I Miss Women Wearing Hats and Veils in Church. A brief reminiscence of days gone by

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | april 10th, 2012 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

I think the sale of hats will only increase. The styles are returning! Are you connected with retail or wholesale?

[ottbmare]

I’m appalled by the way people dress for church these days. On Easter Sunday I saw a young woman with her cleavage showing and short shorts over her fat thighs. I would never wear jeans to church unless there were some kind of emergency. On Sundays I wear a good wool dress (long enough to reach my knees when I sit down) and a skirt or good dress slacks for daily 9 a.m. mass. But I don’t buy clothes just for Easter.

Hats, though...that’s another story. A hat in church will block the view of the person behind you. How I recall the frustration when, as a little girl, I couldn’t see what was going on at the front of the church because the ladies wore hats back then! I wear straw hats for driving all summer and may wear a felt fedora with a feather in it for shooting or going to the races, depending on temperatures, but I would take a hat off before going into church.

Some of the younger women in our church will don a mantilla. This is considered sort of a strong statement for daily mass. I would actually like to wear a mantilla but I don’t want to draw attention to myself.

It’s nice to see how ladies are turned out at the black churches. They pull no punches—shoes and matching purse, hat, jewelry, pastel suit. I think it shows that they respect the House of the Lord.

[FrdmLvr]

I remember that, too. I also remember getting into the habit of wearing a stretchy headband and my mom getting fed up and saying I needed to start covering my head and not just wear a headband every week. I think monsignor would make remarks about it (girls wearing headbands instead of covering their heads) in the homily, too.

[MayflowerMadam]

“Heck! I miss women wearing dresses to church. These days many of them show up in jeans.”

Me too! I’d never go to church wearing even a pantsuit.

I miss people walking into the sanctuary, sitting down, bowing their heads, and preparing to hear the sermon. Now it’s a free-for-all chit-chat session with kids running wild and adults acting like carnival attendees.

I miss respectful services. Our last Sunday at our former church had the teenagers on the platform during morning service dancing “holy hip-hop” to rap music. (SBC)

Very discouraging.

[redhead]

I remember the good old days when women and girls had hats for winter and hats for summer. I even remember wearing out hats. wow. haven’t thought about THAT in a long, long time.

[Persevero]

Well, you could visit some Orthodox Presbyterian Churches! Seems like most of them in my area feature many of the women in hats or veils. It’s not a rule, but it seems to be a custom.

[murron]

I wore a hat once to a church in a small town in Indiana when I was visiting my daughter on Easter Sunday, and I got some peculiar looks. I felt like I walked in in costume. When I was young, it was a requirement that women had their heads covered in church, whether Mass was going on or not. We used to carry around a little circular lace piece to put on our heads called “chapel caps”. Then there were the beautiful mantillas, made of lace as well. I used to have one each in black and white. Those were particularly popular in the 1960s when teased hair was in style and wearing hats was tricky.

Then at some point, the Church eased the rules on head coverings in Church and that was the end of that. Now anything goes for church clothes today. I wish the Church would re-implement a dress code, although I’m sure it would be ignored. But no one dresses up for anything anymore. I love dressing up. I hope dressing up comes back in vogue again.

[fidelis]

“I would actually like to wear a mantilla but I don’t want to draw attention to myself.”
.
I used to feel that way about wearing a tie to Mass (let alone a suit), but I found the only attention I got was positive. I’m sure you would find the same if you wore a mantilla. Speaking as a man, I find a modest veil or mantilla on a woman quite lovely and edifying.

[ottbmare]

And I have to add, I do love hats for both men and women. When I see a gentleman wearing a hat I make it a point to thank him; when I see a lady wearing one I compliment her. I’d love to wear hats more and have often remarked that folks should wear them more often. Bring back 1955, I say!

[Twinkie]

Another good side benefit; privacy. It used to be that a woman would not go to church without wearing a hat. My grandmother always wore a hat when she went out anywhere; and she certainly was not vain or trying to impress anyone. (She lived back in the hills and hollers and went to the Primitive Baptist Church.)

