Wearing the veil

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pbyeerts

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I believe that wearing a head covering of some type is a humble and obedient thing to do in preparation for Mass. Can someone please tell me when the Church backed away from this? I am the only woman in my church who covers her head, and I don’t understand why others don’t.

Is there an ethnic preference here? Many Spanish and African American women will wear a veil or hat. Many thanks, Pamela
 
I don’t know that the Church necessarily “backed away” from women covering their head at mass, since it was still in the Code of Canon Law until it was revised in 1983. I think that it was one of those gradual changes, where headcovering simply lost its cultural significance and the Church decided not to enforce it. Protestant women used to always wears hats at Church, and they stopped wearing those about the same time that Catholic women stopped covering their heads at mass.

I saw a picture of a mass taken during the mid-1940’s once; about half of the women in the picture didn’t have their heads covered, and the priest was clearly celebrating the mass. So the move away from headcovering has been around for quite some time.
 
pbyeerts said:
I believe that wearing a head covering of some type is a humble and obedient thing to do in preparation for Mass. Can someone please tell me when the Church backed away from this? I am the only woman in my church who covers her head, and I don’t understand why others don’t.

Is there an ethnic preference here? Many Spanish and African American women will wear a veil or hat. Many thanks, Pamela
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I also choose to veil during Mass, and at Adoration. For me it is a reminder of just WHO it is I am there to worship. While head coverings may not be mandatory, there is nothing that says you can’t, so feel free to. It is true that some groups do cover their heads as part of their normal tradition but it has been largely lost in America and most of Europe except for those that attend Traditional Masses.
 
If you do a search of the site for the words “veil”, “headcovering”, “veiling” - you will find more discussions on this topic than you will ever find time to read. 😃 It is a VERY hot topic here on CAF, and there have been many discussions regarding the history and cultural impact on this practice.

The best way to search is to use the Google function that can be found when you hover your cursor over the Search in the top navigation bar at the top of this page. 😃

~Liza
 
All my old veils have fallen apart (used to belong to my mom) & the few I see for sale look tacky & stiff.
Is there a source for the better quality ones we used to have?
 
Cracker_Mom said:
All my old veils have fallen apart (used to belong to my mom) & the few I see for sale look tacky & stiff.
Is there a source for the better quality ones we used to have?
Click to expand...
My most beautiful old veils have come from eBay. There are always a good selection of older ones being auctioned. Also check out www.etsy.com they sometimes have some nice ones, and they don’t auction, it’s just a set price. I recently bought two beautiful old veils in perfect condition for only about $5 each.

Also - for new veils on eBay, check out this seller: Catholic Traditions her veils are very well made and nice. I have a large black one in a heavier lace. I notice she now has a lighter weight lace that might be more like the older veils. But her prices are very reasonable, and she has a huge color and style selection.

👍

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
My most beautiful old veils have come from eBay. There are always a good selection of older ones being auctioned. Also check out www.etsy.com they sometimes have some nice ones, and they don’t auction, it’s just a set price. I recently bought two beautiful old veils in perfect condition for only about $5 each.

Also - for new veils on eBay, check out this seller: Catholic Traditions her veils are very well made and nice. I have a large black one in a heavier lace. I notice she now has a lighter weight lace that might be more like the older veils. But her prices are very reasonable, and she has a huge color and style selection.

👍

~Liza
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Thank you, also!🙂
 
pbyeerts said:
I believe that wearing a head covering of some type is a humble and obedient thing to do in preparation for Mass. Can someone please tell me when the Church backed away from this? I am the only woman in my church who covers her head, and I don’t understand why others don’t.

Is there an ethnic preference here? Many Spanish and African American women will wear a veil or hat. Many thanks, Pamela
Click to expand...
I, too, have started wearing the veil to mass at our NO parish. I am the only one who wears the veil. I sit way off to the side and get there early so I can sit in the back pew. I try not to draw attention to myself. I sit on the side closest to the tabernacle. I am the only one in the church as well. Nobody seems to care, and I’ve gotten a few smiles. I hope others will start to. I notice, at daily mass on EWTN, more women are wearing veils. That is encouraging.
 
pbyeerts said:
I believe that wearing a head covering of some type is a humble and obedient thing to do in preparation for Mass. Can someone please tell me when the Church backed away from this? I am the only woman in my church who covers her head, and I don’t understand why others don’t.

