Christian veiling

[BoomBamSparkle]

I couldn't find a Christianity topic, so I'm posting here. Mods, feel free to move it if there's a better place! I grew up agnostic but culturally Christian. My daughter and I have been exploring Christianity together—reading the Bible, Glen Scrivener course, and going to church. Now she's asked if she can wear a veil (not a hijab, its called a lace mantilla) for praying said yes why not then she has asked what about at school. I think school might not allow it. Does anyone know about veiling in the Bible? Thanks!

Paul's epistle to the Corinthians 11:16 concerns woman covering the head. In Italy, there are usually shawls available on entering the larger churches and cathedrals that tourists can use to cover their heads, bare arms and shoulders as sign of modesty. The mantilla is a lighter fabric that serves this purpose of covering the head, neck and arms, it could be face veil but that's not its intended purpose. I believe there is mention in the Torah that woman should be veiled once married but I'm not familiar with the Jewish teachings on this.

God bless you on your journey. My advice would be:

Get a modern translation of the Bible (NRSV has already been mentioned). Before reading, pray that the Lord will ‘open the eyes of your heart’ to give you understanding. Use your Bible alongside a good Commentary. All these things are freely available online through such things as BibleGateway or GotQuestions.

If you haven’t already done so, find a good Christian church where you feel ‘at home’ and where there is a thriving Youth Ministry for your daughter. It matters not what Denomination as all it needs is good, solid Bible teaching and that you feel it’s ‘home’. Please avoid Mormon, JW, Spiritualist, or any cult or sect that is not soundly based in Scripture.

Make use of excellent free Apps - if you have dyslexia, then listening to the Bible, may be useful. There are Apps that read the Bible in a year. Prayer Apps such as Lectio365 are also very helpful with a reading and prayer for waking and before sleeping.

The King James Version is written in such beautiful English people sometimes thought Shakespeare had written it I think.

I thought it was because men were distracted by the glorious long thick hair of the women in those days because they were attracted to women because of it. St Paul did not want that distraction.

I think in the Catholic faith, they're only worn in church or for religiously significant special occasions. I would discourage the wearing of it at home or school. It's a rather old fashioned practice now.

If you want an accessible Bible I think lots of churches still use the NIV or the ESV.

I think the easiest way to read the Bible is to get the You version Bible app. It's free, has loads of versions of the Bible plus it has a load of Bible reading plans you can follow to help you read it.

Some great videos too to explain things, and on the home page there's a daily reflection and Bible verse.

I was a child in the 1950s and used to have to go to church (C of E) on Sunday. In those days men often wore a hat outside, but removed them in church. However women wore a hat when going to church and little girls like myself did so too. It never occurred to me to question it.

Thank goodness someone else remembers. A Sunday best hat ideally but a headscarf (as worn by the late Queen) would suffice. Regular CofE village church.

I'm not knowledgeable about head covering in mainstream Christianity but I had a Christian brethren friend who wore a headscarf and long skirt to school.

I would recommend getting a daily bible reading/study app or guidebook dinner the course of the year you cover lots of areas. Also try out a few churches to find one who you feel comfortable in, it's such a personal thing, not everyone likes a big church with youth programmes, some prefer a smaller more intimate congregation. Where I work we have a few young people but they attend with the older people and a fully integrated into church life

Now she's asked if she can wear a veil (not a hijab, its called a lace mantilla) for praying said yes why not then she has asked what about at school.

OP no one ever used to wear mantillas at school, only at Mass.

I was a child in the 1960s and recognise what PPs have said about men removing hats in chuch and women (and girls if it was a special occassion) wearing hats. But my understanding at the time was that it was simply out of respect- you would not go to church dressed in scruffy clothes, you wore your 'sunday best' and if your were female, that meant a hat. I remember visiting a cathedral (unplanned) and my mum apologised to a rather confused priest because I was wearing shorts.

I was an air cadet in the 90s and when we went to church services the boys removed their berets but the girls kept theirs on. Not just a thing from the 50s!

OP, I think the mantilla would be lovely to wear to pray in! I knew Christian people who wore head coverings to church but none did to school. I believe a Christian should dress modestly, but I think "modest" is cultural and depends where you live.

