ASK FATHER: The proper way for women to wear a chapel veil?

WDTPRS ^ | 5/20/15 | Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

[VermiciousKnid]

I always wear a veil in church — a mantilla, worn with the veil trailing down my back. But I wanted to comment on your post regarding mourning veils which cover the face:

Back in the old days when every woman wore a veil (or hat) to church, I used to see mourning veils all the time. As a child, I didn’t really know why they were worn over the face, but I do now.

Today, when attending a funeral, I am usually the most heartbroken by the obvious grief on the faces of those closest to the deceased. I’ve often wished I didn’t have to see such an intimate emotion, and that the bereaved were not forced by convention to display it so publicly. The mourning veil, I think, spared the widow from having to do so. IMO, that’s a good thing, and should I survive my own husband, I shall take advantage of the privacy a mourning veil will offer me.

Regards,

[RitaOK]

A very beautiful sentiment and excellent reasoning. Thanks.

[RitaOK]

“Yes, I figured he was being sarcastic. But I’m not sure why. Women don’t have to wear veils any more, but it seems legitimate to ask what was customary before the rules were thrown in the trash.”

I was taken also by the sarcasm to a very legitimate question. Nothing much is sacred as it is. Now the traditional mantilla gets a chuckle as if a joke. Too bad, isn’t it?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I chuckle a little bit when I see people wearing waist-length gold-colored mantillas that would do a Spanish noblewoman proud, sitting next to people with tiny chapel caps that resemble a fancy napkin balanced on the crown of the head. I even occasional wonder if there is an objectively correct way to veil.

Then I remember that either way, it's something I will never have to worry about and I think,

[Engedi]

Oh yes, I so remember the doilies.