Next year I'm going to get Confirmed. Is it ok if I veil for the occasion?

[SerraSemper]

Wear or don’t wear whatever you want on your head provided it is respectful and doesn’t go against any dress code or interfere with the anointing. Headcoverings are neither required nor forbidden in the Church.

 

[Dovekin]

You would have done well to include the last four verses of the first chapter:

But the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

But I call upon God as witness, on my life, that it is to spare you that I have not yet gone to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; rather, we work together for your joy, for you stand firm in the faith.
2 Corinthians 1:21-24

This introduces a series of references to anointing or the Anointed.

First, he refers to his actions as service, not lordship, and service that is full of pain (suffering of the Cross), but a pain that he shares with the Corinthians.

Then in 2:14 he starts describing the experience of anointing “manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him.” The aroma is us, we are the sweet smell of the chrism, a smell of death and of glory.

Then comes ch. 3, starting with the comparison of anoitning to the act of smearing ink on he akin of parchment. He has anointed the Corinthians like their skins are the parchment , so they are his letter, and the Holy Spirit is the smell of the oil, the Spirit that gives life.

Then he compares this letter to one engraved on stone, like the words of God entrusted on engraved stones to Moses. Moses became radiant throuh his encounter with God, a radiance visible in the Law, the engraved stones, but veiled.

We with unveiled faces, have encountered God in Christ and received not engraved stones but the Holy Spirit, which is knowledge and beauty and courage etc. We have become radiant, glorious by reflecting the image of the Anointed Jesus.

Chapter 4 continues the theme by talking about possessing this treasure, the anointing, the oil, the writing, in clay vessels that are not up to the great value placed inside them.

This is my mangled version of an interpretation that can be found in several sources. St Paul is talking about how God has “put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts.” (1:22) It is a minority interpretation, more common in the East than the West.

 

[Dovekin]

Anyway, veils are about concealing something. I chose not to enquire why @Alexandra_G wanted to veil, but I wanted to make clear that Confirmation, the anointing with oil, was about encountering God as Moses did, and coming away from that encounter to reveal God reflected on our faces, in the wisdom and knowledge that the Spirit has placed in us with the Holy Spirit.

And I said repeatedly that this may not be relevant to why she wants to use a veil, but it is something to consider about her confirmation.

Truth be told, I suspect the bishop will ask that no one have anything on the top of their head so he can lay his hand there as he anoints them. I am not sure how much anyone gets from such a pragmatic remark about the celebration of the sacrament.

 

[stpurl]

It’s been 55 years since my confirmation (I was 8). I, and the other girls, wore both our previous year’s dresses as well as our veils. Apparently it did not interfere in the least. Obviously some of the older girls could not wear their first communion dresses at ages up to 14 (though just as a side note I still fit into mine at age 17. Took having kids to turn me into a butterball), but the older girls all wore dresses and THEIR old communion veils or a mantilla.

I simply cannot fathom how a woman’s head covering, worn for her confirmation for the entire span of Church history not just for confirmation but for all Masses, until approximately 40 some years ago, would somehow now Pose such a problem that it would ‘interfere with the bishop’s annointing’.”

 

[Dovekin]

It’s been 55 years since my confirmation (I was 8). I, and the other girls, wore both our previous year’s dresses as well as our veils. Apparently it did not interfere in the least.

The rite in 1965 may have been radically different from the present. In some places the laying on of hands was replaced by a slap on the cheek; in other places both were used. I don’t remember the gestures at our confirmation, thouh I think I was slapped. Veils were required for women, girls too I guess, so bishops would have adjusted to that.

I simply cannot fathom how a woman’s head covering, worn for her confirmation for the entire span of Church history not just for confirmation but for all Masses, until approximately 40 some years ago, would somehow now Pose such a problem that it would ‘interfere with the bishop’s annointing’.”

Your history is a bit off. For hundreds of years, Confirmation was celebrated at the same time as Baptism. It may have been given to infants. Veil customs varied some, especially among young girls, ie 8 yr old might not have worn a. veil. Et cetera

 

[Jen7]

Yes it’s just fine! My daughters and I are among the rare ladies in veils at our church, but it’s just fine. We enjoy wearing ours and no one minds! You might enjoy searching “mantillas” or “chapel veils” on etsy. So many gorgeous ones to choose from. My girls and I had a lot of fun picking ours out. Amazon even offers some pretty mantillas inexpensively. Enjoy & congratulations on your Confirmation!

 

[HomeschoolDad]

When my niece received her First Communion in Poland (2005), all of the children wore a unisex white alb with a cincture. The girls wore garlands in their hair. This was very nice, modest, and erased any distinctions in dress — none of the families had to shell out bucks for formal dress that many would have struggled even to afford. If I had to guess, I would say that they do the same thing for confirmation.

