Why You Should wear the Veil: (A Guidebook for Catholic Women)

I am just starting a new book meant for Catholic Women and Girls. But I am just looking into it to see the theology of women wearing head wear ( or not) in Church.

(Also maybe to get a hint why men never ever wear hats in Church).

When I was a child before Vatican 2 all women had their head covered. Later at the Tridentine Masses in our house, again, all women had their heads covered.

Now even at the Latin Mass most women have no head covering but men still never ever wear hats.

So I am just curious to see why.

The book is free on Kindle and is called,

'Why you should wear a Veil.

A guidebook for Catholic Women.'

By

'The Girl in the Mantilla'

 

I see this traditional practice coming back Padraig. Not only in the Latin rite churches, but the NO as well.
Someone recently gave me a veil, but I have not worn it as yet. I don’t want to appear as trying to stand out....but I’m getting there. I’m guessing that’s just human pride...not wanting others to condemn me. I should wear it and not care what they say...I’m getting there. Was thinking about it recently. I need to grow a spine.

 

it all comes from
1 Corinthians, chapter 11

[1] Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. [2] Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me: and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you. [3] But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. [4] Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered, disgraceth his head. [5] But every woman praying or prophesying with her head not covered, disgraceth her head: for it is all one as if she were shaven.

[6] For if a woman be not covered, let her be shorn. But if it be a shame to a woman to be shorn or made bald, let her cover her head. [7] The man indeed ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. [8] For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. [9] For the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man. [10] Therefore ought the woman to have a power over her head, because of the angels.

[11] But yet neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord. [12] For as the woman is of the man, so also is the man by the woman: but all things of God. [13] You yourselves judge: doth it become a woman, to pray unto God uncovered? [14] Doth not even nature itself teach you, that a man indeed, if he nourish his hair, it is a shame unto him? [15] But if a woman nourish her hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.

 

I know it makes it hard for fear of attention or judjment or whatever else. But remember, when they go home they dont even even give that a thought anymor. If people prayed and went to church for the right reasons they wouldnt even notice these things. So if you can, wear that veil and wear it out of respect for God and I feel that would make you feel better and stronger and also setting an example for others. Thats what I think Beth.
God bless...

 

Not sure why...but my guess would be to help with distraction during religious ceremonies.

 

Yes, I also notice that in Marian Apparitions Our Lady always, always wears a veil. On the other hand at the time of Christ Jews always wore head covering. A prayer shawl. I think they still do.

As far as I know it was always up to Vatican 2 women wore there heads covered. If you go East this is still the practise. I think it is only in the Western Churches women wear their heads uncovered. Also both men and women insist on much more modest dress. For instance a man wearing shorts would not be allowed into a Church.

Our Lady said at La Salette hat, 'For God their is no fashions'. I like to think at the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart we will go back to simpler dress codes once again.

I am interested what the lady says in this little book though.

 

I always though that the Mantilla looks so well.

My nieces go to a very traditional school near me. They insist the girls wear frocks down to their feet. I always think they look far more beautiful that way. It cuses people to look not to the outside but to the inside to the heart.

I think the day is coming when both men and women will wear robes again. I know this sounds mad but I think this is true.

I think the clothes that both men and women wear in this age are displeasing to God. It's just we've gotten so used to it.

I think if we did away with fashions it would discourage impurity and homosexuality a very great deal.

Most of the people involved in advertising and Fashion are perverts...in other words demon possessed. Bad fruit only falls off bad trees.

I know I sound eccentric in this. But the day is coming when all this will end. No more fashion.

For women or for men.

 

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2016/05/11/top-7-bible-verses-about-the-way-we-dress/

First Timothy 2:9-10 “Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
The Apostle Paul was instructing Timothy about how women should dress but it’s probably not confined to church but also in public and that the truest beauty is that of modesty, self-control, and godliness. Some of the most beautiful women in the world don’t have to dress with braided hair, pearls, or costly attire, because they have they have the light of Christ that shines outwardly for all to see. Besides, beauty is passing away but inward beauty seems to grow with age.

Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
There is one thing that will outlast the outward beauty of a woman and the handsomeness of a man and it is the fear of the Lord. Whoever fears the Lord is a person that lives a life that is pleasing to God and strives to live a godly example to those inside and outside of the church. You could just as easily add that a man “who fears the Lord is to be praised” because those who fear God are those who have repented of their sins and turned toward God and placed their faith in Christ.

First Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Since we were purchased by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, we are not our own. We were bought with a price…a costly price, but one that we can receive freely from God (Eph 2:8-9). If we glorify God in our bodies, we are dressing modestly and not causing others to stumble by the way we dress. If we dress provocatively, we can cause someone to lust in their hearts and that is sin. If we make others stumble over the way we dress, we are responsible before God.



First Peter 3:3 “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear.”
Since the Apostle Peter wrote this above verse, he must have had reason to do so. Apparently, even in the first century church, there were issues with the way women dressed. The adorning beauty, as I have written before, is not an outward beauty because God looks at the heart and not so much at the outside (1st Sam 16:7). Beauty is never outward but always inward as far as God is concerned.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
All you have to do is look at the fashions of the world and see how these images make men and women conform to them. To be conformed means to be “with” (con) “pressure” (formed), so it is a pressure that the world puts on all of us to be in the image that the world sees as beautiful, but the world’s definition of beauty is not really beauty at all but vanity or empty. This verse really says “Do not let the world squeeze you into its image” but that’s just what the world does. It should not be so with believers.

