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15.8.15

On Veils

My brother John's fiancee Emily (I feel rather silly being so descriptive, considering my oh-so-large reader base, but whatevs), unlike the rest of my family, has not grown up going to the Latin Mass (totes shocking, I know)
I think she got her first real exposure to it once she started dating John, and she's (understandably) had a lot of questions about it. 
One of these questions was about veiling, which she noticed all of us girls do whenever she attended Mass with us.

Now, this can apparently be a hot topic in Catholic female circles, but I'll frankly admit that despite wearing a veil since before I can remember, I don't have a full, robust defense or "apology" for it. Even before Emily asked me for some more info on veiling and links to good articles on it, I had still asked myself, "why exactly do I veil in the presence of the Blessed Eucharist?" 

This post isn't something I spent a huge amount of time on, composed after hours and days of intense research. Instead, it's pretty much an slightly extended version of what I told Emily and what I tell friends who ask me about veiling.
It's casual. 

img source
 this image comes from an article from an opposite viewpoint, and while I don't agree with it,
it could be helpful to read both the article and comments for a more "robust" discussion on veiling.

Why I Veil


In brief, if I'm honest, the primary reasons I wear it are tradition, focus and respect.

Veiling is not a bad tradition, and as one of the articles below mentions, St. Paul encourages us to keep good traditions. The Church is based on Scripture and Tradition, and while there is a big difference between Tradition and tradition (the caps makes all the difference), a lot of "little" traditions, if you will, are good things to uphold.

So, while I don't think it's mandatory to wear a veil at Mass (though in attending the Latin Mass, it is expected), it's a good tradition to keep up and as long as it's not hindering any spiritual growth on mine or any other persons part, I guess I'd say "why not veil?" is a better question. 


The other thing is focus - I am so easily distracted during Mass, and the veil acts as my blinders, like a horse. If a woman is not used to veiling, it could actually be distracting for for her to wear the veil and thus ultimately not be a good thing, if it hinders her from offering (to the best of her ability) glory to God during Mass. However, I do think that it's more a matter of being accustomed to it, and would recommend giving the veil a fair trial run of five or more Masses to become accustomed. 
Even when I'm not in Mass, it helps me in the chapel and keeps me from looking at every new person who walks in the chapel. 

Finally, respect.
I don't have all the info on this, but women who see the Pope are supposed to wear veils as a sign of respect (and probably for other reasons, of which I am ignorant).
If women do that for the Pope, Christ's representative on earth, why shouldn't we do it for Christ Himself?

As a side note, I think it's helpful and encouraging for most guys to see women wearing veils, though that's not a reason I veil. 
Also, I'm around a lot of traditionally minded men, so that's probably why I think that it's helpful for the men. ha. 

Other Opinions and Questions


Now, if you look for it, you'll see a lot of articles on veiling (including in some of the ones I'm including below) that say that women wear veils to be humble, because they are special like the Tabernacle, etc. Those could be legit arguments, but they're not the reasons I veil, because honestly, sometimes it boosts my vanity to veil, because then no one can see my greasy hair. ;)

So, you may read this and say, "well, this is all well and good, Clare - being able to focus better in Mass is a good thing, and I suppose upholding good traditions can be good too when it's all said and done, I suppose. But why don't men veil, if veiling helps focus?"

My best answer goes back to the tradition thing: it's not traditional for men to wear veils, so I think that's the primary reason why it's not expected for them to veil today. You know, it'd be incredibly weird if men came to Mass wearing skirts and all the women in suits. 
At least, I think so.

Why/how that tradition started? I'm not a historian and I'm too lazy to look this up, but I'll hazard a guess and say it goes all the way back to Jesus' time and before, when women were veiled and men weren't (not most of the time, anyways). How that got started, I have no clue, but those ancients probably had some decent reasons for it, which I have no knowledge of whatsoever. 
In any case, men are supposed to remove their hats in church, and as hats used to be a symbol of stature, it's not just women humbling themselves by wearing a veil when they enter the church. The men do too, but in a different way. 

Should YOU veil?


First off, if you're a man, don't veil. That'd be silly. Why? See the few previous paragraphs. 

Now, finally, to get right down to the question most Catholics ask when they first learn about the veil - should all Catholic women wear it?
And to get right down to my oh-so-humble opinion, my answer is: depends. 
There are some legitimate reasons not to veil, such as if you give it a fair trial run and find it extremely distracting, then off with the veil! I can't think of any other legitimate reasons for not veiling right now, aside from finding it too distracting, but I'm sure someone could find some random but legitimate reason.
That all said and done, I don't think it'd be a bad thing for our Church if all the women starting wearing veils again. Quite the opposite, actually. 