I wouldn’t mind seeing that become a practice here. I read the other day that 41 percent of American homes have gone “minimalist”, only buying the necessities, during the pandemic. Shoot, we’ve been doing that ever since I retired! Wouldn’t be the death of anybody. Simple is good, sometimes less is more. Not having to buy expensive clothes for a religious ceremony would surely be welcomed by many of these families.

 

[27lw]

Oh good heavens. You think the good Polish Catholic moms couldn’t scrounge together the money for fabric or a dress? Somehow they’ve been doing that for centuries. Maybe the moms even enjoy it .
Ask your wife about her confirmation dress.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Oh good heavens. You think the good Polish Catholic moms couldn’t scrounge together the money for fabric or a dress? Somehow they’ve been doing that for centuries. Maybe the moms even enjoy it .
Ask your wife about her confirmation dress.

The way things have gotten in Poland in recent years, I imagine that everybody is just happy to have one less thing to have to spend money on. My wife told me that the reason for the albs was to erase economic distinctions and to keep money from being an issue.

My (“ex-”)wife and I don’t communicate much lately, as our son is staying with me for what has morphed into the entire summer, due to virus fears (he is with me the vast majority of the time under any circumstances). We homeschool and basically live in a “bubble” except when I have to run needed errands to keep the family going, and she is satisfied to let our son stay in that environment with me during the pandemic. I might ask her about the confirmation dress next time we talk. Her mother is an accomplished seamstress.

 

[27lw]

To the OP, do you wear a veil already? Maybe it would be better to veil every week, so it doesn’t surprise anyone at Confirmation. Maybe others will start veiling too! Maybe you already veil, or do others veil at your parish?

 

[Dovekin]

When my niece received her First Communion in Poland (2005), all of the children wore a unisex white alb with a cincture.

It was more likely a chrismal, which is basically the same thing.

The Latin chrismale was also applied… sometimes to the long white-hooded robes in which the newly-baptized were clothed (cf. Roman Ritual, II, cap. ii, n. 24), and which they wore from Holy Saturday evening till Low Sunday — called consequently Dominica in Albis (cf. Du Cange, Glossar. infimæ et mediæ Latinitatis). This garment, however, was more commonly known as the chrisome (cf. Pugin, Glossary), and resembled in shape the modern alb, except that it had a kind of hood for the head. Its representative is now the vestis candida still used at baptism.
Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) sv Chrismal

 

[27lw]

Well, is it that difficult for the parish to say “dresses no shorter than fingertip length, nothing low cut, and shoulders covered”?
Plenty of those kids went to Catholic school and have dressed like that for nine or so years anyway.

 

[27lw]

Okay, I see your point, but wouldn’t those same teen girls balk at the white alb provided by the church?
If the parish would attempt to set a standard like that (covered knees, covered shoulders) it might even soak into other parishioners! Like the adult men who wear short pants, etc.
Also, in most schools in my neck of the woods, girls do wear uniforms with either khaki pants or fingertip length skirts.

 

[27lw]

27lw:

but wouldn’t those same teen girls balk at the white alb provided by the church?

They are teen girls- you know they would But if it was decided that all the confirmandi were to wear them, boys and girls, over their street clothes, for the duration of the time time they are in church/cathedral and for group pictures, they’d just have to deal with it and the girl with the expensive designer dress, the girl in the cocktail clubbing dress, the girl in the obvious hand-me-down, and the girl in the Latin Mass-approved Easter dress would all be covered the same for the receiving of the sacrament and the group photos. Ditto with the boys varying in things from an expensive suit to a polo and khaki school uniform.

Okay, if you’re in favor of the alb for Confirmation, would you also be in favor of it for lay lectors, lay EMHCs, etc?

 

[Kima]

Of course. I love that you desire to do this traditional Catholic practice. Veiling is such a beautiful thing. You know, we veil what is sacred, in which women also are.

 

[ThomasMT]

It’s a holy sacrament, not a fashion show.

 

[27lw]

Yes, well, wouldn’t it be better for the parish to educate the young people on proper dress for church? Wouldn’t it be nice if someone told the young people that church clothing is not the same as athleisure, or sparkly clubwear, or clothes that say “pink” on the bum?

 

[Margaret_Ann]

He may not want anyone wearing anything on their head that will get in the way of anointing.

Pre-crisis, we had myrovania (anointing) on big Holy Days like the Dormition (obviously, we didn’t have it yesterday). I always wear my veil during spring & summer. Late fall & winter I wear a hat.

 

[Autumnfa]

I would believe it to be fine
Back before Vatican 2 the “colors” meant different things but since it’s being brought back it’s just being seen as a sign of respect more. I read that dark colors were married widowed or mourning and lighter colors were single. You can look it up and do research to make sure. That’s awesome I’m so glad to see veiling is coming back:sparkling_heart:

 

[Alexandra_G]

Well, I know two ladies that veil. I want to veil too because they look happy with a veil in during mass. But my mum thinks that veiling is something “old and just to look for attention” so I don’t know what to do…