Proverbs 7:10 “And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.”
When a person falls into sin, and especially the grievous sin of sexual immorality, they are actually joining themselves or becoming one with a prostitute, male or female. Paul asks, “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1st Cor 6:16-17) since “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1st Cor 6:18).

Matthew 5:7-9 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Can we cause someone to commit adultery without committing the actual physical act? Yes, because Jesus said that adultery of the heart is that which we can commit with our eyes because when we look at a man or a woman with lust, it’s just like C.S. Lewis said (and I paraphrase), “I looked at ham and eggs and committed breakfast in my heart.” We can sin in our hearts without anyone (but God) ever knowing it.

Conclusion
We can cause others to stumble by the way we dress and God will hold us accountable for the way we appear to others. God knows our hearts (Jer 17:9) and that sin begins when we are caught up in our own lusts and then that lust conceives sin. Sinning outwardly is just as bad as sinning inwardly. God sees it all as the author of Hebrews writes, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13).

Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

 

People always talk about the way women dress, but I think the way men dress is important too.

 

What would help with distraction?

 

I agree Gary. Thank you!

 

Great homily!

Oh, I pray you are right!

 

good homily
thank you

 

I am not sure, but I suspect the wearing of the veil, women's head covering might go back to our grandparents in the Faith, the Chosen people the Jews. So it is not just from the New Testament but from the Old. ..and so we see Our Lady with the veil.

I must check.

I see sometimes Jewish men covered their heads; sometimes not.

But that women always covered their heads in Biblical times with a veil:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/covering-of-the-head

'Women

It was customary for most women in the ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, and the Greco-Roman world to cover their hair when they went outside the home. In biblical times, women covered their heads with veils or scarves. The unveiling of a woman's hair was considered a humiliation and punishment (Isa. 3:17; cf. Num. 5:18 on the loosening of the hair of a woman suspected of adultery; III Macc. 4:6; and Sus. 32).'

 

When I was a child I always admired my mother's beautiful long mantillas. I recall wearing a very short child's version, but I really wanted a long one. Sadly this beautiful, reverent tradition ended before I had the opportunity to wear a mantilla like my mother's. I have vivid memories of feeling disrespectful going to Mass with nothing on my head. The unthinkable had suddenly become acceptable; our veils and hats were cast aside along with fish on Fridays. Then one by one, the sisters at school abandoned their veils and habits, and nothing was truly ever the same. So the decline of reverence marches on, and now we have people walking into church dressed for a day at the beach. The only time I see a veil now is at a first communion, or wedding. I have read some articles about the veil making a comeback. What a wonderful opportunity for Catholic women to begin to restore the level of reverence that we lost in our churches.

 

Veils by Lily
Website
Check it out

Lily has a small company that makes veils
She is a staunch Catholic wife and mother
Very informative site
I have purchased a veil from her
I wear a veil if at TLM
But shy in my parish
Today at Mass I saw a lady wearing a veil
So if I were to veil, I might not be alone if she continues
I am chicken
I admit it
Bawk bawk

 

My wife wears a veil and just today both my daughters asked about wearing them as well. The funny thing about that is that I never brought it up, not once. I just started taking them to a TLM parish now and then and the majority of women there wear them. Even small girls wear them.
We talked a bit about the biblical history behind it as well as the more recent traditions in modesty that have been abandoned here in the US since the sexual devolution. I really don't understand why anyone would choose to throw these things away. No they are not what make us Catholics but they are traditions and signs of our love of worship and respect for God's wishes for us.

To do away with these sorts of things is sort of like attacking a person who prays outside a PP and justifying it by accusing them of being nothing more than virtue signalers. It is preposterous.

 

Thank you, Padraig, for discussing this topic. There are 5 or 6 women I see at our NO Mass who

I'm chicken too, but I've been thinking A LOT lately that maybe we women should all start wearing veils to be part of a quiet humble traditional revolution. For the most part our family attends all Novus Ordo masses. I'm seeing maybe 5 0r 6 veili=ed women at every Mass. I actually count them. Most of them are young with lots of kids

Why did women ever stop wearing veils? Who said we shouldn't wear them anymore? Does anyone know?

I remember wanting to be a religious sister until they quit wearing long dresses with long veils. Those short dresses with short veils were just...plain...UGLY. I know this was superficial thinking but it's just how I saw it way back then.

 

I will tell you one very odd thing I have noticed locally. On Sunday morning I see Protestant ladies often wearing quite fancy hats ..or funny things that perch on their heads. It is odd to see this practice continued in Protestant Churches but not in Catholic Churches. You might think it would be the other way around.

An other odd thing is that some of the older Protestant Churches strike me as far more, 'Catholic' in architecture and lay out that Catholic ones.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen commented on this long ago. He said when we drop things others pick them up.