Mass Clothes

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 has been to “Make an effort to dress well for Mass”. Some of my friends expressed surprise when I said that this was one of my resolutions, since they assumed that I was the sort of person who would naturally dress smartly for Mass.

Inappropriate Mass Attire

I was trying to work out how my laxity came about. Here’s how I think it happened…

As a child, my mother would choose my clothes for church on Sunday, so I just wore whatever I was told (although probably after a lot of complaining…).

It then came time to receive my First Holy Communion. This event marked a particularly important watershed in my parish since it meant also meant that I was then allowed to become an Altar Server. Being an Altar Boy at my church had loads of great perks, not least the chocolate we received on major Feast Days 🙂 Anyway, since I was now an altar server, whatever I wore on Sunday was now covered by a cassock, so the emphasis on smart clothes was immediately reduced. In addition, in the early years I had a tendency to get hot and pass out while on the altar. Because of this, the focus of my Sunday clothing moved from “smart and respectable” to “light and cool”.

I continued to serve on the altar until it came time to go to university. At the university chaplaincy the style was very casual, so I just continued the trend which had begun in my teenage years.

After I graduated, I attended Protestant parishes for a few years where the casual form of dress was actually a point of pride among those communities. This was the kind of attitude I could get behind! When I saw people going to church in their “Sunday Best” I thought to myself “Who are they trying to impress? They’re probably just trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses’. Stuffy, boring people… “

Church Clothes

So what changed my mind? Why am I now trying to make an effort on Sundays in the way I dress? I think my perspective began to change when I heard a speaker ask:

“If you were going to meet the President of the United States or the Queen of England, how would you dress? Smartly, right? Why would you do anything less when coming to worship God and commune with Him in the Eucharist?”

I had no real answer to this. If we make a great fuss over our clothing when we enter into the covenant of marriage…why should we treat our clothing lightly when we renew our covenant with the Lord each Sunday?

Or, at the very least, couldn’t I at least spare those around me from hearing the sound of my flip-flops as I walk down the aisle to receive the Lord?!

I have done pretty well with my resolution this year to dress smartly for the Sunday liturgy. Interestingly, what I have found is that because of this, Sundays have started to take on a different feel, a different quality, a different character from the other days of the week. By simply paying more attention to what I’m wearing, Sunday has become a day which is holy (“hágios”) and set apart, marked out in a special way for the Lord.

So how do you dress when you go to church? why? Does it make any kind of difference in your spiritual life?

UPDATE: The blog Not a mix, a moron or a parasite just posted an article What I Wore Sunday! Go check it out!

12 comments

  • I could definitely see how dressing up might make the event more “set apart” from the day to day, but I think that I’m called to be holy all the time; not just when I’m at church.
    I would dress nice before a dignitary to impress them or at least show my best side, but God already knows me through and through. no matter what I wear, I stand naked before God all the time. The clothes that I wear only serve me and the humans who see me in them. I just try to ensure what I wear is respectful and not distracting. I do mull this one over pretty regularly though.
    AMDG

    • > “I could definitely see how dressing up might make the event more “set apart” from the day to day, but I think that I’m called to be holy all the time; not just when I’m at church.”

      True, but Sunday is a special day of the week for Christians. We celebrate the Resurrection, come together as Christ’s visible body and renew our covenant with the Lord. Sunday is special.

      > “I would dress nice before a dignitary to impress them or at least show my best side, but God already knows me through and through.”

      I don’t think this is really why people dress up for dignitaries, not really. For example, I don’t think the President would be very “impressed” by you wearing smart clothes. Obama holds an important position in this country, an Office which would naturally expect acknowledgement and this kind of respect. I would suggest the same would be true of God.

      > “The clothes that I wear only serve me and the humans who see me in them.”

      Why do you think special consideration given to the priestly garments in the Old Covenant? Why do the priests of the New Covenant wear special vestments?

