Women covering their heads at Mass

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MichelleTherese

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What do you all think about women covering their hair at Mass?

I’ve always enjoyed covering my head at Mass but I don’t do it now because I’d cause a distraction. I feel that covering my head and wearing modest clothes keeps my mind (and everyone elses’) off of a person’s appearence and hair style. (I’ve heard plenty of gossip before, during, and after Mass about what people are wearing and doing with their hair!)

Do you think that covering our hair will ever “come back”? If I wouldn’t cause a big distraction at my very small and intimate parish I’d buy a nice lace veil and go back to covering my hair.

Would I be bad if I did cover my hair and caused a distraction for a while? (until folks got used to it…)
 
It could be that other women in the congregation will be inspired by your example and start wearing the veil themselves.
 
Head coverings would be a wlecome and preferable distraction to the distractions often presented by women at Mass. All the guys know exactly what I mean.
 
Hmmm, yes, I would find it hard to believe that a woman dressed immodestly would wear a veil in the presence of Our Lord.

I’m a strong proponent of women keeping their heads covered in church (of course I am, I’m a man ;)).

Seriously – women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope, so why not in the presence of our Heavenly King?
 
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dcs:
Seriously – women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope, so why not in the presence of our Heavenly King?
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Because it’s not required. It’s no longer considered a sign of additional reverence.
 
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MichelleTherese:
What do you all think about women covering their hair at Mass?

I’ve always enjoyed covering my head at Mass but I don’t do it now because I’d cause a distraction. I feel that covering my head and wearing modest clothes keeps my mind (and everyone elses’) off of a person’s appearence and hair style. (I’ve heard plenty of gossip before, during, and after Mass about what people are wearing and doing with their hair!)

Do you think that covering our hair will ever “come back”? If I wouldn’t cause a big distraction at my very small and intimate parish I’d buy a nice lace veil and go back to covering my hair.

Would I be bad if I did cover my hair and caused a distraction for a while? (until folks got used to it…)
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If you enjoy covering your head at Mass, go for it – the Church certainly has not disallowed this practice. I seriously doubt that it would cause any distraction if done with taste and decorum.

On the other hand, to coerce or force a woman to cover her head at the Mass because “it’s better” is to place one’s own desires ahead of what the Church teaches.

Covered or not covered – the choice is your’s and neither one is better or worse than the other…
 
Here is an image I found.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
For the second time today: what do you hope to accomplish by posting pictures with no other meaningful contribution?
 
Melman:
Because it’s not required. It’s no longer considered a sign of additional reverence.
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I am aware that it is not required, I was simply pointing out a facet of modern Church discipline that I found confusing. If women don’t wear the veil in the presence of Our Lord, why should they in the presence of the Pope?
 
Melman:
I’m not aware that it’s a requirement that they do.
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It isn’t. Unlike some, JPII follows the Church and not other men’s personal desires.
 
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Crusader:
It isn’t. Unlike some, JPII follows the Church and not other men’s personal desires.
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It is most certainly a requirement that women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope. I’m not making this stuff up.

Anyway, proponents of women covering their heads (of whom I am one) would point out that they are not following their own personal desires but the desire of the Apostle Paul.
 
dcs said:
1.) It is most certainly a requirement that women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope. I’m not making this stuff up.

2.) Anyway, proponents of women covering their heads (of whom I am one) would point out that they are not following their own personal desires but the desire of the Apostle Paul.
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1.a.) Nonsense.

2.a.) The Church does not require a woman to cover her head in church. It’s up to the individual – neither better nor worse to cover one’s head.
 
This is a great thread. I myself have been struggling w/ the veil thing. I feel called to wear the veil in my very left-of-center parish. I do youth ministry there and feel that I would be an unwelcome distraction. OTOH, I always hang in the back b/c I have two noisy toddlers. They have beautiful veils on ebay. I’m tempted to buy one and ease into using it by wearing it at daily mass.

I’m coming to the conclusion that I should worry more about following God’s call than I should about what others may think.

Please, if you are reading this, pray for my parish and the priests in my area!
 
