Question about a nun's veil

[Rulkiewicz]

I would like to know the proper name and reason for a nuns veil / headdress. Does the basis of the tradition come from 1 Corinthians 11?

Thanks!

 

[JReducation]

I would like to know the proper name and reason for a nuns veil / headdress. Does the basis of the tradition come from 1 Corinthians 11?

Thanks!

No it does not. The veil came from cultural traditions. Different communities wore the customary clothing of the time when they were founded. For example, our own Poor Clare nuns were given the clothing of the friars, which is the traditional garment of an Italian farm-hand at the time. For their veil they wore what was worn by servants in the houses of the rich.

The reason for covering the head was two-fold:

1. Hygiene – in those days people did not shampoo. They rarely washed their hair because it was believed that you would catch something and die. The only way to keep the hair clean was to keep it covered when you were outside of the house.
2. Custom – it was the custom of the different regions in Europe.

If you look closely as the head dress of different religious communities of women, you will notice that they vary from age to age. For example, St. Vincent de Paul never wanted his Daughters of Charity to wear a veil. They wore a cornet, which was worn by the common French women. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton never wanted a habit of any kind. Because she was a widow, she wore the widow’s cap that was worn by Italian women. This was an accident. Her husband happen to die in Leghorn Italy. These were the clothes that Italian women wore for mourning. Out of respect for the culture, she wore the black dress with a black cape and a white cap. She return to American wearing this. Later, the cap was changed to a black one. Her sisters wore the cap out of affection for her, but the dresses were different from sister to sister. Later they were made uniform, long after Elizabeth’s death.

The Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity never wore a veil. They wore their hair long, tied in a bun at the nape of the kneck and a straw bonnet over the head, which revealed the hair.

After Mother Teresa left the Sisters of Loreto she adopted the Indian sari, but she did not cover her hair. At the recommendation of the American Medical Mission Sisters who trained her in nursing, she adopted the white cap worn by nurses in surgery. The Medical Mission Sisters suggested this to keep the body temperature constant, since Sister Teresa (at the time) would be working outdoors. Mother took to pinning the sari to the cap, That’s the white edge that we see that sticks out beyond the blue stripes on the sari. But the sari itself is not a veil. It is a type of wrap worn by Hindu women. Mother wrote in he constitutions that her sisters were never to dress as nuns or European sisters, because Christ wanted them to dress as Indian women. Most Indian women were either Muslim or Hindus. They all wear a sari, except that the Muslims cover their hair and the Hindus do not.

When St. Francis founded our Franciscan sisters, not the nuns, the sisters (nursing, teaching, etc) he prohibited the veil of the nuns. They were to dress in the secular clothing of the day, but it had to be poor. Their veil was very simple, just enough to keep lice out of their hair, but very short. It was centuries later that the long black veil would be adopted. Today it has been replaced by the ancient shorter veil of the sisters in the 1300s. That veil did not have the white guimpe.

When Dominic founded his nuns, they wore the clothing of the common shepherd women. That’s how the came to wear a long white scapular. It was an apron. They wore a white veil to protect their hair. To go out they wore a black cloak with a hood. Later the hood was replaced by a balck veil over the white one. That’s how the Dominican nuns came to have a black veil over a white one.

As you can see, the customs regarding head dress among women religious are different from century to century and founder to founder. None of the founders paid any special attention to Paul’s statement on veils, because it has always been understood that this was a discipline that Paul imposed on the local Church and never intended to be a de fide statement. In other words, it’s not a statement of faith or a doctrine. You won’t find it in any of the five rules that govern the lives of women religious. None of the writers of the rules refer to Paul or even use the same argument as Paul did for the veil. They used local customs.

These five writers were: Benedict, Basil, Francis, Albert and Augustine. There are no other rules for religious in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Every religious institute follows one of these rules or no rule at all.

I hope this helps.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[scylla]

He is right, this passage is not used as a basis in the rules written by founders as the basis for having a veil.

Paul shows in Corinthians, the Christian understanding of the sacredness of the liturgy. Angels are there in our midst, not only that God, makes Himself present.

We show our respect for God in various ways. Women up until recently, showed that respect by covering their heads, men by uncovering and both by dressing in their Sunday best. As our culture became more secular we have forgotten about our “Sunday best” and many have forgotten the Catholic faith. This is reflected in Mass attendance, behavior, less vocations, closing of Catholic parishes, schools, etc, etc.
Some people rediscover the Catholic faith, many have forgotten it.

In some places women still use some sort of headcovering, but the Church has not enforced any rule in promoting this reflection of the holiness of women. Many women see this not only as a sign of respect for God but for themselves and this is shown usually in more traditional gatherings in their manner of dress.

Wearing a headcovering all the time is more reflective of some habits, but it is clear that Paul was talking about the Sacred Liturgy.

As far as the nuns veil we can see many habits reflect the style of dress of the times, which reflects on the history of the order and its reason for existence. Going back to a simpler habit that reflects the orders origins is quite understandable and beautiful. This is seen in the simplifications of some habits as JR explained.

God decided to become incarnate and use the culture of the time to teach us truths about the faith. That which was useful contributed to teaching us truth, even customs such as the method of execution, teach us the cost of discipleship.

In Christ
Scylla

 

[JReducation]

With all due respect, I sometimes feel that there are lay people who are too preocupied by what does not affect them, such as the veil or the habit of religious and not preocupied enough about the real things that affect them such as abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, government abuse of its mission and duties toward the souls of its citizens, the deterioration of the family, contraception, drug abuse, poverty, the lack of prayer in the life of the Christian, the need for unity among Christians or the need to reform our lives every day.

The religious garb of consecrated religious is really an internal issue for the religious institute and their major superiors. The Holy Father was very clear on this when he wrote Vita Consacrata. He even went as far as saying that he does not expect or demand that all women religious wear a veil or any kind of habit, but that this is an internal matter of the religious family, not a public matter of the universal Church.

I’m sensing that there are people whose sense of entitlement leads them to be intrusive in a world that is not their own. We have to be very careful about this. It is a great act of charity to want what it good for our neighbor. It is also a violation of charity to impose on our neighbor that which the Church does not require for holiness. The little extras are good for the soul and should be proposed to all, but never presented as a moral duty, when the Church does not do so.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF