Veils

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Olympia:
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.
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That makes me laugh 🙂 . I wasn’t Catholic back in those days, but using a Kleenex, handkerchief, or glove on one’s head as a sign of respect? How odd.

Tricia Frances
 
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Jeane:
I grew up having to wear a mantilla and I hated them so much, in fact, that I left the Church when I moved away for college. Then I discovered a parish where mantillas and veils were not required and I reverted back to Catholicism.

I have very short, very thin hair and head coverings just don’t work. I can’t stand hats, always fidget with them, and tying a scarf under my chin makes me feel like I’ve got a wrap for a toothache. I say a prayer daily that my hair will grow but so far, it hasn’t happened. What I wouldn’t give to have long, beautiful hair like the women in the pictures in my bible.
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My hair is thick and untidy. The idea of a man being distracted by my hair is laughable… 😛 😛 Veils do not work for me either. They are highly distracting and I would always be messing with them…however wearing a hat can cover a multitude of bad hair Sundays. 🙂

dream wanderer
 
veils, caps, bonnets, hats, head-covering for women is a cultural thing, not a religious thing. as a previous poster said, if it is biblical but not church law it was a custom, not a doctrine. Paul was asking his people to look at the custom of his day for modesty in women’s dress, as opposed to Roman women who wore elaborate curled hair uncovered, and behaved in a brazen manner.

Veils came from immigrants from countries where veils were worn, babushkas from eastern europe etc. In the early days of this country until nearly the end of the 19th century married women wore caps inside the home, and bonnets outside, so never would have appeared at church or anywhere else without head covering. the elaborate piled high hair-dos of the “gay 90s” (remember that word before it got hijacked?) precluded caps, and bonnets changed to hats and hatpins that could accommodate the style. In the 20th century hat and gloves were what respectable women wore in public, and the custom changed in the 60s when the fashion changed.

For a while in the 60s we wore lace chapel veils (even then only the holier-than-the-pope types wore mantillas, or long veils) or a weird thing made of nylon net with little bows. For a while chiffon scarves were a fashion accessory, popular with Catholic girls because the could double as head-coverings for Mass. By 1970 even the nuns had shed their veils, and fashion did away with hats except for very little girls at Easter, or the baseball cap-ponytail look.

Fundamentalist or separationist sects like Amish and some Mennonites still require bonnets, caps or other head coverings, in line with the severe clothing styles left from their European peasant origins. Orthodox Jews still adhere to rules on head covering, modest clothing for men and women. In the home the custom of wearing a wig arose as a way around the rule. Even there are sectarian differences such as Hasidic styles that retain their Eastern European origins, and in Israel immigrant groups from Africa and elsewhere retain in some cases their native way of dress.

restoring veils would be restoring a “fashion statement”, a cultural custom, and a church discipline, not a biblical command.
 
Why do you call them "holier-than-the-pope types? Did you know these people? Do you know why they chose to wear the mantillas? Your remark is insulting and not necessary in making your point. Just because you disagree regarding the necessity of headcoverings doesn’t mean people who do wear them are just trying to appear holy.
 
Ruth Oschmann:
Why do you call them "holier-than-the-pope types? Did you know these people? Do you know why they chose to wear the mantillas? Your remark is insulting and not necessary in making your point. Just because you disagree regarding the necessity of headcoverings doesn’t mean people who do wear them are just trying to appear holy.
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I agree, Ruth. Thanks for making this point.

Hey, we wore the mantilla because that’s all there was. The little round ones were for little girls and the long ones were for women. Everbody did. No “holier than the Pope” about it.

Sometimes we’d wear a scarf covering our head and tied under our neck.
 
My wife is looking for a mantilla.
Can any of you recommend a place to buy a nice one?
In Texas, Louisiana, or Florida?

Jamie Burns
 
Jamie Burns:
My wife is looking for a mantilla.
Can any of you recommend a place to buy a nice one?
In Texas, Louisiana, or Florida?

Jamie Burns
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A lot of the Catholic supply stores are beginning to sell more of them, also, there is

halo-works.com/
sacramentals.com/sacramentals.org/ChapelVeils.htm
catholicstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=2017
moscompany.com/printed/2004/

The owner of Halo-Works has posted here, and her designs are simply lovely. My top pick for online ordering.
 
