Should people be allowed to wear shorts and sandals at Mass?

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leeta:
Lastly, the idolatry of comfort and convenience is the first commandment in our culture. Informality in dress is an outgrowth of this idolatry. Idolatry is not pleasing to God. So regard dressing up for Mass as a small way to do penance for the many times we have followed the god of comfort in our own lives instead of the God of Heaven and Earth.
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Comfort and convenience is idolotrous? I must have missed that part in the good book. This whole informality bull***** is something you are pulling out of American culture, not the Bible.
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Iohannes:
Catholics have been conquered by America. It should of been that America would be conquered by Catholics, but we let ourselves be conquered by imitating secular culture.
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Wearing shorts/sandals to mass is part of secular culture? Since when?

Attention, All:
JESUS DOESN’T CARE IF YOU WEAR SHORTS TO MASS.
 
If your church is having a problem with summer attire, I would highly recommend my pastors very wise response to this dilema…He turned the temperature of the air conditioning way down so that it is very, very cold, even on the hottest days. He doesn’t have to address the problem of immodest dress because everyone is so cold! It only takes about two Sundays for most parishoners to start wearing clothes that are more modest and less revealing. 😃
 
PS: I am completely serious about my last post. My pastor keeps the church cold in the summer so that he doesn’t have to address the problem of skimpy attire! And it works!! 🙂
 
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhh

you lucky things, airconditioning

we have windows

and yes it is hot in the Sanctuary but does it have to be COMFORTABLE???

our pews are wooden and narrow and the kneelers are penitental, but the Road to Calvary was so hideous in comparison to an hour or 90 minutes uncomfortableness
 
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Leeta:
by the way, Catholic 90, you are your brother’s keeper. It is a sin to distract by posture or clothing or lack thereof in Mass. I thought we Catholic women wanted to give witness to purity in the way we dress?

If you don’t have any respect for yourself, at least be respectful of your brothers in Christ. Do you not care that they could go to hell because of the distractions caused by women wearing revealing clothing? Men are weak. So, if I wear shorts, I don’t have any respect for myself??? That’s quite a stretch!! Wow!! You really don’t think much of men, do you?? Are you married? How does your husband feel about the fact you think he is weak? Nice. Everywhere in our culture they are bombarded with temptations to impure thoughts and looks and during the Holy Sacrifice when they can see Purity Himself and find solace and strength, you are so uncharitable as to hinder them in finding union with God because you worship your own comfort rather than God? I don’t “worship” my own comfort. Quite a stretch you are making there! I don’t think God wants us to be uncomfortable, though!
It makes me cry. My own brother, Alan, is in danger of going to hell and I guess you don’t care. As you say, he should just pray harder. Yes, he should. And he should get counseling. I will pray for him. He is a sex addict. **He told me that the way women dress-short skirts and dresses with slits- set his imaginations off. I suppose you also say that rape victims “asked for it” by the way they dressed, walked, acted? This lies completely with the perpetrator, NOT THE VICTIM! ** **By the way, you will note that it is DRESSES that sets his imaginations off. Are you suggesting that women can’t wear dresses around your brother either?? I guess Burkas it is then! **It has ruined his marriage. His son his following in his footsteps with drug and alcohol addictions and criminal convictions for stealing. This is somehow the fault of those who wear shorts?? I am not following your (il)logic here. Alan is in despair.
Again, here is Gnosticism rearing its ugly head, according to you, the body is unimportant, only the heart is.
God created us a unity of body and of spirit.
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Good grief!:whacky:
 
there is a wide range of acceptable clothing in public (off the beach and out of the backyard) between shorts and a tie, or a halter top and a chapel veil. While 90 percent of women and girls are not presenting themselves in the most flattering light when they wear pants (due to the misapprehension that foundation garments are no longer necessary), I would still prefer a nice pants-top combination to a mini-skirt with bare midriff top, or cut-offs and T-shirt with vulgar message. The universal casual wear for men now seems to be golf shirt and dockers or khakis, which is much better than paint-stained gym shorts and sandals and a tank top. I will gladly forego the tie and jacket if I don’t have to look at hairy legs and pits during Mass.

You are much more likely to be denied seating at a fine restaurant or country club because of inappropriate clothing than for an usher to bounce you from church.

