Every now and then, one reads something one's never thought of before, but which makes such good sense that it's as though one's always known it. This piece belongs into that category. Thank you!
Thank you for this. I have been thinking (and should be praying) about whether to start veiling again. I fell out of the habit with my most recent baby as it was difficult to handle him with my veil on in church. I know, it sounds silly, but there it is. Also, I felt hesitant to enter church without my veil if I didn’t have it with me for a quick visit (when I was practicing the habit of wearing it).
I find the pretty mantillas a bit distracting myself, haha!
This is an interesting idea but I'm not sure it makes sense of the text. The word for woman in Greek (basically gyne) refers to woman or wife, and is translated as either thoughout the bible. I don't know anywhere where it refers to unmarried women in particular (that would be parthenos). It also doesn't make sense of why St Paul says that an unveiled woman might as well shave her head as go unveiled. If he was asking them to do something culturally unusual, i.e. wearing a veil that was appropriate to a married woman when the women in question were unmarried. The most likely explanation to me is that Corinthian women were becoming too relaxed and louche at the Eucharist, which still involved a banquet meal as well (with the sacred elements at the beginning), just as he criticises others for getting drunk at those same gatherings. The Corinthians were going a bit crazy so the idea of some of the women, overindulging (as he says they have been) and removing their veils seems to fit the vibe. (As an aside, I recommend The Catholic Brothers YouTube video on the early Mass for a great overview on how the early Mass might have looked. So good!)
Yeah, I'd like to know more about where the custom of men not wearing a head covering comes from! Arguably, that's the inovation there. It seems that unmarried women didn't cover but they may well have if they were adult unmarried women. (Tertullian argues in 2nd/3rd C Carthage that they should at a certain age). It's all a bit of a guessing game, isn't it! I don't think we really know, with much confidence, exactly what most ppl were wearing or the significance they gave it. Hence why there are so many theories, including the one I mentioned. 1st Century Christianity existed in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, urban milieu with different practices even among the Judean Jews, Hellenistic Jews, and gentile God-fearer converts who made up most of very early Church. It's a good reminder of why sola scriptura is a bit of a nightmare!
That is true. However, since Christianity replaced but also stayed in the tradition of Temple worship, and St. Paul was a devout Jew before his conversion, I feel fairly sure that he has in mind Jewish practice, which is for married women to cover their heads both for reasons of modesty and to acknowledge God's glory in their hair (now meant for the husband).
The Talmud does recommend women shaving their hair for modesty! (Under the covering, one presumes. Maybe for cleanliness too?) Which sheds light on the other part of the passage, otherwise appearing unnecessarily choleric on St. Paul's part.
Classicist Sarah Ruden, in “Paul among the People,” argues that the injunction to cover one’s head is a way of giving the honor of free married women to slaves and prostitutes.
It’s so hard to approach (half?) dead traditions, because we’re so tempted to try and figure out what role they were supposed to play and then re-create the effect for ourselves in our modern context, but that’s not really the attitude one wants to take to tradition — if you’re sitting down and rationally refashioning it to your own preferences, you’re sort of missing the point!
I would also say: I'd have to read more about what she says, but if I'm understanding correctly, the argument fits in with mine.
Basically, when women cover their heads at Mass (or any liturgy), they are taking away the personal attraction/sex appeal/whatever you want to call it. So that removes any attempt to size each other up, judge rank, figure out offenses, etc. It focuses the attention on the spiritual.
The married woman has already removed herself from all carnal thoughts with her (presumed) headcovering. The others must as well.
Interesting take. The irony is that a woman who wears a head covering today winds up drawing attention to herself. Modesty, as an avoidance of drawing attention to oneself, is culturally malleable.
I don’t agree but that’s a separate discussion! I mean at first she does, but then people get used to it. It’s not fatal to the original purpose I think!
Very interesting. Until 1981, the Code of Canon Law took St. Paul's mandate to mean all women having their heads covered, as the Church spread through the world and into cultures where married women did not always cover their heads. Wealthy pagan married women, who became Christian converts, did not always cover their heads, as we can see from numerous art works.
It's such an interesting passage, isn't it? In Paul's day, women had very elaborate hairstyles which changed regularly with fashion and also denoted status. I do think that women often have a tendency to consider their looks wherever they are and ceiling removes that need. Recently, a young women with beautiful long hair attended my TLM without a veil. She flicked and settled/stroked her hair multiple times, making sure she looked her best. It was mostly unconscious movement through habit but I think it made the point - how she looked was very important to her. We really should be thinking of God rather than our appearance.
I came across a passage in St John Chrysostom recently which made it clear congregations were segregated by sex and there was even some kind of screen down the middle of the church, to avoid flirting and men staring at women. He bewails the lack of modesty and self-control of the then current generation. So these things go a long way back!
