Veils

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Would you like to see the practice of women wearing veils return?
 
I didnt intend for this thread to turn into a discussion, necessarily. I’m more curious about people’s sentiments concerning the return of the practice.
 
I wouldn’t mind seeing that practice return. I already have two “mantilla” veils. At least, I think that’s what they are called. I have one in black, the other is white. At the very least, I try to wear them during my holy hours.
 
By veils, I take it you mean head covering. I think a nice mantilla looks good on everyone and is not ostentatious as a hat can be.
 
Some people wear them at our Parish but years ago when Vatican II came in and everyone stopped wearing them I was in Catholic school and my mom made us wear them. The nuns would make fun of us and it taught me to stand up for what you believed in, but I really don’t see the necessity of these veils. God looks at the heart! Yes dress in your best but no I don’t think I would wear one again.
 
If that becomes the local custom then, sure, I’ll wear one. I might even like it. I would feel I was calling attention to myself if I wore one now, though.

Jewish men traditionally wear a prayer shawl to pray, a practice some Jewish women are adopting. It is said to give a sense of creating a sacred space around yourself. I might like that even better.
 
I would like to see their return, but with the state of the Church (in America, at least) I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
 
guys can’t wear head coverings in church, how in the world did it become respectful for women to wear a handkie on their head
 
If a woman wants to wear one, then by all means go ahead! However, they are not necessary to worship the Lord at Mass, and considering that some places are “passing the communion basket,” there are many much more important practices, I mean ABUSES, to be concerned about.

-Illini
 
do you mean we all dress up like women in Afghanistan under Taliban? why don’t we all cover up in black robes, too. that will be popular down here with summer temps in the 100s. What I would like to see is the return to hats, real hats, hats as an art form, hats as a fashion statement, hats as an expression of your personality. The only time I remember lots of women and girls wearing veils was in the 60s when hats went out of fashion, and the little chapel veils were a way have a head covering in church without an actual hat. So the girls had little chapel veils (or a piece of kleenex held in place with a bobby pin in an emergency), the nuns of course wore their long veils and habits. the long mantilla was worn by super-Catholics trying not to look like high school girls. Of course in the ethnic parishes it was babushkas.
 
I go half of the time now to the Latin Mass which we are respectfully asked to wear a veil. I actually like it and everyone else has a veil on. I don’t wear it to Mass at the regular church.
I don’t think Tom started this thread to get everyne fighting like the last veil thread. Just state if you like veils or not. I don’t think anyone is talking a burka here. But on the other hand it would be nie to see people dress for Mass, especially the belly bearing girls and scarely women who shouldn’t never mind at Mass. :eek:
Kathy
 
do you mean we all dress up like women in Afghanistan under Taliban?
Click to expand...
Whatever led you to that conclusion?

By the rest of your post you obviously know what a chapel veil is - a little piece of lace, hardly likely to raise your temperature.

I go to Mass at 1 p.m. The temperature outside is about 110 or greater at that time where I live.

I put my veil on in the vestibule before going into the Church.

Most of us do it out of love for Christ although it is a “little thing”.
 
I jumped to a conclusion because your question was ambiguous and out of context. did you mean to ask “would you like to see restored the discipline that women should cover their heads when entering a Catholic church, particularly at Mass?”
 
Thank you, Asquared, for your correct answer. We wore hats, not veils. If you forgot your hat, you used some kind of impromptu head covering: Kleenex, handkerchief, glove. It was a mark of respect for the liturgy and for the holy purpose of the church building. Conversely, men removed their hats as a mark of their respect, much as they would remove their hat in the presence of a superior, or a lady, as an act of respect.

The lace doilies did come in as a replacement for the hats that no one wore anymore. By the late 1960’s, no head covering were worn to church any more.

In the earlier 60’s, Jackie Kennedy visited the Pope, and wore a long black lace mantilla instead of the usual hat. It became an instant fashion hit! She also wore a long sleeved dress that reached below the knees–how I wish that would come back into style!
 
In regards to Muslim headcovering by women:

The VEIL shows only the eyes and covers the whole body. Sometimes not even the eyes show, the woman can see through the cloth.

The HEADCOVERING (if forget the exact name now) is the scarf-like cloth that covers the hair and sometimes the neck area.

BTW, I have been told on two separate occasions by two different Muslim guides in two different Muslim countries (Egypt, Morocco) that the headcovering is not an Islamic law. It goes back to tradition and tribal custom. It is optional, and it depends on where you live. Saudi Arabian customs are very different from Cairo, for instance. Sometimes the veil is just covering up a “bad hair day.” The headcovering might be removed at home with one’s family, where then they are all very 21st century. As usual, things are stricter in the rural areas than in the major cities.

The style and color of the headcovering depends on the village or province of that country. I do not understand the challenges in our courts to allow these headcoverings in inappropriate places! Especially claiming that it would be an “infringement of religious practices,” when I was told that no such religious rule exists.
 
I have started to wear a veil again to Mass and to Reconciliation. I love it because it is for God, for Our Lord, for Our Lady, for the Holy Spirit, in my small way I show them my love. Sometimes it is difficult because very seldom does anyone in my parish wear one. Sometimes I will see an elderly Latina wearing a beautiful mantilla and she is so beautiful in it. I have several mantillas, veils and scarves and choose according to what I am wearing. I love to see women wearing veils in Mass; it reminds me of when I was a child and all women wore them. They did not just wear hats in the parishes I attended; they wore mantillas, or lace chapel caps, all lovely. It always made me feel very special and reverent, even though we all wore them! Putting on my veil in the vestibule prepares me for worship, and for receiving. It is somewhat hard to explain, because it feels both spiritual and emotional to me simultaneously. And yes, it does create a conscious space around me for prayer in Mass. Someone above mentioned that, and I have noticed this also. I think another reason why I love this practice so much is because it is only at Mass and at Reconciliation that I wear them; they are reserved specifically for church.

These are just my personal feelings and experiences and it may feel very different to other women. I feel blessed to have the option.
 
I didn’t vote because I personally would not want to wear one. For me it would be a distraction more than anything else, because I cannot stand to have things on my head, and because of the way the air vents are placed in our church, my hair blows around enough. I don’t want to fuss with trying to hold a mantilla down during the consecration.

That said, if a headcovering helps someone else in prayer and holiness, then they should go for it.
 
Thank you deogratias (and others), for your clear logic and simple solutions to otherwise insurmountable problems encountered with veil-wearing (industrial grade air vents, oven-hot churches, etc.).

As a young man, few things inspire me more than stepping into a church and finding a woman, wearing a mantilla, deep in prayer. In case you’ve been discouraged by sour looks, or perhaps even a mini-lecture from a liberal catholic, here is one brother in Christ, however anonymous, saying thank you.
 
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