Is there an ethnic preference here? Many Spanish and African American women will wear a veil or hat. Many thanks, Pamela
Click to expand...
Covering the head used to be mandatory in the Catholic Church, but Vatican II changed that rule. There is no longer a requirement for women to cover their heads in Church. The chapel veil represents the spouse of Christ, and is a very beautiful thing. Here is a link to a book that describes the importance of wearing the chapel veil. It is great!

As far as finding a good place to buy veils, try the bookstore in your church (if you have one).
 
lizaanne said:
My most beautiful old veils have come from eBay. There are always a good selection of older ones being auctioned. Also check out www.etsy.com they sometimes have some nice ones, and they don’t auction, it’s just a set price. I recently bought two beautiful old veils in perfect condition for only about $5 each.

Also - for new veils on eBay, check out this seller: Catholic Traditions her veils are very well made and nice. I have a large black one in a heavier lace. I notice she now has a lighter weight lace that might be more like the older veils. But her prices are very reasonable, and she has a huge color and style selection.

👍

~Liza
Click to expand...
Wow those veils are so pretty I really like the white ones and the pink one for Easter!
Lovely!
 
pbyeerts said:
I believe that wearing a head covering of some type is a humble and obedient thing to do in preparation for Mass. Can someone please tell me when the Church backed away from this? I am the only woman in my church who covers her head, and I don’t understand why others don’t.

Is there an ethnic preference here? Many Spanish and African American women will wear a veil or hat. Many thanks, Pamela
Click to expand...
I’ve actually been feeling convicted about wearing one myself recently, so was doing more research on it tonight. This post has some INCREDIBLE information and history about veil wearing. catholicknight.blogspot.com/2007/12/chapel-veil-veiling-or-head-covering.html There also seems to be a Chapel Veil Campaign to bring veils back in to the English-speaking countries.
 
lizaanne said:
Also - for new veils on eBay, check out this seller: Catholic Traditions her veils are very well made and nice. I have a large black one in a heavier lace. I notice she now has a lighter weight lace that might be more like the older veils. But her prices are very reasonable, and she has a huge color and style selection.

👍

~Liza
Click to expand...
I’m glad to see you say that, as I was about to purchase two of her veils tonight! She does have some nice ones 🙂
 
My 10 yr old daughter & I recently began veiling to our NO as well as the EF Masses we attend. We got a few ‘looks’ but mostly encouragement and good comments. I was convicted to do so by my ever growing devotion to the Blessed Mother. It makes me feel more feminine and devoted at the same time.
 
Claymont79 said:
My 10 yr old daughter & I recently began veiling to our NO as well as the EF Masses we attend. We got a few ‘looks’ but mostly encouragement and good comments. I was convicted to do so by my ever growing devotion to the Blessed Mother. It makes me feel more feminine and devoted at the same time.
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That word ‘convicted’ has come up in a few posts. It’s funny, because that is exactly the way I’ve been feeling lately! It’s inexplicable, but it’s just a feeling that I should cover. This is something I would have never considered important before, but for some reason, it has becomve very important to me to be covered when in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

Blessings,
sneakers
 
CatholicChick said:
Wow those veils are so pretty I really like the white ones and the pink one for Easter!
Lovely!
Click to expand...
O.K. I’ll risk entering the debate, and expect to be howled down.

I am not addressing this personally to the quoted poster, but …

how exactly does this excited chatter about where to buy pretty veils tie in with the ‘humility’ often given as a reason for wearing them? It all sounds like fashion statements and dressing-up to me.
 
sneakers said:
I, too, have started wearing the veil to mass at our NO parish. I am the only one who wears the veil. I sit way off to the side and get there early so I can sit in the back pew. I try not to draw attention to myself. I sit on the side closest to the tabernacle. I am the only one in the church as well. Nobody seems to care, and I’ve gotten a few smiles. I hope others will start to. I notice, at daily mass on EWTN, more women are wearing veils. That is encouraging.
Click to expand...
On one hand I think that it’s a beautiful custom, on the other hand, you have to worry about the sin of vanity…I mean, the veil is so pretty and it flatters the face.
To me, wearing a head covering connotes respect, but things can get sticky when the head covering is so attractive.
 
paperwight said:
O.K. I’ll risk entering the debate, and expect to be howled down.

I am not addressing this personally to the quoted poster, but …

how exactly does this excited chatter about where to buy pretty veils tie in with the ‘humility’ often given as a reason for wearing them? It all sounds like fashion statements and dressing-up to me.
Click to expand...
It’s probably in the same vein of my wearing a suit (and making sure it looks goooooood).

We dress up for our King and our Lord. No reason a sense of style has to be thrown to the wayside.
 
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