I think the women and girls who veil during mass look beautiful! But whenever I’ve tried on a veil at home, I think I look silly—not because of the veil itself, but because it’s so different from my normal attire. It looks like a costume and I feel like a “poser.” And are there rules for color? I heard someone explain that white is for unmarried women and dark for married women. But I see women crossing this boundary on the regular, maybe according to the color of their clothes? Not sure. So I keep the veil at home and completely forget about my attire at mass. Which is better, isn’t it? I’m just not sure.
I chose to finally wear a veil to Mass simply to remind myself that I am doing something here that is “out of time”. We enter Eternity in a real way at Mass - with all the saints and angels present before us in the sanctuary. Wearing something I would never wear out in the world as I go about my day reminds me that I have stepped out of time for the space of an hour. I find it powerful. That is the one conclusion I came to that gave the veil ‘sense’.
Hello, I’m a new middle aged Catholic and I started veiling at my Confirmation. Thank you for this beautiful article.
I personally love it. I love how it falls around my face and it’s just me and Jesus when I look at the crucifix. Mine are embroidered and I also love that at certain hours the light will shine just so and pick up the threads and I like watching the light on the pew in front of me, it’s beautiful.
Ok SO - years ago I was friends with a Catholic woman who did cover her head all the time. Fascinating! I bought from her several snood-type coverings, in a linen, and I mostly wore them around the house when I did chores, after doing my hair up in an easy braid or bun. Wow! It kept my hair so much cleaner! With the focus on doing my hair up and out of my face, and not just in a ponytail, it was easier to walk out the door looking nice when I took the snood off. It was one less thing to worry about, honestly.
I don't do that every day, but I really do see the appeal and the practicality. Women today are so confused about our hair! It either hangs around our faces getting in the way, or is pulled back so we all look haggard. It's like it's never occurred to us that we should have several pretty, practical styles (that may require certain special tools or products depending on our hair type) so that we can do our daily work and not be fussing with it all day or suffer a major depressive episode when we look in the mirror.
This is wonderful insight, and I have to laugh when I see your footnote. Because I Heard my sister-in-law talk about how the nun would pin tissues to Little girls hair they’re going into the school church for mass.
Every now and then, one reads something one's never thought of before, but which makes such good sense that it's as though one's always known it. This piece belongs into that category. Thank you!
Thank you for this. I have been thinking (and should be praying) about whether to start veiling again. I fell out of the habit with my most recent baby as it was difficult to handle him with my veil on in church. I know, it sounds silly, but there it is. Also, I felt hesitant to enter church without my veil if I didn’t have it with me for a quick visit (when I was practicing the habit of wearing it).
I find the pretty mantillas a bit distracting myself, haha!
This is an interesting idea but I'm not sure it makes sense of the text. The word for woman in Greek (basically gyne) refers to woman or wife, and is translated as either thoughout the bible. I don't know anywhere where it refers to unmarried women in particular (that would be parthenos). It also doesn't make sense of why St Paul says that an unveiled woman might as well shave her head as go unveiled. If he was asking them to do something culturally unusual, i.e. wearing a veil that was appropriate to a married woman when the women in question were unmarried. The most likely explanation to me is that Corinthian women were becoming too relaxed and louche at the Eucharist, which still involved a banquet meal as well (with the sacred elements at the beginning), just as he criticises others for getting drunk at those same gatherings. The Corinthians were going a bit crazy so the idea of some of the women, overindulging (as he says they have been) and removing their veils seems to fit the vibe. (As an aside, I recommend The Catholic Brothers YouTube video on the early Mass for a great overview on how the early Mass might have looked. So good!)
Interesting! I have also read that he wanted the men to stop covering, as that was the Jewish practice.
But I think unmarried Jewish women did not wear coverings?
Yeah, I'd like to know more about where the custom of men not wearing a head covering comes from! Arguably, that's the inovation there. It seems that unmarried women didn't cover but they may well have if they were adult unmarried women. (Tertullian argues in 2nd/3rd C Carthage that they should at a certain age). It's all a bit of a guessing game, isn't it! I don't think we really know, with much confidence, exactly what most ppl were wearing or the significance they gave it. Hence why there are so many theories, including the one I mentioned. 1st Century Christianity existed in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, urban milieu with different practices even among the Judean Jews, Hellenistic Jews, and gentile God-fearer converts who made up most of very early Church. It's a good reminder of why sola scriptura is a bit of a nightmare!
That is true. However, since Christianity replaced but also stayed in the tradition of Temple worship, and St. Paul was a devout Jew before his conversion, I feel fairly sure that he has in mind Jewish practice, which is for married women to cover their heads both for reasons of modesty and to acknowledge God's glory in their hair (now meant for the husband).
The Talmud does recommend women shaving their hair for modesty! (Under the covering, one presumes. Maybe for cleanliness too?) Which sheds light on the other part of the passage, otherwise appearing unnecessarily choleric on St. Paul's part.
Classicist Sarah Ruden, in “Paul among the People,” argues that the injunction to cover one’s head is a way of giving the honor of free married women to slaves and prostitutes.
