are supremely devoted to maintaining rank, for rank is of God and it allows every creature to prosper in its place. So, when St Paul says the woman should veil herself because of the angels, he is essentially saying that by veiling herself she is giving everyone a visible witness to the hierarchical structure and order of the universe in which all things flow from God and are ordered back to Him. This brings up another very important point, Amanda, which I invite you to consider very carefully. If we do understand by “angels” the priest and other sacred ministers, by wearing the veil at Mass you are being a very great help and edification to them. There is one obvious reason, already mentioned, in that the feminine beauty of either your hair or face will not be a distraction for them if you are veiled. But there is another, much deeper reason. By wearing the veil, you manifest authority: yours, that of your husband (if and when you have one), and thereby that of all God’s children. So when the priest sees a veiled woman at Mass, he sees a soul respectful of the God-given order of things. And since the priest too is one of the faithful, he actually sees in her an image of himself, in submission to God, and that reminds him of the devotion and obedience he must have to the Creator of all things. When a priest sees the veil, in other words, he sees the Church in submission to Christ, and he is reminded that he too is part of that Church, and therefore that he too owes submission to Christ, in particular by accepting the revealed dogma and Tradition and all that goes with it, instead of trying to remake the Church in his own image, as we see, sadly, many clergy doing today. Finally, when a priest gives Holy Communion to a modestly clothed woman wearing the veil, he beholds an image of the soul that humbles herself before God, and God, acknowledging her humility, deigns to fill her with His divinity. We could apply here the marvellous words of St Elizabeth of the Trinity: “It is in the very depths that the divine impact takes place, where the abyss of our nothingness encounters the Abyss of mercy, the immensity of the all of God”.6 There is so much to learn from the veil, and so much is lost when the veil is lost! Weddings On this topic of female attire in churches, Amanda, I would like to say a word on weddings. Weddings are no exception to the rule of modesty. If you are ever part of a bridal party (or when you yourself get married), a bride and her 16
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