There should be no need to “throw anybody out” of church or any other venue because people should be taught by their parents and by peer pressure what is proper, but since the parents obviously don’t know, due to the extermination of good taste in this country, it is not likely the kids will learn either.
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Iohannes:
I see it all the time in Southern California where summers are hot. Does it no longer matter how we dress? Is a tie for men and chapel for women too traditionalist and pharisical? I no longer know? :rolleyes:
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Response: NEVER IN THE LATIN RITE OR ANY RITE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. It is immodest and if the priest was traditional he would place a notice in front of the vestibule with conditions for communion which is girls wear dresses or long skirts, legs and arms covered, head dress, shoes, etc while men no tight fitting pants such as jeans, no t-shirts or earrings, etc. I hope that give you a sense of what the Church wants although this would probably not occur at churchs with NO mass as some people would scream if a priest enforced it their churches. These priests especially at indult masses would be thrown out on their ears. So stay modest if you want to recieve our Lord worthily. 😦 RC tradi
 
There are actually churches with air conditioning? You’re joking, right? No? :bigyikes:

I never wear that suit-with-blouse thing, not to Mass, or anywhere else. Yesterday, I wore one of my dressiest outfits to Mass – similar to what I wore previous Sunday, only different colors (what can I say; I got lucky in the discount store. :D). Extremely modest, even by Vatican standards (no skin showing except face, neck, hands, and arms below the elbow), but very comfortable, cool, and suitable for the climate. Yes, I wore sandals (fisherman style) (and with socks! I must be Canadian!) – I think they’re very Franciscan.

So my outfit was dressy and modest, but in no way traditional – it was kind of “Bohemian”, actually. Luckily, nobody frowned at me or tried to throw me out of church. 😉

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My church has wholly inadequate air conditioning. The new church is under construction.

I have a medical condition where heat can really get to me. I’ve almost passed out a few times at mass. At those times I’ve left and been ill the rest of the day. I don’t view that as mortification.

That said, I don’t like wearing shorts to mass, and very rarely do so. We just try to attend Saturday evening or early Sunday when it’s cooler. During the summer, my wife does wear shorts. Many people do at our beach community parish. I might be able to convince her to dress up more once the new church is built and we have air conditioning.
 
I see nothing wrong with wearing sandals with panty hose or trouser socks. If sandals are worn without socks, i.e. just sandals and bare feet, I think one should only do so only if wearing a LONG skirt that does not have slits. Oh, and NEVER SHORTS!!! One exception might be a long Kulat style short that looks like a dress but is really pants, and it should, in my opinion, reach below the knee while standing.

What do I do?

I sometimes wear clogs to church and don’t wear hosiery, but instead, wear socks. I don’t wear clogs barefoot because they hurt. But sometimes my bare leg might be exposed above my socks. If I do this, I make sure I wear a LONG dress that does not have slits. If I have a dress that has slits, I make sure I wear opaque hosiery.

I also don’t wear tank tops, sleeveless dresses, or short sleeves by themselves. In the summer, when it’s HOT, I’ll bend the rules just a bit and wear an airy capelet (I crochet them) or airy poncho over a short-sleeved shirt. My capelets go down to the elbow, and my shawl-capelets go down to about three inches below my elbow. If one keeps one’s hands in an attitude of prayer, one can easily tuck the remainder of one’s arm beneath a capelet or shawl. I crochet them with regular or homespun or large guage harn in a fishnet-type weave for summer. If you use large guage yarn in combo with a fishnet like weave, you get a good combination of modesty with a style of dress that will prevent heat exhaustion. The fishnet allows air to flow in, and keeps you cool.

I must say … when it’s 105 or 110 outside, I had a REALLY hard time wearing tights and long sleeved shirts to mass and veil to Mass in a church with no air conditioning. I’ve gotten dizzy from being over heated on a number of occasions.

There are ways around heat: wear trowser socks beneath your long dress instead of tights, wear a short sleeved cotton shirt with a shawl or capelet, wear dresses that are opaque enough that you can omit wearing an underskirt. Or even … wear socks with sandals! Use light-knit yarn for your veil, too. Oh, and you’d be surprised at the miracle of cotton underwear. Stay away from synthetics for the hidden side of your wardrobe, as the synthetics don’t breathe as well as good old cotton! LOL!
 
What is allowed and what is appropriate are two different things.

Since church isn’t a club, which admits only members like oneself, any type of dress should be allowed.

Sandals are appropriate. They are worn by monks.

What is inappropriate is being immodestly dressed. Immodest can mean either showing off one’s body or showing off one’s wealth.

Appropriate dress is simple dress. An example is what a monk wears. A lay person isn’t expected to dress like a monk. However, the same basic criterium applies. Appropriate dress for church is simple dress that doesn’t attempt to show anything off.
 