I would be extremely wary of unwittingly leading her into the realms of, at best 'competitive faith' and at worst, a cult.

Being a 'better' member of one's religion causes a lot of issues in the secondary schools of the multicultural town where I taught. It was particularly prevalent among Muslim girls, but it's mistaken and inaccurate to think that it ends there. It doesn't.

If you're accompanying your daughter in this thirst for knowledge, you need to be pointing out where some of the things you read are not relevant or correct in today's world.

There is so much misogyny in faith texts, including the Bible, and as the adult it's down to you to point out these things. Certainly you shouldn't be encouraging or facilitating her to follow such things as veiling, which are supremely misogynistic. It all looks romantic to her at the moment, but it really isn't.

You need to ensure moderation and rationality. She's at a vulnerable age.

A lot of women wear head coverings in my church: some hats, some scarves, some mantillas. I often do, but not always. We would never wear a mantilla in everyday life, it's only while in church. A vanishingly small number of Christian women veil to pray at home, for Catholics who veil (which is a small minority nationally, although more common in some areas) it's associated with being in the presence of the Eucharist. If your daughter really wants to veil and you don't mind, I would encourage her to try it out at church first.

OP I have just been reading that there has been a resurgence of Catholic women wearing mantillas to Mass ( I think in the USA). I expect this may have been influencing your DD.
www.thefp.com/p/the-young-catholic-women-bringing

If she's getting this idea from social media it could just be from other cultures... I live in Central America and plenty of women here cover their heads (usually in the sort of simple headscarf someone shared a pic of early in the thread, but sometimes with lace, though not the long fancy type!)

I see it loads on Sundays or when driving past churches on any day, but it's also not unusual in everyday wear. It's not just Catholics here; there are lots of Evangelists and some other denominations, too. It is mostly villagers and lower class people, from what I can tell. Rich city-dwellers don't seem to do this, or if they do, it's only for church.

I doubt your daughter is specifically watching TikToks from my little country over here, just noting that it isn't necessarily a super conservative thing. I do think it's really interesting, though. I assume ladies wearing hats to weddings is an offshoot of this, but I may be wrong.

I'm Jewish, though a polytheist, Jewish women will cover their hair in Conservative and Orthodox synagogues and it's all about just as you say, not to be a sexual distractant to men.
Orthodox women may also cover their hair once they marry, for the same reasons. It's ridiculous, Western men have developed self-control. It's the same mentality as the hijab.
Here read this if want chapter and verse
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hair-coverings-for-married-women/

The woman’s hair is her veil

Catholic here and the lace mantilla is making a comeback.

Rastafarian women cover their hair for prayer, and during rastafarian services / celebrations.
My sister knew a woman who'd grown up in an Armish or Mennonite community, and though she'd moved away and stopped with most of the traditions she always popped her hand on top of her head when she prayed to cover her crown.
There could be some competitive piety going on, but it's also possible your daughter wants to mark certain activities, like prayer, as precious. And even to mark herself as precious. When I think of the pornified culture that our teens have grown up in, I can see why something like this would appeal to your daughter.

I think women veiling has more to do with culture and with the place of women in that culture.

Sikhs (men and women) cover their heads as a sense of submission to a higher power when entering a place of worship (Gurdwara).

Veiling for Christians, Jews and Muslims who follow the tradition outside a place of worship it is more about submission to men / place in society. So men will wear a head covering in a mosque but generally not outside.

Catholic women used to wear a hat or mantilla in church but not outside, men removed their hats.

Orthodox Jews have different rules about head coverings, boys start to wear a kippur from age 3. Women start to cover their head after marriage.

Just for a bit of fun, Jehovah's witness women cover their heads when they are studying / teaching / witnessing to a man.

So why does she want to wear it? Is it to mark that she is praying, is it to show she is subservient to a man or is it just a fashion accessory?

As for school. I doubt they will allow a mantilla and certainly not a mantilla comb due to health and safety. Most schools have policies about hijab being tucked in @balloonsintrees is obviously the expert.