Ruth Oschmann:
Why do you call them "holier-than-the-pope types? Did you know these people? Do you know why they chose to wear the mantillas? Your remark is insulting and not necessary in making your point. Just because you disagree regarding the necessity of headcoverings doesn’t mean people who do wear them are just trying to appear holy.
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it sounds like the poster was trying to replicate what the girls of her day were thinking 30 or 35 years ago, not that she necessarily agrees with that assessment, or applies it to people today who prefer to demonstrate reverance by wearing veils
 
I began wearing a veil this summer…just felt called to do so. I usually attend Mass alone as my family does not live here and to be honest, I’m always afraid someone is going to think I’m a “holier than thou” type referenced in this thread. Amazing how trying to keep that thing in place keeps my eyes down and my thoughts therefore more focused on the Mass rather than the people attending!

Part of what makes me wear it is that it’s NOT in overwhelming popularity here, although there are a few scattered women who choose to veil for Mass.

Every time I become self conscious about the veil, I remind myself I’m not wearing it for anyone but God…and pray that more women choose to wear it for the same reason.
 
I’m pre-Vatican II and I loved hats and had lots of them. Went through the chapel veil period, too. I’d wear either if it were called for and didn’t make one stand out as an oddity. The only problem with hats is if they are quite large, seeing around them can be difficult for people behind you. Either cover up a bad hair day, tho. Grandma
 
Ruth Oschmann:
Why do you call them "holier-than-the-pope types?
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I sense that yo have taken the remark totally out of the context meant by the OP. They were speaking of a time past, not the present. My experience in the church was almost identical to what was stated and anyone wearing a mantilla would have had other women remarking that it was kind of “over the top a bit” .

I think a great deal of what was “proper” and “ordinary” may vary according to location. There are some places in the world where a mantilla would not at any time have been considered anything but “normal” - in other places it came and went and while it may be returning now in some quarters - again it would vary with the type of Mass and some times because of geography or local custom.
 
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TradCatholic:
You would think that since they don’t wear veils maybe they could use the excess material to cover their midriffs??
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:rotfl: My mother often wondered what had happened to the bottoms of some of the dresses she used to see at church - if she thought it was bad then, she’d absolutely die if she saw some of what walks in now.
 
I started wearing a mantilla about three or four months ago because I feel it is reverent to do so, but certainly not holier-than-thou. My parish is multicultural and some women cover their hair and some do not. At my old home parish, though, only older women wear them, and only a few of them at that. I love wearing them as they remind me of childhood. By the way, I purchased mine from Halo-works, too–they have the best selection! 🙂
 
Something to keep in mind regarding wearing veils is this: the point of the devotion is to cover one’s head. That doesn’t mean you have to wear a lace mantilla. I do cover my head out of personal devotion. Since I attend a Tridentine Mass, I usually wear a lace mantilla. But when attending a Pauline Mass, I will wear maybe a hat, or scarf, so while fulfilling my personal devotion, I don’t draw undue attention to myself. Of course you can wear anything you want but again it’s not important to only wear a mantilla, just to cover one’s head.
 
I’d like to see women wearing hats, again. A woman looks good wearing a hat.
 
I would love to wear a mantilla. Personally I think Muslim headscarves look great, at least the ones I’ve seen did.

Where can I get one?
 
I think they look so beautiful, especially if she is doing it out of respect. Although it has been really cold in Colorado lately there are still some girls who wear mini-skirts so my thought is, can we make them wear a fleece mantilla? It would be warmer and I wouldn’t have to look at them. Oh and I am 21 so if the person above who said they didn’t like is picked on, what about me.

I am not sure I would do it as I am not yet Catholic and the thought scares me as most women who do seem to be a lot older and I would feel so out of place. If there were more who did it, I would probably take up the custom after I do become Catholic. Although as I am not one to follow the usual dress of everyone else I may anyway. I couldn’t bring myself to wear what all of the other girls my age wear, i would feel to naked as I can’t bring myself to even go in public like that.
Kat
 
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