Chris Jacobsen:
What is inappropriate is being immodestly dressed. Immodest can mean either showing off one’s body or showing off one’s wealth.

Appropriate dress is simple dress. An example is what a monk wears. A lay person isn’t expected to dress like a monk. However, the same basic criterium applies. Appropriate dress for church is simple dress that doesn’t attempt to show anything off.
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You make an excellent point! Sometimes apeople dress to the nines for the mere purpose of showing off to others. Never thought of that as immodest but it is … and it is inappropriate as well! While Church is not a beach it is not supposed to be a fashion show either! Thank you for that insight.
 
Chris Jacobsen:
What is allowed and what is appropriate are two different things.

Since church isn’t a club, which admits only members like oneself, any type of dress should be allowed.

Sandals are appropriate. They are worn by monks.

What is inappropriate is being immodestly dressed. Immodest can mean either showing off one’s body or showing off one’s wealth.

Appropriate dress is simple dress. An example is what a monk wears. A lay person isn’t expected to dress like a monk. However, the same basic criterium applies. Appropriate dress for church is simple dress that doesn’t attempt to show anything off.
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Interesting point.
 
Some of us sweat immensely more than you normal folks can imagine. It is a nightmare in social environments, which, unfortunately, I am fully cognizant that mass is. People are repulsed if you drip from your brow and wrists onto them or the pews. BTW, I can do this even if the place is air-conditioned, and even in the winter if there is a heating system running (pity my amazingly tolerant spouse who owns many sweaters). I do not do it if the temperature is unusually low, or if I have had lots of recent time in low temperatures. I am fine then.

I prefer to be cleanish (it is impossible to appear clean and stay clothed in the summer) than to be dirty and disgusting (but wearing whatever folks would like). Yet I still fight this, knowing threads like this are out there, knowing I am being judged for what I wear. Yeah, I’m a wimp. So I usually look a bit more disgusting than I would like.

I at least feel like I sort of blend (though not really if anyone looks closely) in the current dressing environment at most masses.
 
I dress the same for Mass any time of the year–usually a two or three piece suit, and a hat to protect my head, but which I promptly remove when I enter a church, or any building, as that is the polite thing to do.

On the subject of shorts and other “summery” outfits, a couple weekends ago, I went up in the communion line, and the extraordinary minister of holy communion was a lady I know. The outift she wore that day was a pair of those coverall shorts like things, with a strechy halter top, the waist of the coverall shorts being so loose, I felt uncomfortable bowing towards her as she said “The body of Christ”, because I felt that it came too close to looking down her pants!! So, I closed my eyes, bowed, and came up, took the Eucharist on the tongue, and beat feet to the line for the blood of Christ.

It seemed that a lot of people were uncomfortable with her outfit, possibly. I know it took exceptional focus for me to keep my mind on worship, and off of her outfit!

I am not one to try to say that women should be wearing burhkas (sp?), but I feel both women and men in general at my parish could use some counseling on what is modest, respectful dress for attending Mass.
 
We have the following printed in our bulletin every Sunday:

“REVERENCE: Reverence for God means that we dress properly for Mass, that we turn off all cell phones, and that we encourage an atmosphere of silence and awe in His presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Dressing properly for holy Mass means that we come in attire fit for the worship of God. Pool-wear, flip-flops, cut-offs, tank-tops, and other casual clothing is not appropriate for the House of the Lord.”

We can usually tell when somebody is there for the first time. This does not mean that all the men and boys wear suits and women and girls, wear hats and gloves (many women and girls wear veils over their heads, btw)

I can understand in third world countries where some people are just glad to just have something to cover themselves with, but IMO, its inexcusable to go to mass dressed all sloppy with the excuse that “God doesnt care”. The question is how much do we care for God? We care enough to dress up for others if we go to a party, so why not for God.
 
Who decides what is appropriate or not? Society shouldn’t dictate what you should wear to church, God should.
 
Kay Cee:
I allow my daughters to wear shorts to church–if they are serving Mass.

The place where the altar servers sit is the hottest spot in our church. The air conditioning just doesn’t reach there. Occasionally servers have fainted from the heat. One of them was my older daughter, and she’s come close to fainting several times.

I figure they’re cooler in shorts, and the robes cover all.
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My guess is that wearing shorts has never prevented an altar server from fainting at your parish. Allowing kids to wear shorts while they serve is simply asinine.
 
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