Either way, I do not judge or think less of women who don't wear veils, and I don't necessarily think more of women who do, as I know there are women who wear veils who are not exactly what I'd call role models, myself included. 
But of course, there are good role models of women wearing veils, such as the Blessed Mother and nuns. Just sayin'. ;)

Helpful (maybe?) Articles



So, a little disclaimer on these articles - these are the fruit of a rather lackadaisical Google search. It's probably because I'm so prideful, but I don't like most articles on veiling because they seem to talk a lot about being submissive, and the tone just makes me want to slam a veil on men and make them submissive too! ha! 
Anyways, I don't find all the arguments of some of these articles really compelling, but some of them have a good point or two, and might be some good food for thought. I've also heard many of the arguments before, not many of which I think would've convinced me to start veiling if I wasn't used to it, but that's probably another reason why I haven't found a particularly impressive article on veiling. 




5.7.15

Feeling melodramatic

It's handy to know how to play guitar when I feel melodramatic, so I can feed my melodramaticness. But it's also annoying that I can't play well, which can kinda kill the mood.

In other words, I start calculus tomorrow, and I DONT WANNA.

13.4.15

Lembas

According to the Lord of the Rings wiki page;
"Lembas, also called Elven bread or Waybread in the Common Speech, was a special food made by the Elves."

I thought I would try to be clever and send the guys some "lembas" during Lent, since cookies are a no-no.
Though I'll be honest, with 1.5 cups of sugar and a cup of butter, this isn't particularly mortifying food.
Unless you're allergic to sugar and butter. 


Pictures! Because that's one of the keys to a fabulously popular blog post!(which we all know this is bound to be!)


I was lazy and crudely cut some cheapy green cardstock paper for the lembas wrapping.



These definitely aren't as fancy as THIS post's lembas, but I bet they taste better! The recipe is from the mom of the British family I did Ministry to Mom's to while in Austria last semester. It's actually British flapjack, but hey, that might've been what Tolkien had in mind when he thunk the idea up!


LEMBAS BREAD (aka, British flapjack)
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar (I use brown)
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 4 cups oats
  • 2 cups coconut or oats.
Melt the butter, then add the sugar and honey. Melt and mix well, then add oats, mixing well. Add coconut, or two more cups of oats. You can flavor with orange zest and cranberries, or something else - whatever you like!
Spread it all out on a flat baking tray, about 1 1/2 cms or so thick. Press down a bit and bake until golden brown, 15 minutes or so.


This stuff tastes a lot like the Sunbelt Oats and Honey granola bars, so if you like those, you're in luck! If you don't, then well, you probably won't like this stuff.

10.10.14

Holy cow

...do I miss making cards and designing things.
Sometimes I feel I may spontaneously combust if I don't MAKE SOMETHING.

18.8.14

Crazy week

Last week was pretty crazy, but super fun.
Morning of the 13th, I Megasbussed (I know, it's not a word) out to Harrisburg to spend a little over 24 hours with Chuckie, Katie and wee Maria.

Maria - "Ew, Dad, cut it out, I'm trying to use my phone."

This is how Maria feels about her uncle John

She gave me lots of smiles before I left! Yes!!!

That was super fun, and then I Megabussed myself back on over to Pittsburgh super early Friday morning. Couple hours later, and I was on my way with John to Madison. The ride was super fun, but the evening was tiring, due to 3.5 hours of sleep the night before, driving all day, having dinner with a bunch of strangers at a loud German place, and then walking around Madison with a pair of (previously) trusted sandals that decided to be annoying and give me blisters.

D'awww!
However, the next two days were pretty fantastic - we didn't try to do a whole lot, and stayed with smaller groups that already had a couple people I already knew in it (I get tired/bored really fast in big groups). I got to meet some more cool people (including a priest that was super funny and nice) and hung out a lot with Emily. I won't lie and say it wasn't awkward at some points, but spending the extra time with her helped me get to know her better, and she is an awesome person and very holy. Without intending to, she showed me how to offer sacrifices better and how there's pretty much always an opportunity to offer something up. Things I knew before, but couldn't really get a solid picture of in my soul before of how I could do it.
I now understand why Sister Maria liked her so much. ;)

Anyways, I've got a LOT of packing to do. I spent a couple hours doing so today, and I'm still not done. 
Ugh. *cue in previous statement of always having an opportunity to offer something up*

3.8.14

Crazy Summer

I think that this is probably the most crazy/memorable summer ever, mostly due to Maria's entrance, but also probably because I have the memory of a goldfish.

