During the
weekend I had several occasions to wear some sort of head accessory: for my friend’s tea party themed bridal
shower I wore a fascinator a la Duchess of Cambridge, for a night walk with my
doggie it was cool enough to wear my panda bear beanie and for a time of prayer
in front of the Blessed Sacrament a scarf worn as a veil… Traditionally Christian women wore head
coverings to public worship up until around 1960 when it became a minority
custom. It’s a shame when we let go of
such neat traditions, my grandma to this day wears a veil so whenever I see a
woman during mass with a headcovering, sweet thoughts of mi abuelita flood my mind. Though some denominations still promote
headcoverings during worship and I have seen some posts on Catholic blogs
wanting to bring a “veils revival” the practice still continues to lose
favor. To me it’s always important to understand
things more deeply- I love accessories I am after all a girly-girl, but when I
wear hats in my ordinary life it’s usually for ornamental reasons. On a rare Sunday (when I wake up to catch the
seven AM service) I always see an older lady with fabulous hats, but to be
honest I find her hats very distracting because she stands out in the crowd
(smile). Am sure she wears the hats as a
way to honor God, as am sure the people that are trying to bring back veils to
worship too have godly reasons.
Traditionally
veils served as a sign of submission and symbol of Christianity. The veil showed the roles of headship and the
woman wore it to symbolize submission to male authority. It honored the verse, “Christ is the head of
every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” So, women were required to wear them and not
men to highlight this distinction.
Furthermore, I read somewhere that single women wore white veils and
married women could wear any color, but white to also express that marital
distinction. I find this knowledge really
fascinating and such a great public display of Christian inward values. It visually showed our roles as men and women,
married and single, Christian and non-Christian. Through this delicate outward sign men and
women were constantly reminded of their role in Christian society. Looking at headcoverings in this light one
can see the devastating results of letting go of such a simple tradition. Wouldn’t it be great for men to be
reminded every day (at worship) that they are the leaders, the strong
initiators and representations of Christ in the family? And wouldn’t it be
great for women to be reminded to be patient, helpful and obedient to their
men, daily too? 
Can the
removal of a little veil from worship be such a big deal? I don’t know.
What I do know is that as a single woman I am suffering from the effects
of women and men forgetting their place in Christian society: women get tired
of waiting and pursue and men avoid their role as pursuer – and neither is
happy because we are going against our creative roles. I wouldn’t mind having a daily public
reminder to be submissive and am sure men would benefit from a little motivation to
be the leaders God knows they can be.
Recently I fell into this desire to lead, but now I know that I am done
removing my submissive veil. My nana always tells me, "when a man
is for you - God will give him the courage and there's nothing that will prevent him from following the will of God." God will lead him to you and break his
silence. I just pray that he has little
veils in his life that empower him with manly courage and leadership (smile). Nothing can be lost if God wills it for your life, but we must surrender our hopes and trust in Him.
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