Posted on 05/22/2007 6:24:41 PM PDT by NYer
ROME, MAY 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: A friend of mine told me that according to the Scriptures a woman should cover her head in the presence of Our Lord (holy Eucharist/during Mass). In our churches this is not practiced. Can you please write and tell me as to how and when the practice of women covering their heads came to an end, or is it that we are doing something which is not proper? -- J.M., Doha, Qatar
A: The Scripture text referred to is probably 1 Corinthians 11:4-16:
"Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings shame upon his head. But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved. For if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil. A man, on the other hand, should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; nor was man created for woman, but woman for man; for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord. For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God.
"Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a disgrace to him, whereas if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because long hair has been given (her) for a covering? But if anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such a custom, nor do the churches of God."
A full treatment of this text is beyond the scope of this column. But we may say that this passage contains some elements that have perennial theological value and others which reflect transitory social mores which apply only to the specific time and place of the Corinthians.
For example, during the course of history there were times when it was common for men, and even clerics, to wear their hair long; and none felt that St. Paul's words considering the practice a disgrace applied to them.
Likewise, liturgical norms tell bishops to keep their skullcaps on during some of the prayers during Mass, and they may use the mitre while preaching, without falling under St. Paul's injunction that this practice brings shame upon his head. The norms, however, do ask him to remove his head covering for the Eucharistic Prayer and when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.
Apart from bishops, and some canons, custom still dictates that all other men should uncover their heads in church except for outdoor Masses.
During St. Paul's time it was considered modest for a woman to cover her head, and he was underscoring this point for their presence in the liturgical assembly.
This custom was considered normative and was enshrined in Canon 1262.2 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law alongside the recommendation that men and women be separated in Church and that men go bareheaded. This canon was dropped from the new Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983, but the practice had already begun to fall into disuse from about the beginning of the 1970s. Even though no longer legally binding, the custom is still widely practiced in some countries, especially in Asia. It has been generally abandoned in most Western countries even though women, unlike men, may still wear hats and veils to Mass if they choose.
Sociological factors might also have been involved. The greater emphasis on the equality of man and woman tended to downplay elements that stressed their differences.
Likewise, for the first time in centuries, not donning a hat outdoors, especially for men, ceased being considered as bad manners, whereas up to a few years beforehand it was deemed unseemly to go around hatless.
This general dropping of head covering by both sexes may also have influenced the disappearance of the religious custom.
Thank you for that trip down memory lane!!
Do you remember the Christmas corsages?
Of course we couldn.t wear a hat in the church cause Mother Superior said that God could look through the top of our head and read our soul!!!
Lol! Much like the nuns who told us not to wear patent leather shoes.
Back in pre VCII days, pew backs were equipped with a handy hat holder. Haven't seen those in a long time.
I believe you are right. I tried to get my daughters to cover their heads when we were attending a Tridentine Mass. They said no way would they wear a burqua.
You must have quit a LOOOOOOOONG time ago! Haven't seen that practice for 40 years.
This is true of the entire Bible.
I disagree. In the mid 1960s we all wore hats, or mantillas, or doilies to church. A woman joined our parish and dared to come to church hatless and sat right up front where all could see her to the shock of most of the other parishioners.
For a couple of weeks people whispered about it, butthen we were told that she was from Holland (wife of a grad student at Berkeley), and the Dutch had long since given up wearing hats to church. Something about it being an outgrowth of the war and the cost of hats.
We continued wearing them and she continued going hatless, but by 1970 most everyone stopped wearing hats (except me). Only once did I hear anything from the pulpit. The priest asked, "Did I miss the announcement banning hats in church?" But no one paid any attention.
Then we moved to Texas and my husband gave all my hats away (I had gone ahead to enroll the children in school). That pretty much limited my hat wearing for a few years, and when I resumed it was just for Palm Sunday and the Easter Season.
For the last few years I have been alone at Mass wearing a hat, except for a few children in their Easter dresses. I didn't bother this year at all, and no one else did either. LOL. But I WON'T wear flip flops and jeans to church! I don't care how many do.
And gloves. Fashionistas told us that we had to wear gloves when wearing a hat. However, if your head was uncovered, gloves were OK, but not required. That is why you only see gloves now in cold weather. No hats, no gloves.
If you want to see some dramatic hats, drive past any Black Church on Sunday morning. The women go all out for hats, almost like going to Ascot with the Queen!
I agree that the lace mantilla is lovely. It’s easy to carry in the purse or pocket. Most women to do not wear hats to Mass, not even on Easter Sunday. When I was at Mass on Easter, was the only one there with a hat on. I felt so out of place and was terribly embarrassed. Remember very vividly when I was a kid at Mass seeing the priests prowling the aisles looking for the slightest infrations in the female “dress code”. If they had no hats, gloves or wore patent leather shoes, out they went!
