Months ago I decided to start wearing a mantilla (veil) to Mass. I have been thinking about blogging about my decision to wear a veil and my experience so far but I have been putting it off. God is really pushing me to share so here I go. I want to start off by saying that I hope to encourage women to try wearing a veil as I have found it to be a wonderful tradition, but it does not mean that I think any less of women who do not wear a veil to Mass. After reading a few blogs about reviving the tradition of wearing a veil to Mass, the idea was attractive to me and I decided that I wanted to try it.
Originally I was planning on waiting until my wedding day to start wearing my veil. I was planning on wearing a simple mantilla in the wedding and then continuing to wear that veil to Mass after the wedding. Even though that would have been beautiful, I quickly realized that I didn't want to wait that long. The idea of wearing a veil and walking down the aisle to my bridegroom (Tim) is such a beautiful image and I am really looking forward to it but Jesus will always be my first bridegroom. I hope I can adequately explain this so it doesn't sound like a polyandry or anything like that haha. Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is his bride. As a baptized Catholic, I am part of the Church, I am part of the Body of Christ. Jesus sacrifices everything for his bride, his church, me. I have been working on approaching communion with a deep reverence and understanding that I am consuming the true body of Christ. By wearing a veil, I feel as though I am a bride approaching my groom at the altar, Jesus. This has been a beautiful and rich experience for me, especially as I am preparing to marry Tim. For this reason alone, I love wearing my veil but there are other reasons.
Being a young woman wearing a veil in church is not a common thing. At first I was really nervous and did not want to stick out in church. However, I realized that I needed to pray for humility and not worry what others were thinking and that has been a freeing experience. We should never be concerned with others thoughts during Mass, we are there for Jesus. I also don't have to worry about what my hair looks like so that is definitely a plus. There is also an element of modesty associated with wearing a veil. A woman's hair is truly one of her wonderful feminine characteristics and by wearing a veil it shows that she has beauty to unveil. Men are not immune to lusting just because they are in a church , but I personally thinking seeing a woman in a veil would lead men to be in awe of her beauty and virtue rather than dealing with lust .Also, by wearing a veil it makes me want to dress more modest because I would feel awkward wearing a veil with a tank top or short dress. It has also inspired me to dress nicely for Mass and I have really enjoyed that.
I am so blessed to be called to the Sacrament of Matrimony but I also love the Sacrament of Holy Orders. I love nuns, I get excited every-time I see one. Recently I went to pray at St. Therese of Carmel and I saw a nun in the school hugging and kissing a small child who was being picked up by his mother. It was so beautiful. Nuns are beautiful women of Christ and they get to be married to him exclusively. In marriage I will be balancing my relationship with Tim and Jesus, which I am looking forward too don't get me wrong. There is just something so beautiful about men and women giving their ENTIRE life and being to Christ. This may seem like a tangent but when I wear my veil in Mass in a small way I feel connected to my sisters wearing their habit. I also feel connected to my Holy mother of God, Mary. And I really love Mary! I try to pray every day to grow in loving as Mary loved and by wearing a veil I remind myself that I am called to be like Mary in a sense by bringing Christ to the world with love.
After a few months of wearing my veil I really don't think I will go back to not wearing a veil. I carry it in my purse at all times so I am ready if I decide to go to daily Mass or Adoration. While on a retreat I didn't wear the veil since we went to outdoor Mass and it definitely felt weird. I surprisingly haven't had too many people ask me about wearing the veil. Most of it has occurred when I visit my family and wear the veil to church with them. It is pretty rare to see anyone wearing a veil there, including older women. However, the responses I have received after were very positive and one woman actually asked me where I got mine so that she and her daughter could start wearing one :) The other responses have been people assuming I normally go to a Latin Mass and that I somehow got lost haha. There is a lot of confusion as to why I would wear a veil even though I am not attending a Latin Mass so hopefully this clears up the confusion! By the way I chose a simple black lace Mantilla that I bought at a Catholic store in Camarillo for only nine dollars. And when I went to the store I didn't even know what I was looking for because when I asked for a "liturgical veil" I got a blank stare and the lady eventually realized what I meant was Mantilla. I didn't know the lingo but my heart knew that I wanted to wear one.
