priest before that final resolve and a priest was sitting next to them on a bus or something, what good would he be to the distressed man unless the man were shaking it.
I saw an episode of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues” some years ago, where Kwai Chang (David Carradine)'s son is going to finally decide to become a Shaolin monk while, meanwhile, his father is fighting some possessed person. His son comes back with the dragon brand-marks on his arm showing his success and his father gets renewed strength to finally win the struggle. I think seeing signs of God’s love on earth like a nun, monk or priest in habit gives us Catholics strength to fight our personal demons either as a sign of His love or His ever watching over us–or both. Subconsciously, it may even benefit a non-Christian or non-Catholic as well.
 
Full habit or Cassock in Glasgow? (Scotland)

Life would certainly be interesting!🙂
 
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mrS4ntA:
Vocations in religious orders where distinctive habits are worn are also increasing.
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Fr. Thomas Dubay states in his video series “Contemplation” that orders with a serious prayer life are increasing. I’m not sure whether or not he mentions habit, but the habit would tend to coincide with serious prayer life, I think.
 
I like to see the habits also. In our city, temperatures get over 100. I would not think it too bad if our pastor would take off his collar, but he never does. Don’t know how he does it, but more power to him. This month he went on a safari in Africa. Guess heat does not bother him.

Deacon Tony
 
I can understand though, if fear of repercussions after the sex scandals would shake a religious up, but I don’t think that’s the major concern reason it’s not worn by many. I thank God for orthodox Catholic religious of the boomer generation or older who do wear their habits and teach what they should, but I can’t wait till the EWTN generation, who watched eagerly and learned from EWTN, runs dioceses, orders, Catholic schools, seminaries, and higher offices. Then, I will believe in the “New Springtime” and may even go back to novus ordo masses on other days than weekdays (when the piety is stronger and the liturgy is usually innovationless and lacking in modernism).
 
An old Priest in our parish who is now retired took off his ‘dog collar’ infront of my late father once, you know what it was? a washing up bottle cut and placed inside his collar with the white to the outside …😃 👍 true catholic innovation !!!
 
As I mentioned in another thread on Legionaries of Christ, my brother-in-law, Fr. Thomas, wears his clericals almost everywhere he goes, and this is standard with his order (unless they’re on a hike or some other physical activity where a clerical suit would be impractical.)

It bothers me that the local parish priest here (a Franciscan) not only does NOT wear his habit or clericals in public, but introduces himself as “Larry” instead of “Fr. Larry”. I don’t know if it annoys him that I call him “Father” when I see him (yep, he shops at Wal*Mart!) but no one else there would know he’s a priest. I wouldn’t know if I wasn’t a member of his parish!

Furthermore, there is Sr. Robert Ann, who functions as parish coordinator and who is rarely seen in a skirt, even at Mass. She wears no habit, just a large Franciscan cross around her neck. She usually wears jeans and a baggy old sweater. To say she does not look like a nun is an understatement! I also see her at WalMart and usually smile and say “hello, Sister”. If she acknowledges me at all, it’s usually with a cool stare, as if she were a secret agent and I was blowing her cover. Just last week a group of nuns (Dominicans, I think) stopped at WalMart to pick up a few things. All wore white habits with black veils, all were quite elderly, most spoke nothing but Spanish, but they smiled at EVERYONE and had a lot of people come speak to them. I felt blessed just to see them.

I suspect that Sr. Robert Ann’s rationale for not wearing a habit is so that she can be more identified with the community, not set apart as a religious. Well, she’s doing a great job of it, since a lot of people would hardly stop to help you up if they ran over you, let alone smile and say “good morning”. I think my own sister-in-law, who is a Carmelite nun, does far more good for the community in which she lives when she goes about in her habit (she is her monastery’s extern) with a smile for everyone than the “incognito” nun who prefers anonymity and “identification with the community”.

Blue"don’t break the habit!"Rose
 
I may have been a little strict about when I would accept a religious wearing their habit. I cannot judge their heart. Nevertheless, I still think good reasons are not behind the absence of the collar (with accomodating usually-black shirt/no dickies please!)/friar,monk and nun habit)

I think it is a witness to the religious who wear the habits as well. Can you imagine the morale of our troops in Iraq if they wore t-shirts and jeans? Clothes say a lot. BTW I don’t think “God doesn’t care what you wear to Church; but what you bring Him in your heart” is not the real reason those people do not dress at least in a modest collar shirt and slacks (or something more formal)/modest or elegant dress; I think it is something more selfish. Sure, some pride around their outfits, but some wear it out of the human way of showing respect. It’s a good example. Let’s not scandalize the little ones. If you have heard enough EWTN, Fr Groeschel says that the black people in Harlem, most probably being poor, put on their best clothes for Church. I think wearing play clothes at Church by adults is really a symptom of a prevalent attitude in spoiled upper-class suburbia. Hey, I have bad habits that come from being spoiled but I try to be real with myself and work at fixing it through mostly by trial and error more than reason over emotions I must admit, frail soul that I have helped myself become moeso in weaker times.
 
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