Monks shaved heads?

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eyesopening

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Hello,

I’ve seen some paintings and other artwork where male religious had removed the hair (shaved I guess) on only the very top of their head leaving a ring of hair at temple height. I was wondering what this is all about. Also I have no idea how to put an image of this in my post so any help there would be nice too. Thanks.
 
Tonsure is still administered (in one form or another) in some traditional communities, with the approval of the Holy See. The FSSP, for example, get tonsure before minor orders, but their tonsure consists in the bishop cutting a few locks of hair in the shape of a cross. It doesn’t really leave a bald spot, and the hair is allowed to grow back.

The Benedictine Monks in Clear Creek, Oklahoma get a tonsure that consists essentially in a close haircut, which is maintained, but not total baldness and not the “crown” style you see in religious art. I don’t know of any order that still does that, but there might be one.
 
Ad_Orientem said:
Tonsure is still administered (in one form or another) in some traditional communities, with the approval of the Holy See. The FSSP, for example, get tonsure before minor orders, but their tonsure consists in the bishop cutting a few locks of hair in the shape of a cross. It doesn’t really leave a bald spot, and the hair is allowed to grow back.

The Benedictine Monks in Clear Creek, Oklahoma get a tonsure that consists essentially in a close haircut, which is maintained, but not total baldness and not the “crown” style you see in religious art. I don’t know of any order that still does that, but there might be one.
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Our abbey does as Clear Creek does. The “official photographer” monk put out a beautiful book of his pictures including monks getting their “tonsure” in the same style as Clear Creek.

Our abbey and Clear Creek are in the same congregation (Solesmes). Clear Creek uses the EF Mass, and our abbey the OF, but done with great reverence in Gregorian chant.
 
Estevao said:
Why the heck was tonsuring banned? It’s so boss.
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These aren’t monks, per se, they’re the Monks, the fantastic 1960s R&R band!🙂

Their gimmick was sporting stylish tonsures and playing extremely loud music!
 
Tosuring is also common to other faith groups outside of Christianity and no doubt predates it.

Once you begin to look at pictures instead of words some times complicated things become simple. Its men… they go bald… you want to make them all look identical ( like you do when you put the all in the same robes etc ) you have to go with a hairstyle that works for all of them.

Whether you start with a receding hairline, or balding in the back, well they all wind up looking semi tonsured sooner or later. So someone just ran off and stylized it for everyone. Concepts of humility and uniform appearance etc.

I’m pretty sure thats the basis of the development of tonsure that happened in the lost mists of time. But I have never seen a source for this its just my observation…
 
JillianRose said:
Thanks for the link. I just ordered some coffee!! 👍
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If you like it buy a subscription ( I did ) that way I get to drink swanky coffee and yet not feel guilty because the $$ goes to build their monastery. 🙂
 
Estevao said:
Why the heck was tonsuring banned? It’s so boss.
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The tonsure was never banned. It is still used by many religious orders.

However, the tonsure with which one was initiated into minor orders was suppressed by Pope Paul VI in Ministeria Quædam. It used to be that all seminarians were tonsured (not necessarily the full crown seen on monks though) upon admission to the seminary. Once a man was tonsured, he officially entered the clerical state.

Ministeria Quædam suppressed this (along with the minor orders, and the subdiaconate), moving the admission to the clerical state to accompany ordination to the diaconate.
 
It can’t be immoral because God is slowly doing this to me naturally! 😉
 
I was tonsured by the priest who baptized me (by submersion) in the Russian Orthodox church. Every Orthodox is tonsured regardless of age.

He did not shave me bald, he just cut a few locks in the form of a cross.
 
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