Some crazy things that happened this summer;

  1. Maria's entrance, as mentioned above.
  2. My first real car accident. Apparently the driver who hit me "didn't think (I) was going to turn." (hmmm, yes, that definitely excuses the blatant running through a red light...) I'm almost excited this happened, because unlike most of my older siblings, who have been in near-death situations, I've been pretty low key till now. I can't help but connect the fact that my guardian angel was doing some serious damage control here (like with my siblings) and the fact that now most of them have a pretty good idea of what their vocation is! Is this a pathetic hope? Yep. 
  1. I got my hair cut by a real-life hair cutter person for the first time! Okay, so maybe this isn't really crazy, but the experience was pretty terrifying (hair salons are SCARY) Oh, and I got short bangs, which I haven't had since I was ten (maybe?) and I go in between hating and just being annoyed with them...
  1. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to live, in a different country, with no relatives, for three. whole. months. 
  2. I got invited to join the design team of one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE STAMP COMPANIES. I'm still kinda in shock about this, but maybe by the time December rolls around (I couldn't start right away, studying abroad and all) it will hit me. BUT I'M SO EXCITED. Seriously, as pathetic as this may sound to non-crafters, this has been a dream of mine for about five years now. 
There have been a lot of little exciting things too, but that's all I got for tonight. 

21.7.14

Yikes!

...I just bought a Eurail pass! That basically means this whole Austria thing REALLY IS HAPPENING.

I'm really excited but I'm also pretty intimidated.
Because lists are cool things (whenever they don't have horrible, unfun things you need to do on them)...

Excited for:

  • being able to dawdle in Europe! Last time was all rush! rush! rush!, though I guess I shouldn't complain since I accidentally won that trip.
  • getting the "full college experience" - i.e. living in a big building with people who aren't blood-related (horror, I know). I didn't really understand at my freshman, but it is hard to be a commuter, especially if you play college athletics. Between driving, helping a bit around the house, volleyball practices, and studying, there isn't a lot of time to be piddling around campus, so it's harder to make new friends and to actually get together with them. Not that I actually want to change this (I LOVE MY HOME) but living in Austria should be a nice little taste of that "experience".
  • seeing a friend that I hardly ever get to see and going on adventures with her! 
  • European fashion! Haha, I know, right? I'm not the most fashion-savvy person, but since I wear skirts pretty much all the time, I'm hoping that for once, I'll blend in well with the people around me (at least, until I open my big American mouth) and that my fellow students won't seem so judgmental of my fashion choices (or lack thereof)
Not excited for:
  • being away from my HOUSE FOR THREE AND A HALF MONTHS! Trips and small "vacations", however enjoyable they were, tire me out pretty quickly, so how I'll handle all that time in Austria should be...interesting.
  • getting the "full college experience" - I know what I said above, but this is definitely a mixed emotions thing. Since none of the people are blood-related to me, I can't just do weird things I do (like completely blank out when I'm talking to someone) and expect them to understand/not be offended. I'll actually have to communicate! With people! In real life! Who aren't related to me! Terror! On the flip-side of that, I'm going to have to figure out how other people work too. 
  • the campus spirituality. It's funny, Franciscan is pretty "conservative" to most other colleges, but for a Catholic college, they do some things that just...well, weird me out. Like FOP's (Festival of Praise)?? Uh, yeah, I tried understanding that...um, energetic part of Catholicism, but I'm still not comfortable with a lot of it. So many times during campus Mass's, I've wanted to shout "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN. NOW. AND PUT THAT GUITAR AWAY!" I've heard that things are more...levelheaded on the Austria campus, but I'm still worried about possibly going so long without a Latin Mass, or at least a really reverent Novus Ordo Mass.
  • getting horribly lost in a creepy country. 
and finally
  • not seeing any of my family for a whole three and a half months. :( There will definitely be some Skype attempts (I've heard the wifi there is pretty crummy), but man, no adventures or fights with siblings for that long? REALLY not looking forward to that.
So in the end, I'm trying not to get too excited in case I get horribly disappointed too easily, and I'm also trying not to be too much of scaredy cat so that I chicken out on any fun adventures. In any case, this should be an interesting three and a half months!