I remember as late as the 1950s, my mother wouldn’t go downtown or even to the grocery store without her hat and gloves!
I also remember seeing someone with a dollar bill pinned to her hair in a church in New York once. (No, the usher didn’t grab it for the collection!)
I think it’s just a cultural thing and doesn’t really express much about people’s attitude towards going to church. Once upon a time, everyone wore hats; now no one does.
Guess there was more money in jeans.
Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-ditty-ditty-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-ditty-ditty-dum-dum....
I am such a hypocrite on this matter, and I ask all of you like-minded brothers and sisters to pray for me. I truly believe that wearing the veil is the right thing to do, but I don’t have the guts to do it unless I’m at a parish where others wear it.
We’ve just moved to IL near St. Louis. Our parish church is more orthodox than any in the city we just left (except the Fathers of Mercy), but no one wears the veil. My husband doesn’t want to go to the Maronite cathedral or St. Francis de Sales Oratory (TLM), so we’re attending a Novus Ordo parish that has a faithful priest and has Perpetual Adoration (the only Perpetual Adoration for miles around, as far as I can tell).
This has been a very difficult issue for me emotionally and spiritually, and I would appreciate any feedback or prayers you could offer.
>>...for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.<<
How are “angels” at all a justification for women covering their heads? What an off-the-wall reference!
Cat fight!
I was an adult convert in the late ‘50s and took (take) it very seriously.
I received the sacrament of Confirmation in the early ‘60s at the old Oakland, CA Cathedral, since destroyed in an earthquake. Following the hat rule of the day (hat requires gloves — if not on, at least held in the left hand), I was wearing my small & neat velvet hat with the bow in front, my slim, Harris tweed dress, my 4 inch heeled pumps, and my 8 button leather golves as I approached the Bishop on the altar down the long, long aisle.
Suddenly, about a quarter of the way to the altar, a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist and stopped me cold. A nun hissed at me -— “Take off your gloves!” Shocked, I did as told. Only later I learned that no one had taught me the Catholic rule to never receive a Sacrament while wearing gloves.
I was so embarrassed.
Now it seems that anything goes. The attitude is that God would rather have you in church more than He cares how you are dressed. It’s sad, really, because I think that how you are dressed shows respect for the occasion and respect for God.
LOL! Funny story.
True, God does care about more than the way you’re dressed, but if you have decent clothing around and can dress properly, why not do so for God? Most people wouldn’t show up for dinner at somebody’s house dressed as if they were going to the beach or cleaning out the garage, and I don’t see why they should go to church that way.
I say do as you feel is appropriate. Who cares if you are the only one in church wearing a head covering? If you are friendly and have a big smile for them, others will not think it strange; and perhaps some of them will join you eventually. Surely they’ve seen it before.
As I said earlier on this thread, I am probably the last one in my parish to give up the hat. (I’ve never liked the mantilla, or doily.) And I’m not at all certain that I have given it up altogether. Ask me next Easter.
I think you should just wear it. Nobody’s really going to care one way or the other, or if people ask you about it, just say you used to wear it in your old parish and you’re more comfortable with it.
Who knows, other people may start doing it, too! When I started going up to Communion with my hands pressed together (the way we were taught), I was the only one doing it in my parish. Now almost half the people do it, and fewer and fewer are taking Communion in the hand.
I remember changing my seat at graduation so if the Bishop came by and expected me to kiss his ring...well, it wasn't gonna happen.
We're TAUGHT to be followers in these situations but have been given our own minds and do have the ability to sort things.
Being polite will never go out of style but being submissive is not part of it.
USE YOUR OWN MIND. OBVIOUSLY, YOUR OWN MIND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE GLOVE AND YOU HAD IT RIGHT BEFORE SOMEONE INTERFERRED WITH YOUR OWN MIND.
Maybe it's because I'm over 50 now, but I sure don't care what anybody else thinks about what I'm wearing. If I'm happy with it, I'm happy with it.
I always have something in my hair in church -- I avoid the big hats or mantillas because I'm in the choir and it looks like "out of uniform", but even if it's just a bow, a scrap of lace, or a couple of hairsticks, it's something.
When I was a kid, the ladies in the Episcopal choir had the cutest little three-cornered hats that were part of the choir vestments. They also had Elizabethan ruffs (so did the guys)!
But I wear either lightweight pants or a very lightweight dress to church, because during Mass I'm vested and the choir robes are HEAVY wool. Plus it's very hot in the choir loft, seems like all the heat finds its way up to us. Any nice dress that I wore would be wringing wet and ruined.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.