Is is sinful for people to wear jewelry or makeup? What about piercings, or tattoos? I even wonder about growing beards sometimes. I have trouble seeing why these don’t amount to vanity, unless they are more or less demanded by custom.
Dear MilesVitae,
Cordial greetings and a very good day.
It is very admirable, especially nowadays when so many modern day Catholics have a adopted a hand in hand with world type of religious practice, that you are even exercised regarding such issues. You are decidedly
not being overscrupulous in asking such questions, but are simply taking seriously the call to sanctity and separation from the world.
That is laudable and what every Christian ought to do, even more so nowadays in our godless and decadent culture.
St. Paul, in his Pastoral Epistle to young Timothy, says that, “women should adorn themselves modestly and with seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits those who profess religion” (I Tim. 2: 9). St. Paul has been citicized severely for these words, as if he did not want members of the fair sex to look their lovliest. Such riddiculous criticism is entirely unjustified, for St. Paul only means that the real adornment of the Christian women is not coiffure or jewellery or costly vesture, but good works which are the fruits of a character cultivated by holiness of life.
As those who have been “ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven”, we are not to be *unduly *pre-occupied with how we look or indulging in extravagance. It is most certainly an ostentatious display of worldly vanity to want to wear an inordinate amount of jewelry and make-up. A woman who professes godliness will surely be more concerned with adorning “the hidden person of the heart with the imperishaable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (I Pet. 3: 4). For the woman of faith genuine adornment is attained by the means of the performance of good works and acts of mercy.
As for tattoos, which are, alas, becoming very fashionable, even for women, these are a symbolic of the brash world with its vulgarity and clearly have no place among those who profess godliness. Apart from being downright unsightly and low class, they convey the impression of ill-breeding and an uncouth demeanor and thus do not sit comfortably with the religion of Christ. Give them a very wide-berth, dear friend. Beards are acceptable, provided that they are kept clean and well trimmed.
Any vain display on the part of men and women is offensive to good taste and propriety, but what is more important is that it is offensive to our all holy God. How sad today that many modern Catholics have lost their instinct for modesty and unashamedly pursue the cult of beauty and personal embellishment. It is even more reprehensible when women attend Holy Mass in unseemly garments, decked with jewelry and excessive make-up, which hardly befits broken and contrite hearts, which God welcomes and expects.
Warmest good wishes,
Portrait
Pax
), peirced ear, and a small cross I wear around my neck. No comment on tattoos. 