I’d like to wear a veil; and do use a head covering whenever I pray. I keep a small lightweight scarf in the drawer beside the chair where I have my daily devotion for use when I pray. I think it would be neat to wear a lightweight scarf like some of the modest dressing women in the Mennonite community. Husband wouldn’t go for that lifestyle, I’m afraid.

[netmilsmom]

>>I care nobody’s coming anymore and nobody’s being dragged there by their parents. That churches don’t know how to drive them in from the hedges anymore. People that need to hear the gospel and understand why it’s important to them, personally.<<

Come to my parish.
We have ladies with their heads covered and families with more than 10 kids. Sometimes there are 20 “family buses” in the back parking lot.

AND we have 275 Altar BOYS.

Although we have a Traditional Latin Mass in our six weekend masses, most of them are Novus Ordo.

Why? Because our priests are not afraid to have homilies on sin.

http://www.saintcyrils.org/

[Jack Hydrazine]

I’m not in that industry. I just remember seeing a story a few years ago about trends in the millinery which had a graph showing hat sales for the past 30 or so years. The trend was upward but only around 1% or possibly 2% per year. Not much growth but it is increasing.

Name the first POTUS that did NOT wear a hat at his inauguration?

Answer: JFK.

[Craftmore]

Make them wear Habibs

[markomalley]

My daughter won’t be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament without her head covered.

She’s got my wife doing it now.

(And, while I am thrilled, I had absolutely NOTHING to do with it)

[Salvation]

**AND we have 275 Altar BOYS.**

I wish we had that!

[Jack Hydrazine]

Habib is an Arabic surname. Why would you want women to wear that?

[ottbmare]

I agree that the mantilla is a graceful thing to wear, in both senses of the word. But the comparison to a tie isn't quite accurate, is it? In church almost all middle-class men wear ties for Sunday mass, and those who are stopping at church for daily mass on their way to work are also usually wearing a tie. But a mantilla seems to say, "I'm the only one here who is holy enough to wear a veil. I'm such a good little girl." There is only one other woman in our parish who wears a veil, and she is a homeschool Catholic mother of six who comes to mass every morning with her children. There are so many, many, many women in our parish who are truly devout, truly godly, and make their whole lives revolve around the Church, while I am just a noob and a very weak, inadequate vessel. There would be an element of grandiosity, you see? Like a pharisee praying on a street corner.

[TASMANIANRED]

The Latin rite institutes an attitude of decorum.

[Age of Reason]

I remember girls forgetting their hats and fastening pieces of tissue to their heads with bobbi pins.

I remember that, too. I remember my mom and my aunts using a handkerchief folded into a square pinned to the top of their head.

Back in those days it was required that a woman wear a head covering when in a church.

[gghd]

http://www.fssp.org/en/index.htm

The link for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. They are approved by the Pope & they pray the Mass in Latin like the old days. A 1962 Missal is good for the Mass if you still have one. The Church I visited had extra Missals available for use.

The laity is devout. The people wear their best clothes to Church, almost every female covered her head & wore a skirt or dress, they all go to Confession regularly, pray the Rosary & the other good prayers. +The Catholic families are bigger than Mormon families. & Everyone in the Communion line held their hands in prayer with the palms together fingers towards the chin.

It’s a Mass well worth attending if there is a Church near you. I was fortunate & attended on St. Cecilia feast day (choirs) = The Mass was sung in Latin with a Cantor,choir + a lot of musicians.

The Priests wore a ‘Priest Hat’ = similar to the ‘Biretta’ but a little different. The Pope also wears a “Hat” = there will always be a place for ‘hats’ in the Catholic Church. +If we are devout & obtain all the promises, we will all receive ‘Crowns’ & then place them at the feet of Jesus Christ as He is the King of Kings.

Now days: if you get to Church 10 or 15 minutes early = you just about have the place to yourself. At the Latin Mass Church: 15 minutes early means you’re looking for a seat as the Church is full of Devout-Catholics on their knees praying the Rosary. (The Rosary is led from the >first pew.)

The Church had a Communion Rail where you kneel & take the Host on the tongue. +You are not suppose to say ‘Amen’ out loud. The Church had the old-style Confessionals = the Priest had his own door. +Old time Penitence is available too. = You may end up praying a Rosary & spending time with Jesus in the Tabernacle.