The Gaudete Sunday Dilemma

+JMJ+

Some of you know that I'm pretty traditional when it comes to dressing.  I go with neutrals most of the time, and sometimes add pattern, but not very often.  So when it came time to choose a veil, I naturally gravitated toward black.  It's neutral, and it won't make me nervous that I'm wearing a loud veil.  

This is one of the black veils I usually wear -
The French Fleur de Lis.

My first veil came from eBay. Someone was selling items from an estate and a black veil was one of them. I paid maybe $15 for it.  I was excited when the package came in the mail, I couldn't wait to put it on. So on it went and I was....disappointed! Maybe it was because I expected it to transform me somehow.  I guess I thought I would look more like the queens and princesses who wear their veils when they visit the Pope. 

Granted, the decision to start veiling wasn't because I wanted to look like a princess (at least not the main reason)! The main reason was to show my submission and reverence to God. So why did I want to look like a princess?  Well, because....get ready for it.....I'm a woman!

When you read 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, it talks about women covering their head.  One verse sticks out to me when I think about our nature as women:
1515 whereas if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because long hair has been given [her] for a covering?

Isn't that so true? Think about it: regardless of hair length, we want a nice cut; we fret over our hair; we have "bad hair days"; we color it, curl it, pull it back, straighten it, crimp it, love it, hate it. In other words, it's a pretty important part of who we are. When we ask what someone looks like, don't we describe them like this: "the tall blonde", "she has short red hair, about chin-length", "the brunette with the really pretty curls who sits in the third pew"?

Another one I wear often -
The Spanish Bouquet in Beige.

So if I'm going to humble myself before the Lord, it makes sense to cover my hair. It's a big part of who we are, and by covering it we are showing that something (someone) is more important than we are.  

We're covering to show our submission to Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist. But we're still women and we still love pretty things, in lovely colors, right? And that goes hand in hand with the colors we see priests wear: green, white, gold, violet/purple, rose (no, it's not pink!), red. The colors of those vestments mean something, and many women wear a veil in a color that matches the liturgical seasons.  For more on that, see my post Colors, Colors Everywhere.

What does all this have to do with Advent?  Well, since joining The Advent Veiling Project I decided to change things up and instead of wearing a neutral color, I would wear purple (and maybe pink - I mean, rose!) for Advent. So the First Sunday of Advent there I was - ready to wear purple! And then I chickened out. I guess I wasn't ready for the difference wearing a color other than black or ivory would make in my life.  Seriously!

Then along came the Second Sunday of Advent. This time I did wear a purple veil, and guess what? Nothing happened, it was just as though I had a black or ivory veil on, or no veil. Nothing!

And now the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday,  is almost upon us (can you believe it went so quickly?) and I have a decision to make - should I wear rose?  What do you think?  Leave a comment below!

  

The Rose on Black Medallion

The Pink on Black Medallion

  

Pax Deum

Colors, Colors Everywhere!

+JMJ+

The Spanish Medallion

As we begin our Advent season, I've been blessed to participate in The Advent Veiling Project (#ProjectVeil). Three Catholic bloggers have united to promote this devotion and five veil companies (including Silver Hill Treasures) are sponsoring veil giveaways. Silver Hill will be giving away one authentic Spanish Medallion mantilla (pictured above) in a color chosen by the winner from our available inventory. Learn more about #ProjectVeil here.

The French Fleur de Lis in Peach

There's even a Facebook page for the project, and just the other day one of the group members asked about wearing veils in colors other than the traditional black, white and beige. Is there a right or wrong color? How do you know what color to wear, and when to wear it? 

What's the right color?
In a nutshell, the right color for you is whatever color you feel comfortable in! There was a time when it was expected that single women wore white or beige veils, and married women wore black. Now that veiling is making a comeback, there really are no "rules" as far as color.  Which, of course, leaves it up to us to decide. And I don't know about you, but for me - I see so many pretty colors that it's at times overwhelming! So let's start with the neutral colors.

The Neutrals

Neutrals are always a good choice.  They match well with any outfit, and are classic and traditional. You can't go wrong with a veil in black, white, beige (ecru, ivory), navy, brown, gray and even light peach. 

French Fleur de Lis in White

French Fleur de Lis in Brown

I truly believe that a neutral is the best choice for a first veil.  Why? You can get used to wearing a veil without the added concern of matching. Some of the neutrals can also be worn seasonally (for example, peach for Easter). A neutral veil is the "little black dress" of veils!

French Fleur de Lis in Black

Following the Liturgical Seasons or the Four Seasons
Many women choose to follow the Liturgical seasons, matching their veil color to the priest's vestments or to the colors commonly associated with that season. Some colors can double as  Advent, Lent and Easter veils (purples and pinks). 

Other ladies choose to follow the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Here are a few examples:

For Advent, Lent or Easter:

Spanish Medallion in Turquoise/Black

Spanish Medallion in Violet

     

Spanish Medallion in Rose      

Spanish Rectangle in Purple                

For Christmas or Winter:

Spanish Medallion in Gold/Black

The Spanish Luciana in Beige 

with Metallic Accents

Spanish Medallion in Silver/Black

For Spring, Summer and Fall:

French Fleur de Lis in Green

Spanish Bouquet in Garnet

Spanish Medallion in Green/Black

Spanish Medallion in Copper/Black

Honoring Mary

The color blue is associated with the Virgin Mary, and some women choose to wear blue to honor her, especially on Marian days. Blue veils also double as neutral (navy), Easter (pastel blues), and summer veils!

