Wearing a Veil?

[DebChris]

Were heacoverings required in the past, I was under the impression that this was just a recent change?

Yes, when I was a young girl, headcoverings were required. A girl or woman could not walk into a Catholic church without something on her head, preferably a hat or scarf. In order to meet the obligation, girls and women would pin handkerchiefs and even Kleenex to their hair. I recently heard a story from the 1950’s of young women taking off the gloves they always wore and putting one of them in their hair.
I forget exactly which year we were told that it was no longer mandatory to wear a headcovering. It would have been the late sixties, possibly 1969 or even 1970.
It was 1963 or 1964 when I first saw mantillas and chapel caps. As mentioned in earlier posts, they were easy to carry and a better alternative than a handkerchief when not wearing a scarf or hat.

 

[severus68]

Walking_Home:
Thanks for making this very clear.

To all, this is a 2007 thread.

 

[anilorak13ska]

I asked my mom about whether or not she remembered women wearing head coverings in church. She grew up in Poland, in the 50’s and on. She remembers the switch from Latin mass to the vernacular. Up until the year she and I immigrated to the US (1986), abstaining from meat on all Fridays of the year was still the norm. However, the only head coverings she ever remembers are scarves on old ladies, and mostly only in cold weather! Her mother, my grandmother, who grew up in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s, never covered her hair, and HER mother, my great-grandmother, who grew up in the teens and 20’s only wore scarves if the weather necessitated it.

I say all of this only to show that there is a clear cultural component to head covering in church. Even among very Catholic cultures, not all of them incorporated head covering for women as the norm.

I started covering for church 2 years ago. It has been a great blessing for me, leading me to modify my wardrobe and attitude towards my husband, not to mention helping me focus on the purpose of worship - to honor God, and not my fellow parishoners. But I do agree that the head covering should be done in such a way so that it doesn’t become a distraction in itself, as that defeats the purpose of it. If a woman’s entire outfit isn’t modest/feminine, all of a sudden a mantilla or chapel veil on her head looks like a partial costume. I use scarves, hats, snoods, berets, wide headbands, etc. I’m still in the experimental stage.