"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
A while back a friend posted a story and question on Facebook:
A husband and wife are attending a Tridentine Mass. During the consecration, the wife is tapped on the shoulder. A woman passes her a handwritten note that reads, “Shame on you for not covering your head while attending the sacred Mass” along with a cotton cloth of some sort and a pin.
How do you respond?
Needless to say, a very interesting Facebook discussion ensued…
So last night I felt the need to express my inner graphic designer, so I produced some posters for “Wear The Veil Day” on December 8th:
If you’re like to know a little more about the tradition of head coverings in the Catholic Church, please check out my earlier blog post. If you’d like to use any of the above images, downloadable versions are available below…
A while ago, I wrote a short post on the subject of veiling. In case you haven’t seen the advertising campaign, December 8th is “Wear The Veil Day”:
Essentially, it is encouraging women to wear a veil on that day in imitation of Our Lady and recalls this ancient tradition of the Church. You can sign up for the Facebook event here.
A friend of mine recently asked me about the veils worn by female parishioners at a church she had visited. I didn’t have much to say since, being a boy, I hadn’t given too much thought to the subject of frilly lace…
My first real exposure to the chapel veil and mantilla was in Washington DC, when I went to my first Extraordinary Form Mass at the Basilica. If you have attended a Latin Mass you may well have noticed them too.
However, it’s not like the use of veils is restricted only to “traditional” Catholics. I’ve occasionally seen veils at English Novus Ordo liturgies. Additionally, the reason that there aren’t many good photos of me at my First Holy Communion is because, in most pictures, my face is partially or wholly obscured by a veil belonging to one of the girls in my class! But the most common prevailing use of the veil is, of course, by a bride at her wedding.
I tried to do a little bit of research on the history and theology of veils but I unfortunately didn’t find a lot of good source material, so if you know a lot about veils or have any good resources you’d like to share, please respond in the Comment Box below.