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QUAERITUR: Moving to be close to a good parish and chapel veils (again)
I am writing with a couple of questions. First off, there is a parish about 4 hours from my home that is beautiful, traditional, offers the Latin Mass as well as many other activities that are unavailable where I currently live, yet it would be most desirable to participate in them to facilitate the type of life that we are trying to lead in our home. I am dreaming of moving nearby it, imagining that the increase of faith for my family would be well worth the inconveniences of moving. What we have available to us is just, well okay, if not downright poor. We do currently attend a Latin Mass, about 30 miles from home, but feel that we have no parish life or involvement even at that distance. The point is, that it brings up an interesting discussion – is moving to be close to a parish that would suit your family make sense? Is it reasonable? My husband doesn’t think that he would move for that, as it could change in a second. I mentioned that the idea of moving to be near this particular church is the only thing that has made me remotely interested in moving out of state! Now, we aren’t arguing about it or anything, it is a hypothetical discussion at the moment. We have no other reasons to desire moving. What is your take on this?
That is a poser. There are so many factors to consider I don’t know how to advise you concretely, but here are some things to mull.
On the one hand, your spiritual concerns for the family should be at the top of the list of things to provide for. A parish is certainly going to be important in that regard. But we remember also that the Church calls the family home the "domestic church". There are many things you can do at home to make up for what you are not getting at a local parish. Even when your parish is very good, you must be very conscious of the family home as the domestic church. Also, what your husband is concerned with is true: parishes can change very quickly depending on the who the parish priest is. I no one parish which for years was pretty robust and is now effectively disintegrating. It will become something else, for better or worse, no question, but it won’t be the same. People who moved to be near that parish might find themselves pretty alienated and disappointed. Others might choose to move to the area.
Furthermore, there is some value in being attached to your geographical parish, though I think with our high mobility this is breaking down now.
So, there are a lot of factors to consider. I can sure sympathize with your desire to have some parish life. I wonder if the added expense in time and money incurred by driving to that parish you like might not wind up being cheaper than relocation. I don’t know… the housing market is pretty strange now.
Also, I am wondering what you think of women wearing a veil at Mass? I am considering it, though I feel no pressure to do so, and my daughters would like to join me in this practice. I am beyond trying to sort out the "Canon Law never changed to say that women no longer needed to wear a veil" argument, I have just been doing some reading on the subject.
I have written about this quite a few times on the blog and elsewhere. I guess this demonstrates that I really do need to update or change this blog’s template and get a search feature. But I digress…
According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, for the Latin Church, women are no longer obliged to cover their heads, usually by wearing chapel veils (mantillas), in church. However, I think it is a very good idea. It is a fine centuries old tradition rooted in Scripture. St. Paul calls for this. However, according to the Church law you are not obliged.
Some people might try to tell you that because the 1983 Code doesn’t mention head coverings or chapel veils, and doesn’t explicitly eradicate the obligation to keep their heads covered, then therefore you are still obliged. If you hear or read this, feel free to smile politely and think to yourself: "Hogwash". The present canon law does not oblige you, though – to repeat – it is a fine custom, rooted in Scripture, which helps to reinforce our Catholic identity. I am very much in favor of it. I know from discussions on the Catholic Online Forum that women who have begun to wear chapel veils have interesting insights about how it has affected them and others.
I am sure readers will want to chime in about the issue of moving and parishes. Some of them are sure to have personal experiences which could be helpful to you.
However, I will limit the discussion about head coverings and chapel veils mostly to what women have to say about them and probably just delete comments that stray into convoluted (erroneous) arguments about how the law really does still oblige women… blah blah blah…
Hi
I started wearing a Chapel Veil Last september when I first attended Tridentine Mass.
I noted the following:
1 It helped me to focus on the Mass as I used to get distracted by other women’s hair styles.
2 It I hope increased my humility as now I know no-one is looking at me and I am less interested in other’s outward appearance.
3 I felt that I was emulating Our Blessed Lady by the wearing of the mantilla.
4 I also feel as if I’m submitting to the greater Glory of Jesus Christ and the wearing of my mantilla is an
outward sign of this.
Comment by Maria Humphrey — 1 April 2008 @ 6:24 amJust for the record I am a 70’s baby once erroneously accused of being a Feminist – I advocate
that men and women have equal worth but just different roles.
I moved my wife and 2 children (now 5 children) from a parish in a large city which offered the 1962 Mass, to a different diocese with a more conservative bishop very friendly to the Traditional Mass. I think that your bishop is key. What Father Z says is true: priests are replaced rather often. When we first moved to the smaller city, (Tyler, Texas) there was a priest here who ran the Traditional community. He had his good points and bad points. He was very personable and GREAT with children. The next priest who serves us now is not as personable, and is not great with children, however, gives incredible homilies and is extremely organized. Every priest is different. Who your bishop is is much more important. Four years ago, when we moved, this parish was a mission. They had Mass in the diocesan chancery in a chapel that was much more conducive to charismatic worship than Traditional worship. However, Bishop Corrada has always been friendly to the Traditionalists in his diocese. Two years ago, he GAVE US OUR OWN PARISH, complete with a quaint little chapel on our own property. There are only about 60-80 people at any given Sunday Mass, but the bishop remains behind us.
