www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Head Covering for Women?

Tomorrow morning my husband and I will visit our local Byzantine rite parish. I was raised Roman Catholic and my husband was raised Seventh Day Adventist, but hasn't practiced for more than 20 years. My question is a practical one -- is it customary for women to wear headcovering during Holy Liturgy in a Byzantine church?

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST!
GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!

Hi Susan

I can only speak for my own parish but, there are only 2 older women of the parish who wear hats regularly when they come for Divine Liturgy.

All the other ladies come with heads un-covered.

mark

Don�t let a lack of a headscarf keep you from going to church � among all Byzantine Catholics and many Orthodox in America it isn�t required � but it�s a beautiful custom reflecting Christian feminine modesty like Our Lady. (I�m pretty sure in the European homelands of our Churches it is required, at least among the Orthodox.)

Serge

<a href="http://oldworldrus.com">Old World Rus�</a>

Just don't use a Kleenex.

Joe Prokopchak
archsinner

It's not so much copying the modest of Our Lady, but, rather the custom of denoting the position of the woman within the village community; i.e. who was married, who was widowed, who was eligible for marriage and who was still a child.

It's been the custom among the Slavic people for the bride to have her hair style re-done on her wedding day to denote her change in the community. She was no longer a child and was going to be an adult and thus was entitled wear her hair as an adult woman would.

the least servant
mark

I believe that the womnan should have her head covered but today it seems to be becoming an extinct practice. Today, they(not all) come to Church with all sorts of makeup and unusual clothing in the hope of finding a male counterpart rather in the hope of the Resurrection. Some wear some skimpy and tight clothing. This makes me want to spit(Tiffeh). Sorry I should try to control myself. It's difficult in this day and age not to be distracted. Most liberal women, married and unmarried, don't care if they are capable of sparking a male's attention. They don't care to focus on the true purpose for being in the Church. For those focused they have my utmost respect even if they may not wear the head veil.

I was looking at the website for Nativity of the Nativity Old Rite Russian Church. They have very strict codes of dress, especially for women. They also enforce that code for the very reasons Mr Sweiss mentions.

[This message has been edited by akemner (edited 07-22-2001).]

I'd rather have a woman in church without headgear, than have her feel that she shouldn't go since she "has nothing to wear".

I agree that "Sunday go to meetin'" clothes should be more than just any old thing. My rule is: if it's appropriate enough to wear to work, that's the minimum; if it's less than that, perhaps one should search the closet a little better.

And yes, Joe, the Kleenex is definitely out.

Blessings!

+Glory to Jesus Christ!
Glory to Him Forever!!

Dear Susanander,
Welcome to the Forum!

I think I'm with Rusnak on this one.
No, it is not absolutely necessary to wear a head covering while attending the Divine Liturgy. To echo what others have said already; if you don't have a head covering, please don't let that keep you from attending the Liturgy!
However, I must say that I do prefer keeping the custom of women covering their heads in church. I got in the habit of doing it and now I'd actually feel kind of naked without one! If I didn't have any head covering with me, though, I'd still go to the Liturgy!

As for styles, I usually wear a head scarf to the Divine Liturgy, because it's nice to have something longer that you can tie under your chin (babushka-style) or behind your neck so it will stay in place. I wouldn't recommend wearing a lacy chapel veil/mantilla-type head covering because it will fall off when you're bowing.

As a side note, I have had more than one gentleman come up to me after the Liturgy and tell me how nice it was to see a young lady wear a head covering to church.

Susanander, I hope you and your husband enjoy the Divine Liturgy (head covering or not)! God bless you both.

Medved:
Yes! I remember reading an article about a community of Old Believers, where it said that the girls and unmarried women wore their long hair in a single braid, and upon being wed the ladies would have their hair put into two braids and would wear it that way throughout their married life. I think most of the women wore head scarves most of the time, too (not just in church). I thought all of it was really neat.

In addition, I believe it is a Russian custom for betrothed and married women to wear a white head-covering to identify them as betrothed or married.

I hope this helps!

God bless you,
Liz



[This message has been edited by Liz (edited 07-22-2001).]

"(I�m pretty sure in the European homelands of our Churches it is required, at least among the Orthodox.)"


FWIW, in Romania the "head-covering ratio" was about 40-50% of female attendees. In Georgia, it was *much* higher -- around 90%.

Brendan

Head covering is fundamentally a sign of obedience. Forced obedience is pretty useless spiritually - and an offense against human dignity. Too bad after Vatican II the attitude became "we don't have to anymore" and few cared to look into the matter further.

Myself, I cover - using a plain scarf. I wear 'em a lot outside of church, too - I have the kind of hair that even though it's long & stapled out of the way, bits of it still get in my face & drive me crazy. Someone once asked me why I wear "that thing." My explanation is that I am a religious fanatic, and I drive with my windows open.

Hope your visit was great!

Cheers,

Sharon

Sharon Mech, SFO
Cantor & sinner
sharon@cmhc.com

Dear Friends,

Some of our parishes up here have seen a real resurgence in the use of the Slavic embroidered scarves for women.

As a religion teacher for high school students, I once mentioned this practice and we discussed it at length.

Soon, a number of the girls started to attend Church with scarves on!

Some people might feel this is a hearkening back to "peasant times in the Carpathians."

Others may feel it is otherwise anachronistic.

I think it is a beautiful tradition which could be supported by an emphasis on the practice of men wearing their embroidered belts to Church, like in the "good old days."

I never tire of looking at pictures of Old Believers attending Church.

The men and women wear emroidered shirts and blouses. The women wear scarves and the men have their belts (as do the Priests).

They wear their Crosses on top of their shirts and blouses and each has a prayer rope dangling from their elbow with an embroidered pillow on the floor in front of them to receive their hands when they make full prostrations.

Anything that destroys the monotony of North American cosmopolitanism is welcome, in my view!

Alex

Amen to both Sharon and Alex,

There is one family that attends our Church whose women wear the embroidered scarf.

I teach Comparative Religions at a local college. This past spring two young Moslem women wore the "hijab" consistently. They explained that it was a matter of humility before God and pride in their heritage. Moreover, they were free to be what God wanted and not simply what men wanted. They were no longer on display all the time.

I say praise God for the women of our Church who wear the scarf and for these two young women who wore their hijab!

BTW Father Loya, while not having said anything yet about the scarf, has consistently encouraged both men and women to dress modestly. Men are to wear ties and women are to wear modest dresses and or skirts and blouses. Most adhere to this, but then...

Dan Lauffer

Dear Dan,

Excellent points, my Professorial Friend!

Early Christians wore their baptismal robes to Church. The rich covered up their affluence and the poor covered up their rags - everyone was equal before God!

In the Ethiopian Church, men wear white caps as well.

God bless,

Alex

Ah, my fellow Franciscan - now there is a wonderful explanation, indeed! I love it!