      I think that if you answer those questions, you’ve got a pretty convincing argument as to why the royal priesthood of the laity should consider carefully what they wear to Mass.

  • Well my parents always made us (My sister and I) wear long skirts to church or even cute dresses. I wear dress pants now, but still modest and nice..unfortunately I joined the choir, so now I wear blue Jeans and a dress shirt (I’m under a Choir robe) but I do try…. flip-flop are unacceptable 🙂

  • People tend to be really casual about dressing for Mass here in FL, likely as a result of the weather ( I remember noticing the same when I visited Hawaii several years back), so lots of shorts and flip flops. One hard and fast rule my parents had when I was growing up was we were never allowed to wear shorts to Mass, despite what other people wore. The only time I ever really broke that rule was in college, when I’d go straight to 5:15 daily Mass from classes in the afternoon (plus it was just wretchedly hot out most of the time).

    I’ve noticed, too (and perhaps it’s just here) that how people dress depends on the time of the day of Mass. For morning Masses, people are generally dressier. Very few people dress up for 6:30 p.m. Sunday Mass, though.

    The most casual I get generally is jeans. I dress up quite a bit more when I’m the scheduled lector and, oddly (or maybe it’s not so strange, really), it bothers me when the sacristan asks me to lector on the spot because the scheduled lector has failed to show up and I’m not dressed more formally.

    • Going to Mass is not out of the ordinary, like meeting the President. I go to daily Mass. Its not unusual for me to drop in church during day. And there’s hardly an evening when I’m not in church for some organization or other.
      So when I’m criticized that Sunday is special. I think “not for Catholics.” We can go to Mass every day, and we can go into church anytime we want.

      • Hey Faith, welcome to the Restless Pilgrim 🙂 It’s good to have you part of the conversation.

        > “Going to Mass is not out of the ordinary, like meeting the President.”

        I would suggest that it’s the out-of-the-ordinary nature of meeting the President that would mean that one would consider wearing smart clothes. Rather, I would suggest that it is the importance of his office.

        > ” I go to daily Mass. Its not unusual for me to drop in church during day. And there’s hardly an evening when I’m not in church for some organization or other.”

        Because of my schedule I’m also at different parishes throughout the week. Although I don’t dress as smartly as on Sundays, I have recently been more mindful of my clothing on those days when I know I’m going to be able to go to Mass.

        (I’m a software engineer and generally dress like a slob)

        > “So when I’m criticized that Sunday is special. I think “not for Catholics.” We can go to Mass every day, and we can go into church anytime we want.”

        True, but I would still contend that Sunday *is* special, for the reasons I gave to John. Pope John-Paul II even had an entire encyclical focused on the Lord’s Day.

  • By the way, I’m loving all the interaction with this post.

    More please!

    • I’ve noticed that different parishes have “unwritten” dress codes. It seems that when I’m on vacation, the tourists are dressed more casual than the parishioners.

      I also noticed that Christmas Eve Midnight Mass has some interesting attire. Some parishes seem “blue collar,” e.i., lots of jackets worn showing their companies’ names, blue jeans. Other parishes have people dressed for Christmas parties, e.i., furs, lots of jewelry.

      My own parish seems “business casual.” The Mass at the Cistercian Abbey seems “blue collar.” Mass at Boston College (Jesuit) is pot pourri. Mass at TLM is mantilla and dresses and sport coats.

      ….just like any family.

      • > “Mass at Boston College (Jesuit) is pot pourr”

        Pope who? 😉

      • > ” It seems that when I’m on vacation, the tourists are dressed more casual than the parishioners.

        When you wrote this I was reminded of a time when I went on a camping weekend with some of my guy friends.

        On Sunday, one of our number produced a shirt and dress pants from out of his tent as the rest of us were getting ready for Mass. I was really quite impressed by his forethought and planning, especially considering it was his bachelor’s weekend!

  • I came across this in the Catechism today:

    CCC #1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.

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