Chapel Veil? Head Covering?

Question

Dear Ladies:

I have been inspired by Kallan and Titus. Inspired to ask a more rounded question that might appeal to many denominations. This is for any and all. Be it a chapel veil, a hijab or a tischel.

How many of you cover your heads?

What inspired you to do so?

How do you feel about it?

I began about 2 years ago. First just a chapel veil. I'm a Catholic. I bought an almost invisible black veil which I began wearing during mass. With all the hair I have it's impossible to see unless you're close up.

I was very self conscious. I didn't want people to think I was falsely pious. It has evolved to a much more comfortable place. I wear a lot of scarves which I have learned to tie in many ways. I even wear snoods to work now.

I cover for my Lord. I feel he called me to it. I responded gladly. I see them more and more in church now. And more ladies covering all the time. I find them to be an excellent reminder to pray without ceasing. (1 Thess.)

Dear Penguin: YOU see it as such. I do not. Nor do many others. YOU are doing exactly what you are accusing others of doing to me. Trying to force me to accept your belief.

Dear Lucie, I felt uncomfortable at first. I don't any longer. Didn't you hear? The pope will soon publish a Motu Proprio allowing free use of the Tridentine. Yipee!

Dear Linda: I don't cover my head "because I am a woman." I cover because God asked me to. It would be very sad if I ignored God because of the opinions of people like Penguin.

Dear Kevin:

What a delightful story! Now I am ashamed of myself for posting this to ladies only. You gentlemen certainly have good things to say.

Dear Yo: Yes, I find more and more of my non-Catholic cousins covering their heads. Most of them in colorful bandanas. I have borrowed their idea. They are so cute!

Dear Silli: What rules? There is nothing forcing me to do this.

Dear Cindy:
How does one misinterpret "pray without ceasing?" I always have my heart lifted to God.

Where, in anything I wrote, did I say I was doing this because I read it in the bible?

I said I was called by God.

Dear Cyn: I have a crazy mass of curly hair. You might try a hair net under the snood. It holds everything in nicely.

Hi Granny, I professed exactly two months ago today. However, I was too busy reading to remember to update my name. Silly me!

Answer 1

Right now, I use a veil. I have looked at snoods, but they leave hair exposed, although maybe I can't get it right yet.
My inspiration was 1 Corinthians 14 which talks about a woman's head being covered when praying or prophesying.
Some say long hair is sufficient,but i don't think so. It's about order, and the scripture says a woman should have "power on her head because of the angels" Angels are concerned with order, and the fallen angels are terrified of it
So, when I am praying, my head, my hair, is covered.. Right now, I am praying for order in the home, so all the more reason to cover.
I am still self conscious about it, after all we don't wear covering in society. Sometimes a hat. I have those too, but those are a matter of fashion. Still, I like them at church, I really do.
Some say that if the hair is long, that's covering enough, but the Word says that if a woman will not cover her hair, it should be shorn as well.
It isn't a matter of fashion, but of submission. A woman whose heart is submissive to God, should go the distance and cover her head in prayer as well
But, it looks like I'm preaching to the choir, as it were.
Well done

Answer 2

Very timely, Marie. On the front page of today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch was a photo of two young women in chapel veils, above the story of the comeback of the traditional Latin Mass: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/A6A2D911CEA68E85862572FA000FFC09?OpenDocument

I am still at the "don't want to appear falsely pious" stage, but definitely considering it. And lest anyone think this is just another "Catholic thing" to dismiss, I remember the days when, if you watched people walking into most Christian churches, you'd see women with headcoverings of some kind. I was never sent off to Sunday School without a hat or scarf. Seemed like when the Catholic church relaxed things post-Vatican II in the 60s, almost everybody else followed suit -- although it was probably just one small part of the larger cultural shift.

(By the way, are you a recently professed Secular Franciscan? I don't remember seeing SFO after your name before. If so, congratulations!)

Answer 3

Wow! That's really inspiring! I am a Catholic too, but I'm 14 years old, so a chapel cover would seem really awkward on me. If you feel uncomfortable, you should see if your church or another in your area has a tridentine mass. It is the original mass in the Latin form, and the head covering is required (there is a dress code also, but it is just things like no jeans, etc.) I think that the tridentine mass would be really good for you! If you ever have a chance, look at the website for the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They are a brand new order and are amazing!

Answer 4

I am a Deacon Aspirant for the Catholic Church and I do agree with the majority, it is a personal tradition, and being from Puerto Rico, most women still wear Chapel Veils, young and old.
My wife on the other hand does not wear it. I dont see women who do wear it as a "more pious than thou" attitude, it is a wonderful, beautiful thing to see when you walk into Church due to the respect it shows and again the tradition behind it.
I applaude you for doing so and keep it up, in a world at such a loss for tradition it is a breath of fresh air to see someone willing to push forward.
God bless you and have a great day.

Answer 5

I am a Catholic male. I see many women wearing various veils in Mass. I think it is great!

I used to work with an Orthedox Jewish woman who always wore a wig to the office or out in public as her way to cover her head without it appearing out of place in a secular world. I have a lot of respect for her and her commitment to her faith.

She would always tell me I have some dirt on my forehead on Ash Wednesday. We always joked with each other.

Answer 6

I had a very good friend of mine who wore head coverings during church, or when she prayed. When she did not have her caplet she simply placed her hand on her head. Her grandfather also believed that their hair was a covering, and they did not cut their hair. They followed the beliefs of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16. I had asked them many times why, because I was unsure of the custom.

Answer 7

I am not Catholic but I commend you for following what the Lord has put on your heart. We protestants do not wear head coverings (unless we want to) but if I felt God leading me to do so, I would too. God's blessings.

Answer 8

I do not cover my head. I have worn a little head covering when visiting a conservative synagogue out of respect for their tradition.

I see no need to cover my head just because I am a woman. If covering the head is a good reminder to pray without ceasing, why aren't men encouraged to do it?

I think it is a way for men to keep their women hidden so that some other man won't be attracted to her. It is, for me, symbolic of "keeping a woman in her place" as the property of men.

Glad it works for you. It does not work for me.

Answer 9

If you feel led to cover with a veil, then by all means do it.

Please study the very same stories and verses that you quote here. They do not mean what you have interpreted them to mean.

Get a history book and a good concordance and study the culture that Paul was dealing with. He was the go to guy for the Jewish and the Pagen converts and boy did he have his hands full with those two very different cultures.
The Jewish culture had never even let women into the temple to worship before Jesus Christ came, and the Pagens put women on pedestals and worshipped them.
Pagen women culturally shaved their heads and Pagen men grew their hair long to appear as a woman.

The Jewish women were told to be quiet in church, and the Pagen converts were told to stop shaving their heads.

Now, if you want to cover your hair with something, by all means do it, but do not use the bible and its cultural questions of church behavior as the reason for your doing so, unless of course you are bald, then the story and the verses would apply to you.

Answer 10

well my GrAND MOTHER.. she is catholic.. when she was a kid she wore veil in the church but now she doesnt go to the church.. but she told me in the past.. women used to wear a veil.. in my town in Mexico... but not anymore.. the mass used to be in latin and the priest was giving his back to the people... but it was removed all these things after the vatical council 11.. but orthodox women still wearing in the church