Learn More Media Kit. July 29, Tagged under: Women in the Church. Related items Vatican appointments in August feature two Canadian women Women of Faith conference balances the spiritual and feminine Pope Francis gives a woman a vote in next synod of bishops Pope Francis names six women to Council for Economy Women vital to seminaries: Ouellet.
Comments 0. There are no comments posted here yet. Leave your comments. Posting comment as a guest. Sign up or login to your account. Name Required. Share Your Location. Agree to terms and condition. Cancel Submit Comment. Then, when I was inspired to wear one — along with the other women in my family — we were ridiculed as well. More to the point, many people have never bothered to ask why some women, myself included, have decided to carry on that tradition.
The wearing of the veil, or mantilla, is a tradition that has its beginning in the early Church. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul tells of the importance of the veil for a woman:. If a woman would go without a veil, why does she not cut her hair short too if she admits that a woman is disgraced when her hair is cut short or shaved, then let her go veiled…Judge for yourselves; is it fitting that a woman should offer prayer to God unveiled?
Does not nature itself teach you that, whereas it is a disgrace to a man to wear his hair long, when a woman grows her hair long, it is an added grace to her? That is because her hair has been given her to take the place of a veil.
Other early Christian writers, such as Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria also supported this custom of wearing the veil. Tertullian praised the custom , not for its supposed misogynistic implications, but rather for its symbolism of respect towards virginity. Furthermore, the veil was seen as a symbol of chastity and humility:.
For that custom which belies virgins while it exhibits them, would never have been approved by any except by some men who must have been similar in character to the virgins themselves.
Such eyes will wish that a virgin be seen as has the virgin who shall wish to be seen. The same kinds of eyes reciprocally crave after each other. Seeing and being seen belong to the self-same lust.
To blush if he see a virgin is as much a mark of a chaste man, as of a chaste virgin if seen by a man. The wearing of a veil was customary in the Jewish culture. Jewish sources point out that it was for modesty during a time when society was aware of, and even afraid of sexuality and its dangers. Throughout early Christian culture, the veil was again seen as a symbol of modesty.
To be without a veil was a sign of indecency and impropriety. This is why Saint Paul compares a woman unveiled to a woman shaved, as this was a sign of disgrace, impropriety, and disrespect.
As Saint Paul points out later in the same letter to the Corinthians, hair for a woman was a physical sign of feminine beauty and for it to be taken away was going against nature — thus a disgrace to femininity.
At the same time it would be a disservice to the Apostle to skip over his main point on the importance of gender differences and keeping with the natural law — the hair and veil being one example emphasizing those gender differences.
So covering the head stemmed from cultural custom as well as early Christian tradition. When former "America's Next Top Model" contestant Leah Darrow first encountered young women in her Catholic community putting lace veils on their heads when entering church, she was a little weirded out. Having returned to the faith after a mystical experience on a magazine photo shoot convinced her to leave modeling behind, Darrow was serious about Catholicism — but wary of a practice she considered outdated at best.
What's it about? Since the practice of women covering their heads in Catholic worship spaces used to be the norm, but was largely abandoned by the '60s, Darrow was uncertain as to what women covering their heads might signify in the s. But the fact that the veil-wearing peers in question were "normal girls you could have a glass of wine with, but also very faithful" gave Darrow pause.
After researching more about the history and significance of veiling in the Catholic tradition, Darrow decided to try it herself.
Though Darrow didn't start wearing a veil to mass every week, she did come to a new appreciation for the practice and now regularly brings a head covering on her visits to Rome, where she leads pilgrimages at least once a year.
Her travels as a Catholic speaker and book author have convinced Darrow that veils are experiencing a renaissance amongst Catholic women — especially young American ones. This poses a striking contrast to Protestant mega-churches that are leveraging streetwear and celebrity connections to stay relevant. Samantha Skinner, a high school science teacher in North Dakota, is one Catholic millennial interested in a return to tradition. Raised loosely Protestant but not a regular church attendee until she converted to Catholicism in college, Skinner began wearing a veil to mass every week before she'd even completed the classes necessary to formalize her conversion.
A conversation with a friend who worked in a "holy bookstore" convinced Skinner to try the practice for herself. For Skinner, the appeal of veiling was initially an emotional one: It made her feel humbled and reverent, like removing a hat during the national anthem or at a funeral might, and made her more able to focus on prayer.
For example, a black veil is typically worn during funerals. There are also online shops that let you customize mantilla veils. You can choose the lace, the color, as well as the hems depending on your personal preference. Come, join us! We, the Lay Cistercians of South Florida , are a community of lay people who seeks to have a deeper connection with God by living a life inspired by the monks and nuns through Lay Monasticism. Anyone who aspires to do the same is always welcome to join us.
Judy Ponio grew up in a traditional Catholic family in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. She now writes articles about Catholicism and Christianity in this blog. Catholic , Christian Life. Catholic , Christian Advice , Christian Life. View Our Privacy Policy. View Cistercian Publications. Website Design by Correct Digital Inc. Skip to content Menu. Join Lay Cistercians.
So why do Catholics wear chapel veils? What is the Purpose of Veiling?
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