Who is a Traditional Catholic? – by Father Carota

Please read below the great post by Father Carota.  He does an outstanding job describing what a traditional Catholic feels like now that one has recently discovered what the Church used to be like before Vatican II.  The traditionalist movement is what God wants, there is no doubt about it.  Please pray for all our priests and religious that they never lose, or re-discover or even discover for the first time, their supernatural faith.  St. John Vianney Ora Pro Nobis.

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Who Is A Traditional Catholic?

January 31, 2016

Who Is A Traditional Catholic?

As traditional Catholics, trying to be faithful to the Catholic Faith and to extend Christendom, we need to take time to reflect on what direction we should take at this very serious time in the world’s history to see what we should do.

To start with, we need to define who we are and what is our mission in this short life.

Here are 20 things that many of us Traditional Catholics have discovered and can identify with and what have made us into who we are today.

1. We are simply Catholics who have discovered the buried treasures of God.
2. It started with finding about the Mass of All Ages, (also called the Latin Mass or the Tridentine Mass), when Pope Benedict promulgated the Summorum Pontificum.
3. From this we have discovered the GREAT difference between New Mass, (Also called Novus Ordo Mass), which most of us have only know, and that of the Latin Mass.
4. We have discovered, to our great surprise, that for the first time in Catholic history the Roman Missal was drastically changed by Bugnini and the Concilium, with the support of Pope Paul VI and promulgated in 1969.
5. We have found out that the Latin Mass has been part of the Roman Rite Catholics for centuries and centuries and developed very slowly in tiny increments over these centuries from the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.
6. We have found out that much of the New Mass, (Canon # 2 which is almost exclusively used at all Catholic Masses), and the new rubrics were created by Bugnini and the Concilium.
7. We have found out that the protestant advisers at Vatican II were very successful in helping put together the New Mass and saying it into the vernacular.
8. We can see clearly the emphasis of the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary at the Latin Mass.
9. We clearly see that the emphasis in the New Mass is put on the Last Supper and “do this in remembrance” like the protestant Martin Luther desired it to be.
10. We clearly see the protestant emphasis on the congregation and the presider over the assembly versus the emphasis in the Latin Mass of the priest offering Sacrifice in Persona Christi.
11. We experience the man centered gathering at the New Mass where people come to feel good, to look at the priest they like, to do what they want, dress how they want, (sexy women dressed immodestly and men poorly dressed in shorts), talk when they want, hear the homily they want and text when they are bored.  Where as in the Latin Mass, it is very quiet, most people dress well and are respectful of Jesus in the Tabernacle, kneel in prayer and women wear veils.
12. We notice people arrive early at the Latin Mass to pray and stay after to give thanks. In the Novus Ordo Mass, some people come late and leave early.
13. At the Novus Ordo Mass we hear mostly man pleasing songs, (hip hop music), with choirs showing off in front of church.  Where as at the Latin Mass, the Choir is hidden up in the Choir loft just to support the Holy Latin Mass with organ music and gregorian chant or other ancient sacred hymns, (and many of the songs are in Latin).
14. Then we found out that the New Sacrament Rites of the Catholic Church have eliminated much of the very very important prayers of the Rites, (like exorcisms against the devil), and have been replace by new prayers and rubrics.
15. We see the huge difference contained in the words and rubrics of the Pre-Vatican II Sacraments and for this reason have our children receive the Sacraments in the ancient Latin Rites.
16. We experience the watered down preaching at the New Mass and the deep spiritual and practical preaching at the Latin Mass.
17. We see a lot of talk on love in the Novus Ordo Church but with very little love for saving souls from the devil purgatory or Hell.  But the love from the Novus Ordo Catholics is rarely shown to us traditional Catholics, instead they hate us, persecute us and make it almost impossible to have the Sacraments in the ancient Rites that Pope Benedict allowed all Catholics to have since Summorum Pontificum in 2007.
18. We have heard a lot of talk about Ecology and Social Justice at the Novus Ordo Church, but without ever going to the root of these problems, which is personal SIN.
19. We have seen that changes in catechesis has produced the fruits of almost all of our families becoming atheist, agnostic, protestant or non-denominationals.  They no longer believe in sin, hear rock or rap music, dress immodestly, live with anyone they want, have children all over the place, get abortions and have serious vices of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and pornography.  And they see nothing wrong with their own sins or with homosexual sex or “marriage”.
20. We traditional Catholics believe in the 2000 years of Catholic teachings, practices and tradition.  We believe sin is sin as Jesus taught.  We believe in the Holy Bible as the actual authoritative Word of God.  We believe in obeying the laws of God contained in our Catholic faith.  We believe in Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, the devil and his demons.  We believe that one mortal sin not repented of and confessed, will lead us to eternal damnation.More or less this is what we have discovered and believe.  Many of us believe that the Vatican II Council was a disaster.  The New Church people believe that it is the best thing that happened in the history of the Catholic Church and want to implement it more and more or have an even more liberal Council Vatican III.On a whole, we traditional Catholics believe that the heresies of modernism, secularism and progressivism, condemned by Pope Pius X, have caused all the problems in the Catholic Church and is very much alive and active today in almost every part of the Church’s Sacraments and hierarchy.  The heresy of modernism was condemned in the encyclical Pascendi Domini Gregis by Pope Pius X Sept. 8, 1907

Proclamation of the superiority of Catholicism

Please read the outstanding article below about the need to reclaim our Catholic heritage and pride.  We need to get our dignity back.  The only way to do this is through masculine leadership.  We need Catholic men to put down their porn, put down their remote, pick up your bible and your Aquinas, etc. and proclaim the truth to all.

