Veiling

This was a column I wrote for The Message, a newspaper for the Diocese of Evansville. I hope you enjoy it! Expect a post about Lent and Pope Benedict in the near future. Thanks for bearing with me and my recent inactivity.
God bless,
Jill

A few weeks ago, I went to adoration and daily Mass after class. I decided to pray a Rosary before Mass, and I meditated on the glorious mysteries. The third mystery gave me pause – “Descent of the Holy Spirit.”

“All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.” Acts 2:4

My little pamphlet said the fruit of this mystery was “love of God.” Now what did the descent of the Holy Spirit have to do with love of God? I started praying my ten Hail Marys, trying to find the connection.

“Oh,” I thought to myself, “they loved God so much they were willing to make ‘bold proclamation’ whenever He asked them to, no matter what it might mean for their earthly lives. That’s really cool.”

Just then, a friend of mine walked into the chapel, wearing her veil like always.

“She really loves God, and she shows it by wearing her veil,” I thought. “. . .Very funny, God.”

By my friend’s precisely timed entrance, God answered a question I’d been asking Him and myself for over year. Should I wear a veil to Mass?

When the idea first came to me last year, I didn’t know much about the practice, just that I only ever saw little old ladies doing it. So, like any good teenager, I asked Google for some more information.

I learned that wearing the practice of wearing a veil to Mass basically ended with Vatican II, though it’s not forbidden and is actually encouraged. Women who aren’t married typically wear white veils and women who are married wear black.

A month or so passed, and I still felt a little nagging in the back of my brain. However, I still wasn’t completely sold on the idea. I asked God why I should do it, and over the course of the next year I picked up a reason here or there.

For one, it’s a reminder that time spent at Mass is incredibly special and should be treated as such. When I go into a Catholic church, I am truly entering the presence of Christ. Wearing a veil, which is not something I normally do, can be a reminder that I am leaving my ordinary life and stepping into something extraordinary.

Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is another reason. Is Mama Mary ever pictured without her veil? As the perfect image of humility and obedience to God’s will, she is someone I want to imitate.

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, a woman’s long hair is her glory. By covering up her glory, a woman opens herself to God’s glory and shows that she is for God’s glory, not her own. Archbishop Fulton Sheen compared our Blessed Mother to the moon reflecting the light of the Sun, Christ. Wearing a veil during Mass and covering up one’s glory is the same concept.

Perhaps my favorite reason is wearing it as an expression of modesty and chastity and femininity. All three are important virtues, and dressing appropriately for Mass is a good way to practice them. Keeping shoulders covered shows modesty, and wearing a skirt or dress and a veil shows femininity.

Finally, with a rosary and a well-timed entrance, God gave me the reason that sealed the deal: it’s an expression of love for Him. It’s not about looking holier than the person next to you. It’s not about standing out at church. It’s an expression of love for God, and it’s about listening to and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit because of that love.

“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?” 1 Corinthians 11:11-15