Fine Linen and Purple do a link-up every week called What I Wore Sunday. Pretty self explanatory.
Jenna at Call Her Happy is doing a Mantilla/Veiling Link-up.
I never remember to do WIWS because I don't always like taking photos of myself but I have been meaning to try out veiling for quite some time now.
So here are some thoughts and a photo of me out to dinner tonight. I didn't take a "church wear" photo because I forgot again.
I'm the one in the white shirt with the purple scarf that doubles as a head cover during mass
Sometimes I feel intimidated by people who veil. It is a very traditional thing to do and I am not a very traditional girl. I love the idea of this link up because it puts a modern spin on the resources available to those who have questions about wearing a head cover at church. I found some brochures that give information about veiling. They must be 50 years old. To be honest I found some of it to be demeaning and condescending. You can make your own conclusions about them though. http://www.christianfamilyoutreach.com/pamphlets.htm
So you probably want to know two things: Why I would wear a veil at church and how it felt.
Why: Here's the deal, men are asked to uncover their heads our of respect, well women have the option of covering their head out of respect. It is something that is done in several other well established religions (orthodox Jewish women and Muslim women cover their heads) I find a lot of similarities to Catholicism in those religions. Nuns do it all the time, they *used* to do it at Mass, my mom was raised protestant and remembers wearing what she called a 'doily' on her head. I really could stand to have a little more reverence in my life so if covering my head for an hour a week helps me get there then I might keep it up.
How: How did it feel to veil? Well, I can tell you I've had a lot of false starts. I even put the veil on for a fraction of a second the week before and totally chickened out. I had a lot of apprehension because I do think about people looking at me and wondering why I would cover my head at mass. This week I decided I didn't care what they thought of me, this is about what God thinks of me. I also had a secret weapon this week. My husband. He is awesome. He totally supports me in whatever I decide about veiling. He doesn't give me any flack about chickening out and he supports me when I ask if I look ok! He wasn't with me last week and it made it a lot harder to pull that scarf up over my head. This week he was there and it felt great having his support.
I was worried about our toddler, she's feisty. Lately she has been going to the nursery during mass. This time we went to a later mass but God must have known my heart because she fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep through more than half of the mass. Which means, I could cover my head without her pulling it down. She didn't actually grab at it when she was awake, but shifting her from hip to hip made it harder to keep on.
I got no negative comments. I didn't necessarily feel any more pious than usual, but I think that comes with doing this as a practice and not just a one off. I think I'll give it another shot!
God Bless!
So many parts that I love about this!
ReplyDelete"I really could stand to have a little more reverence in my life so if covering my head for an hour a week helps me get there then I might keep it up." I feel this way a lot too!
"This week I decided I didn't care what they thought of me, this is about what God thinks of me. " Isn't that the best feeling?
"My husband. He is awesome. He totally supports me in whatever I decide about veiling. He doesn't give me any flack about chickening out and he supports me when I ask if I look ok! " I just adore good Catholic husbands like him!
"I didn't necessarily feel any more pious than usual, but I think that comes with doing this as a practice and not just a one off. I think I'll give it another shot!" I'm excited to hear if you try it again, and if so, how it goes throughout time!
Thank you for linking up with me!!