J1ST 084: Veiling

Just One Small Thing Podcast for Catholic Parents

Today, we’re diving into another sacramental of our Faith: the Chapel Veil. Reminder from last week:

Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. (CC1670)

Wearing a veil at mass will not give you special graces the way a Sacrament does, but some women find it helps open them up to receive the graces of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Did you grow up in a parish where veiling was the norm? Neither of us did. In fact, Nancy remembers seeing it once as a child and thought they were Menonites or something (kids think funny things!!!) and Katie’s first exposure to covering (see what I did there) was at Latin Mass as an adult.

Interestingly, St. Paul writes about women covering their head while in prayer in his first letter to the Corinthians(Check out Chapter 11). The tradition was carried over from the Jewish people and then picked up by various other religions after Christianity.

The tradition was actually a requirement for centuries and then due to some misinformation from the press circa Vatican II, the Catholic World was told women veiling wasn’t required anymore.

Despite it not being ‘required’ anymore, many women are choosing to pick up the tradition again.

Why Some Women Choose to Veil:

• As a sign of reverence for the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• As a way to symbolize the difference between men and women
• As a sign of unity with your husband
• Because, like the Eucharist, women can bare life. Life baring things are sacred.
• It can act as ‘blinders’ and increase focus during mass/deepen prayer

Why Some Women Choose not to Veil:

• Not aware of the tradition/that it is still “okay”
• Husband is not on board (wearing something that is meant to be a visual sign of submission to your husband as to Christ that your husband Doesn’t Want You to Wear wouldn’t be a good idea)
• It can be ‘attention grabbing’
• It can be hard to keep your head covered while wrestling little ones during mass (making it more of a distraction than something that filters out distractions)

In this episode, we’ll tackle some of the Whys and Why Nots (and some solutions to the Why Nots).

Just to be clear: We did not record this episode with the intent to tell every woman that they need to veil, BUT: if you have wondered if you should… if you’ve felt it on your heart to consider… this episode’s aim is to educate and assist in your discernment. We hope you enjoy it!

Your sisters in the small things

Nancy and Katie