It’s so hard to approach (half?) dead traditions, because we’re so tempted to try and figure out what role they were supposed to play and then re-create the effect for ourselves in our modern context, but that’s not really the attitude one wants to take to tradition — if you’re sitting down and rationally refashioning it to your own preferences, you’re sort of missing the point!
I agree! That’s why I was more comfortable thinking of it as just the modesty of covering, as if unavailable.
I would also say: I'd have to read more about what she says, but if I'm understanding correctly, the argument fits in with mine.
Basically, when women cover their heads at Mass (or any liturgy), they are taking away the personal attraction/sex appeal/whatever you want to call it. So that removes any attempt to size each other up, judge rank, figure out offenses, etc. It focuses the attention on the spiritual.
The married woman has already removed herself from all carnal thoughts with her (presumed) headcovering. The others must as well.
Can we please bring back the custom of wearing hats and bonnets (not for church, but just going outside, generally), too?
I guess! I like how it looks but I have curly hair that will not recover well 😬
Uh-oh! Haha!
Interesting take. The irony is that a woman who wears a head covering today winds up drawing attention to herself. Modesty, as an avoidance of drawing attention to oneself, is culturally malleable.
I don’t agree but that’s a separate discussion! I mean at first she does, but then people get used to it. It’s not fatal to the original purpose I think!
Very interesting. Until 1981, the Code of Canon Law took St. Paul's mandate to mean all women having their heads covered, as the Church spread through the world and into cultures where married women did not always cover their heads. Wealthy pagan married women, who became Christian converts, did not always cover their heads, as we can see from numerous art works.
Yes, true. As soon as fashion moves in, out go the head coverings.
It's such an interesting passage, isn't it? In Paul's day, women had very elaborate hairstyles which changed regularly with fashion and also denoted status. I do think that women often have a tendency to consider their looks wherever they are and ceiling removes that need. Recently, a young women with beautiful long hair attended my TLM without a veil. She flicked and settled/stroked her hair multiple times, making sure she looked her best. It was mostly unconscious movement through habit but I think it made the point - how she looked was very important to her. We really should be thinking of God rather than our appearance.
I came across a passage in St John Chrysostom recently which made it clear congregations were segregated by sex and there was even some kind of screen down the middle of the church, to avoid flirting and men staring at women. He bewails the lack of modesty and self-control of the then current generation. So these things go a long way back!
"Ceiling" should be veiling of course - auto correct!
I think the women and girls who veil during mass look beautiful! But whenever I’ve tried on a veil at home, I think I look silly—not because of the veil itself, but because it’s so different from my normal attire. It looks like a costume and I feel like a “poser.” And are there rules for color? I heard someone explain that white is for unmarried women and dark for married women. But I see women crossing this boundary on the regular, maybe according to the color of their clothes? Not sure. So I keep the veil at home and completely forget about my attire at mass. Which is better, isn’t it? I’m just not sure.
I chose to finally wear a veil to Mass simply to remind myself that I am doing something here that is “out of time”. We enter Eternity in a real way at Mass - with all the saints and angels present before us in the sanctuary. Wearing something I would never wear out in the world as I go about my day reminds me that I have stepped out of time for the space of an hour. I find it powerful. That is the one conclusion I came to that gave the veil ‘sense’.
I approached it that way too, and still think it's valid.
It was interesting, though, to think of how married women in so many times and cultures wear a head covering all the time!
It’s quite interesting! I have been mulling it over ever since I read your article. 😊
Hello, I’m a new middle aged Catholic and I started veiling at my Confirmation. Thank you for this beautiful article.
I personally love it. I love how it falls around my face and it’s just me and Jesus when I look at the crucifix. Mine are embroidered and I also love that at certain hours the light will shine just so and pick up the threads and I like watching the light on the pew in front of me, it’s beautiful.
Ok SO - years ago I was friends with a Catholic woman who did cover her head all the time. Fascinating! I bought from her several snood-type coverings, in a linen, and I mostly wore them around the house when I did chores, after doing my hair up in an easy braid or bun. Wow! It kept my hair so much cleaner! With the focus on doing my hair up and out of my face, and not just in a ponytail, it was easier to walk out the door looking nice when I took the snood off. It was one less thing to worry about, honestly.
I don't do that every day, but I really do see the appeal and the practicality. Women today are so confused about our hair! It either hangs around our faces getting in the way, or is pulled back so we all look haggard. It's like it's never occurred to us that we should have several pretty, practical styles (that may require certain special tools or products depending on our hair type) so that we can do our daily work and not be fussing with it all day or suffer a major depressive episode when we look in the mirror.
Ah, I do somewhat sigh for being able to put my hair up in a hair covering that would be pretty and so practical.
I totally agree with you, though I have not found a solution similar to yours.
This is wonderful insight, and I have to laugh when I see your footnote. Because I Heard my sister-in-law talk about how the nun would pin tissues to Little girls hair they’re going into the school church for mass.
I love my mantilla, it feels respectful and humble to wear it in God’s house