I guess what I am saying is…make sure if you are going to move that your bishop will be kind towards the 1962 missal, and that he is young enough that he will be there for awhile!
Comment by Bryan Muench — 1 April 2008 @ 6:41 amI put veils in the same category of my mind with receiving in the hand (just less of a priority). I know people are given permission to receive in the hand, but I think it was a mistake for the church to allow this, and I pray they change it down the road.
With veils, I think that it is pretty difficult for most women to understand them because of A)feminist ideologies, and B)the breakdown of other liturgical practices. Most parishes no longer veil the tabernacle or other sacred objects; so, the sense that we veil what is precious and holy is lost. I love the image of the veil with the analogy that a women is a kind of tabernacle with the unique ability to bear life within her. I think most people in today’s culture would associate the practice with believing the Church thought women “inferior” in some way!
I forget where I read it, but when reading about modesty and veil wearing, someone used the analogy of a women who was going through a dangerous area of a town—perhaps where she would be harassed by men, the modesty that one assumes by covering their head with a cloak or veil in order to detract attention from the gaze of others. You see this in costume dramas a lot, lol, with the wealthy women sneaking into the poor section of town to make some secretive inquiry.
I don’t wear a mantilla. I have never really cared for lace, and I can’t bring myself to buy something I don’t like. But, I do wear a hat to mass, and on the occasion I have forgotten, I do feel quite “exposed.” To me, there is a sense of it making me feel more private , for lack of a better word.
I do not wear a hat or veil when I am the cantor at a OF/NO mass. I already feel like I am a distraction because of the practice of having me in front of the congregation. Since ladies don’t typically wear hats or veils today, I feel I would be more of a distraction by wearing one in that position. I do wear one, though, if I am just a member of the congregation. We usually attend the EF/TLM on Sundays.
Comment by Lindsay — 1 April 2008 @ 6:44 amWhats all this fuss about chapel veils?They were never obligatory.It is a myth.What was obligatory was thast a woman could not enetr a church with uncovered head ad a man could not enter with a covered head unless you were a sacred minister of a Mass.Iam 64 and I never remember ANY woman in Detroit at least wearing a chapel veil.They did wear hats.The first time I saw chapel veils were in the 70s at NO masses.Some women,my mother among them ,adopted tthe hispanic custom of thechapel veil in order to follow the hallowed tradition (by then lost) of women covering their heads. I actually heard one woman criticize another for coming to mass wearing a hat instead of a chapel veil.Of course as is usuualy the case the woman making the charge was born after VII.
Comment by fr.franklyn mcafee — 1 April 2008 @ 6:47 amSide note: I read an article once that said that American women wear the mantilla backwards. The way a mantilla (at least the traditional Spanish one) is designed is for the point to go towards the forehead to make the fabric drape around the face. I have never researched this, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. However, so many mantillas sold to American Catholics today have probably been modified so that it would not “work” in that way. I just thought it was interesting.
Comment by Lindsay — 1 April 2008 @ 6:52 amI’ve been puzzled and I have to say slightly irritated by this whole “chapel veil” thing. I am just about old enough to remember the Tridentine Mass last time around and so is my husband. I am British and he is American and neither of us remember a tradition of women wearing veils. The rule was for a head covering, so women wore hats, which in those days was part of respectable, formal dress in any case.
When I started attending the Tridentine Mass (which I love, incidentally) and saw these veils sprouting about all over the place, when no longer required by Canon Law, I really refused to be a part of it. I am no theologian so I’m happy to be guided by the Church’s rule. In this day and age, the concept of a headcovering as a sign of modesty is pretty meaningless to many people and there are plenty of other ways one can show respect at Mass – by taking the trouble to dress smartly, for example. That’s something entirely relevant to our age and which everyone can understand.
I am also puzzled by the practice of wearing a small scrap of lace stuck to your head. What on earth is that meant to mean? It’s neither graceful nor attractive – you’re not going to tell me it’s going to make me a better Catholic!
The veil thing seems to have taken root in the Tridentine Mass communities, especially American ones, perhaps because of the Hispanic influence and so the assumption is that veils and the EF necessarily go together. This makes no sense to me. If we accept both the OF and the EF as valid, why not have them at the OF as well? There are many pious and devout women who attend the OF - the EF doesn’t have a monopoly!
I have absolutely no problem with women wanting to wear veils as a personal pious practice but I dread attending an EF Mass or parish devoted to the Tridentine Mass where this is enforced. I fear that being forced to do something, which for them personally is meaningless, will put many women off attending the EF.
I went to a Tridentine Mass at Jacksonville, Florida, where leaflets were distributed explaining that veils were worn, among other reasons, so wome