Hmm, this can be a very hot-button issue, so tread lightly, all of you.

Is it required for a woman to cover her head in the Pope’s presence? Hmm. Don’t know officially, but let me say that I have never seen a photo of a woman “officially” meeting the Pope, that is, at a private audience, without wearing a black lace veil. I remember when Queen Elizabeth II went to meet him and it was a big deal that she was wearing all black and a veil too. These clothes were described as being the proper an necessary items to meet the Pope. It might have been the first time an English monarch had met the Holy Father since the schism, I can’t remember.

In public of course, regular people come to him as they are, wherever they are. In European churches, I’m pretty certain, the dress code is stricter than here. Some may still require headcoverings, I don’t know.

I want to say that for myself, I would prefer if we could cover our heads at Mass without it being a big deal. I have never done so because I have never once seen any other woman do it on a regular basis. (Once I saw a very old lady from the Philippines who was visiting for Christmas wearing a long black lace veil. Very regal, I thought.)

Instead of arguing about whether or not it’s required, may I suggest people limit their comments to whether or not they simply would like to see the custom return or not? Or your thoughts and feelings about seeing women’s heads covered or not covered? I think this is more what Marie Therese was interested in, if I may presume.

I like the idea, I wish it would return. I wish I could do it without being seen as the local nutcase. :whacky:
 
Crusader said:
1.a.) Nonsense.
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It’s not nonsense at all. Do you think Laura Bush wore the veil by choice when she and Pres. Bush met with the Pope? (It is also a requirement that married women wear black and unmarried wear white, but that is neither here nor there.)
2.a.) The Church does not require a woman to cover her head in church. It’s up to the individual – neither better nor worse to cover one’s head.
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I didn’t say that it was a requirement. Nevertheless, I feel confident in recommending it since it was explicitly recommended by St. Paul. As to “better or worse,” that’s a matter of opinion; and your opinion is neither better nor worse than mine. 😉
 
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dcs:
It’s not nonsense at all. Do you think Laura Bush wore the veil by choice when she and Pres. Bush met with the Pope? (It is also a requirement that married women wear black and unmarried wear white, but that is neither here nor there.)
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What Ms. Bush did or did not do is a non-issue. There is no requirement that women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope of Rome. Do you have any actual proof to suggest otherwise?
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dcs:
I didn’t say that it was a requirement. Nevertheless, I feel confident in recommending it since it was explicitly recommended by St. Paul. As to “better or worse,” that’s a matter of opinion; and your opinion is neither better nor worse than mine. 😉
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In post #13 you said:

“1.) It is most certainly a requirement that women cover their heads in the presence of the Pope. I’m not making this stuff up.”

That’s a direct quote and it directly conflicts with your last posting.
 
“I wish I could do it without being seen as the local nutcase.”

Me too! That’s the whole point: I don’t see any women covering their heads at my small church so if I go and cover my head will I cause a rucus? Arrrrg. You may think I’m worrying over nothing but I’ve been down this road before. Only *that *dealt with kneeling when taking communion. What a mess! I used to always kneel and take communion on my tongue. I didn’t care how other people took communion and I was able to kneel and recieve and get back up all rather swiftly. When I moved to a new church I was told, “You shouldn’t kneel! It’s disruptive” or the tired old claim, “It slows everyone else down.” Uh…yeah right. Since when is communion a rush-hour event and is someone going to die if I hold them up an extra two seconds? So anyway it got to the point where the Priest himself ordered me not to kneel for communion and my parish ended up divided in half: those that wanted me to obey and those that told me I didn’t have to obey. What a mess! I didn’t want to pit myself against my Priest, you know? So I obeyed and lost what I felt was a wonderfully reverent way to accept communion.

I used to cover my head all of the time (at a bigger parish). I’d love to do it again but I don’t want to have another “war” going on at my parish. I feel like I’ve turned into a clone with my uncovered head and taking-commuion-in-the-hand, two things I didn’t want to do. But…it’s such a hard choice to “fit in” or cause trouble. Ugh!
 
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