(...otherwise titled: This Thing On My Head Is Not A Doily)
Oh lowly, little, chapel veil,
You are my dearest friend.
For when my hair's all mops and brooms,
You cover, end to end.
And when my hair's not curling right
Or when it sticks out straight,
You gently hold it all in place
And make it look first rate!
But feminists, they hate you so,
You lowly, simple thing.
To them you are so vile, not veil,
To praise Our Lord and King.
And passing by the Church of Seven,
"Autonomy's", their phrase.
They never know the joys of Heaven,
Such as, no bad-hair-days!
For lowly, lacey, chapel veil,
You tame my hair, so wild!
But truth-be-told, though I look nice,
It's really for The Child.
By Hilary Mary Bernadette Flanery
(When I was researching for this post, I found the above poem and it made me laugh. It is so true! There have been so many Sundays when one of my friends or I casually "forgot" to take off our veil after Mass because we were having a bad hair day.)
Now, why do Traditional Catholic women cover their heads when in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament?
Firstly, it is required by Canon Law for women to cover and for men to uncover their heads in church. Despite public belief that it was done away with, it is still in effect and applies to us today. According to the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 126.2):
"Men should be with their head uncovered in church or outside of church, when they assist at the sacred rites, unless the approved customs of the people or additional particulars of the circumstances call for something else; women, however, should be with head covered and modestly dressed, particularly when they approach the Lord's Table."
St. Paul also speaks about women veiling themselves before coming before the Blessed Sacrament in 1 Corinthians 11:1-17:
"Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ: and the head of the woman is the man: and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered disgraceth his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head not covered disgraceth her head: for it is all one as if she were shaven. For if a woman be not covered, let her be shorn. But if it be a shame to a woman to be shorn or made bald, let her cover her head. The man indeed ought not to cover his head: because he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man [c.f. Genesis 2-3]. For the man was not created for the woman: but the woman for the man. Therefore ought the woman to have a power over her head, because of the angels. But yet neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, so also is the man by the woman: but all things of God. You yourselves judge. Doth it become a woman to pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you that a man indeed, if he nourish his hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman nourish her hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the Church of God [i.e., if anyone want to complain about this, we have no other way of doing things, this is our practice; all the churches believe the same way]. Now this I ordain: not praising you, that you come together, not for the better, but for the worse."
This sounds a little chauvinistic until you understand what St. Paul is saying...I know I was a little offended the first time I read it until I had it explained. What this verse means in a nutshell is that we women can be very distracting to our brothers, especially with our hair, which is our glory. This is not a bad thing, in fact it's exactly the way God created us! But out of humility to Our Lord, we cover our hair/glory to sort of point towards the tabernacle and say "This is the time to focus on the beauty and glory of God, not our beauty." to the men. I know how distracting it is to me when a girl has beautiful hair and does not cover it in church (my first thoughts; What lovely hair! I wish I had hair like that. How did she get it in that style? As soon as I get home I'm trying that. Oh, wait, sorry, Lord...) so I know it's probably a lot worse on the boys. Out of charity, we need to think about them too, instead of just thinking about what a sensation our hair will make with our friends and neighbors.
Secondly, traditionally holy things have always been covered with a veil. Take the tabernacle for instance! Or pretty much every picture of Our Lady! And even in the Old Testament...
(Hebrews 9:1-8): "The former [Old Covenant] indeed had also justifications of divine service and a sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made the first, wherein were the candlesticks and the table and the setting forth of loaves, which is called the Holy. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies: Having a golden censer and the ark of the testament covered about on every part with gold, in which was a golden pot that had manna and the rod of Aaron that had blossomed and the tables of the testament. And over it were the cherubims of glory overshadowing the propitiatory: of which it is not needful to speak now particularly. Now these things being thus ordered, into the first tabernacle, the priests indeed always entered, accomplishing the offices of sacrifices. But into the second, the high priest alone, once a year: not without blood, which he offereth for his own and the people's ignorance: The Holy Ghost signifying this: That the way into the Holies was not yet made manifest, whilst the former tabernacle was yet standing."
Wearing a veil is not (as SOOOOO many people seem to assume) a degradation for women, it is a reminder to men to respect and honor them! When I see a veiled woman (and this would probably be a good time to point out that when I say "cover your head", I mean with a real veil, not a little chapel cap that barely covers the crown of your head, or a huge attention getting hat with feathers and bows, a REAL mantilla/scarf/or simple hat that looks appropriate for Mass) the first image that appears in my mind is one of the Blessed Mother, and that's precisely what I want people to see when they look at me.
Thirdly, they just plain look lovely! And as I mentioned before, they really do work well for disguising your hair when it's a total mess.
So, ladies, please cover your head appropriately when going before the Blessed Sacrament, and don't listen to anyone who tells you it makes you any less in dignity than a man.
Some other notes on things I didn't get to cover in this post about head coverings:
...veils come in so many lovely styles and colors! I keep a white and a black one in my purse at all times, and keep all the other colors in the car.
...scarves are a very stylish way of covering your head, and they also work well for keeping you head warm in the winter-time. My brothers have even said they are jealous of girls because they can cover their heads and the boys have to freeze their ears off:).
...for all those who say that the law about head coverings was done away with at Vatican II, you are wrong. It was never mentioned in the council, and as you can see here:
Canon 20: A later law abrogates or derogates from an earlier law, if it expressly so states, or if it is directly contrary to that law, or if it integrally reorders the whole subject matter of the earlier law. A universal law, however, does not derogate from a particular or from a special law, unless the law expressly provides otherwise.
Canon 21: In doubt, the revocation of a previous law is not presumed; rather, later laws are to be related to earlier ones and, as far as possible, harmonized with them.
Canon 28: Without prejudice to the provisions of can. 5, a custom, whether contrary to or apart from the law, is revoked by a contrary custom or law. But unless the law makes express mention of them, it does not revoke centennial or immemorial customs, nor does a universal law revoke particular customs
I hope this cleared this little issue up for some of you!
Do you wear a veil to Mass?