Spanish Bouquet in Madonna Blue

Spanish Medallion in Sky Blue

Spanish Angelina in Blue

Where to Start
If you are new to veiling, I suggest you choose a neutral veil for your first one. Wear it around the house until you feel comfortable with it on your head. Then wear it to Adoration, and finally to Mass!

When you are ready to take the color leap, start wearing a different color veil at the beginning of a new liturgical season.  The Advent Veiling Project is a great example of this. Having a friend to do this with also makes it easier, so ask around. You'll be surprised how having a "partner in crime" makes it fun, too!

French Rose Basket in Gray

At the end of the day, it's all about preference. Wear the veil that you feel comfortable in. Don't push yourself to wear a new color if truly you are at ease in your black or beige veil.

I'll leave you with this beautiful image that my friend Betty shared: a priest was once asked what he thought of veils in different colors, and he said he loved turning to look at the congregation and seeing all the lovely colors. It made him think of the garden of heaven.

Pax Deum.

The Advent Veiling Project

+JMJ+

So I've had a blog account for over 2 years now and finally here it is - my first blog entry.  What took so long? Writer's block, time constraints, well....you know how that goes. So what changed?

Three wonderful blogging ladies united to promote veiling during Advent. 

The Spanish Medallion

Say what? Veiling? Yes, veiling.

Perhaps that's where I should start. Some of you may remember a time when Catholic women wore veils to Mass and other Christian women wore hats or some other type of head covering to church. Do you have fond memories of grandma in her veil at church? I do. Memories of little old ladies at the front of the church in their black veils? Yeah, me too!

There's something about a woman wearing a veil that's just...intriguing, you know? As a little girl I always wanted to see their faces. Who were these women with the veils?

Slowly the custom started to fade and pretty soon there weren't very many little old ladies in their veils left.  Fast forward a couple of decades and guess what? Veiling is making a comeback!

The French Fleur de Lis

It's a little different this time, because the Church doesn't require women to veil any more. Up until the late 1960's veiling was not only normal but expected. After Vatican II that changed. There's some discussion as to whether Vatican II intended to change our veiling custom, but the reality is that in general, women just plain quit wearing veils to Mass. So this time around we women are veiling BY CHOICE, no because we are required to.

You can imagine my surprise when about 4 years ago I found myself thinking about veiling. It was strange at first, having those thoughts. But as I became more comfortable with the idea I started looking for a veil. Just so I could see one up close, touch it, examine it. Maybe even put it on. Inside the store, not buy it or anything.  Just look at it.

Guess what? I couldn't find a single store that carried veils. So I went online, but the options available were either too frou-frou for me, or required me to drop $96 dollars for ONE veil.  WHAAAAT?

The Spanish Luciana

So I tried to make myself forget about veiling.  Nobody did that anymore anyway. I would look silly with a doily on my head. What will people think? I don't want to be stared at when I walk into Mass, or when I go up for communion.  But the thought kept coming back, time after time.

Then I thought that if I learned more about WHY women veiled, I would be happy in the knowledge of why and forget about this nonsense. Be happy that I knew why and leave it at that.

HA! Little did I know that finding out the WHY would strengthen my resolve to veil. So why do I veil at Mass?  Here are 4 reasons:

1. Reverence to Christ.  If I were to have the opportunity to visit the Pope I'd cover my head, right? It's required. Well, this is Christ we're talking about  - the Body and Blood, the Holy Eucharist. Look at him, on that cross. If HE did that for me, what's stopping me from showing reverence by covering my head? 

2. Scripture.  As in 1 Cor 11:3-16, especially verse 5: "But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had her head shaved."

This one took me a little bit by surprise. The Bible says women should cover their heads? Yes, it does! 

The Spanish Bouquet

3. Submission to my husband.  Now this one took even more to sink in.  Here I was, the woman who specifically avoided the "wife submit to your husband" passage at our wedding. Yes, I did. What can I say? I didn't want anyone getting any ideas.

But once I understood what submission meant, I didn't want to bring shame upon my head - my husband, for he is the head of our family. Not because I decided to let him be the head, or because he asked to be. No. Because God says that the husband is the head, so end of story. This one spurred more questions than I can list here - so I'll have to cover that in another post!

4. I like it! Let me explain - wearing a veil is, for me, a way to focus on the Mass better. When we leave the house we get dressed - by that I mean we change out of our pajamas or "house" clothes. We change our appearance because let's face it - most of us wouldn't run errands or go to work or school in our pajamas. The veil is the same - I "dress" in my veil and it marks the time I spend with the Lord, whether at Mass or Adoration.

  

Authentic Spanish and French Mantillas

In fact, I like it so much I started a veil company - Silver Hill Treasures. Women need options and that is one of my goals. Whether in styles, colors, materials, price - OPTIONS. Feel free to check out my website!

The Spanish Angelina

What about you? Do you veil? Have you been thinking about it?  It's OK, many other  women are thinking about it - you're not alone! 

With that in mind, stay tuned - remember the three bloggers who are promoting veiling? Well, it's called "The Advent Veiling Project". The idea is to share your veiling thoughts, read about other women's veiling experience/thoughts/journeys.  And did I mention you can enter to win 5 veils?  Oh yes you can! Read more about it at Life of a Catholic Librarian, Em's Estuary and Filling My Prayer Closet here and here.

Pax Deum.