Dear Amanda, Thank you for getting in touch. I am happy to know you had a fruitful retreat. It was nice to see both you and the other members of your family there. It seems just the other day that you and your sister were little toddlers when I used to visit your parents. Your questions are very pertinent ones. You have made some interesting observations, all of which demonstrate that you have a strong sensus fidei,1 and this is very important in the spiritual life. I offer the following reflections for your consideration. Female Dignity and the Veil The first point that occurs to me is that in our Catholic religion, all things holy are veiled. A veil is placed over the chalice, over the ciborium, over the tabernacle. The priest is veiled with sacred vestments when he is at the altar. The nun is veiled when consecrated to God. Veiling is a sign of respect for the dignity of God’s presence. A woman does not clothe her body because she is afraid or ashamed of it, but because of its great dignity. It is a mystery, it is precious; it is sacred; it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Why are women so special, you might be asking yourself? Like the tabernacle which contains the Bread of Life, a woman is the tabernacle in which God creates new life. Because of this, we can say that the female body is, in a certain sense, more sacred than the male body, for the simple reason that it is capable of bringing to life a new human person created in the image and likeness of God, and destined to see God for all eternity. Reflecting on what he calls this “frightful privilege” of woman, G. K. Chesterton was moved to write, in his habitual provocative and paradoxical style, that considering this attentively, “no one… 25 March 2023 Feast of the Annunciation A woman does not acquire a man’s dignity by having her head uncovered, but rather loses her own. St John Chrysostom 10
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