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http://www.onepeterfive.com/no-more-scraps-regaining-rightful-catholic-pride/

No More Scraps: Regaining Rightful Catholic Pride

Eric Sammons
November 24, 2015

The movie Braveheart dramatizes the heroic struggle, led by the commoner William Wallace, for Scottish independence. In one scene, the Scottish nobles gather after some initial victories by William Wallace over the English. The nobles begin bickering over how best to negotiate with the English King, Edward Longshanks, for they fear losing their lands and moneys if they push Longshanks too hard. Disgusted, Wallace begins to walk out of the room when he is stopped and asked his plans:

Wallace: I will invade England and defeat the English on their own ground.

Lord Craig: Invade? That’s impossible.

Wallace: Why? Why is that impossible? You’re so concerned with squabbling for the scraps from Longshanks’ table that you’ve missed your God-given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with possession. I think your possession exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.

I’m often reminded of this scene when I see how Catholic leaders today – clerical or lay – act in relation to the world. Although the Catholic Church has been given the words of everlasting life, most Catholic leaders seem content to squabble over the scraps from the world’s table – working to make Catholicism palatable to polite society, simply satisfied with the continued existence of the Church and doing nothing to expand her footprint. When anyone suggests that perhaps we should “invade England,” i.e., resist the world’s lies completely and work for its total conversion to Catholicism, these same leaders are quick to say, “That’s impossible,” for all sorts of timid reasons – “No one will listen to us,” “We have to meet people where they are,” and “We can’t be triumphalistic.” But it is fear of rejection – and fear of losing their current comfortable positions – that is driving their timidity. All the while faithful Catholics are denied their God-given right to something better – a full and unadulterated proclamation and practice of Catholicism.

What would such a proclamation and practice look like? Here are some starters:

Full-throated defense of the Church’s moral teaching. No more tepid justifications for why we should go along with the death march that is our modern culture: “We must accompany people on their journey.” “We are just making a pastoral, not a doctrinal, change.” Instead we need a robust defense and explanation for why the Church’s moral teachings are the only sane ones in an insane world, and an exhortation to follow them, that we may find true joy and peace.

Condemnation of error and those that promote it. No more acting as if orthodoxy is an option, while souls are falling deeper and deeper into sin and error. Leaders need to treat theological error for the serious danger it is: something that can separate us from God for all eternity. Further, those who promote error need to be publicly and strongly resisted, not given tenured positions at “Catholic” universities (or promoted to Cardinalate dioceses).

A liturgy that reflects the grandeur of what it is celebrating. No more insipid, uninspiring liturgies that either would be more at home in a Gilbert & Sullivan show or reflect a deep-seated apathy toward the Faith. We need liturgical celebrations to be reverent, serious, and awe-inspiring. Did I mention reverent?

Proclamation of the superiority of Catholicism. No more acting as if every Tom, Dick and Martin Luther has more religious wisdom than Thomas Aquinas and Augustine put together. We need to start proclaiming that the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ, and that eternal salvation comes through her. Souls are depending on it.

A concern for the next life more than this life. No more treating recycling campaigns and government social programs as if they are more important than the eternal destination of souls. Our sights have been set so low over the past few decades that we forget that it is only the Church that has the means to solve the greatest problems in existence: sin and death. The guiding principle of every action of a Church leader must be “Will this help or hinder souls getting to Heaven?”

For far too long Church leaders – again, lay as well as clerical – have thought that their positions exist to provide them with prestige, invitations to dine with the Important People, and as a means to book deals, TV shows, and speaking engagements. In reality their positions exist to provide people with the path to eternal life. Only if they stop squabbling for the world’s scraps and instead “invade England” –  i.e., confront the world head-on and work for its complete conversion – can the Church fulfill her mandate, given to her by Christ, to “make disciples of all nations” and thus conquer, instead of conform to, the world.

Modernism Stinks

He wanted the TLM!

Good Definition of a Traddie

Autumn Ember Days Begin Wednesday!

Ember Day Set for Wednesday the 23rd of September

Don’t forget, Wednesday is the first Ember Day for the Autumn season.

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross).

The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class. At the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities: in June for a bountiful harvest, in September for a rich vintage, and in December for the seeding; hence their feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feri vindimiales.

The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose. At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The “Liber Pontificalis” ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Gelasius (492-496) speaks of all four.

This pope also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember week–these were formerly given only at Easter. Before Gelasius the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread. They were brought into England by St. Augustine; into Gaul and Germany by the Carlovingians. Spain adopted them with the Roman Liturgy in the eleventh century. They were introduced by St. Charles Borromeo into Milan.

The Eastern Church does not know them. The present Roman Missal, in the formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve God.

— Catholic Encyclopedia

Lighten Up Traddies!

Father Carota makes a good point about traditional parishes: they can be a bit serious and stuffy. Having attended at least five different traditional parishes, we can attest to this fact. Traditional Catholics seem to shy away from fun and frivolity and thus aren’t welcoming to newcomers and others that don’t believe the same way we do. We need to lighten up and live with more joy. This will serve to attract more Novusites to the tradition which will only help the Church and the souls of the faithful. So lets get out there and have some fun! Having fun isn’t a sin!

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http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2015/09/07/traditional-catholic-fun/

September 7, 2015

Traditional Catholic Fun

I have a good friend who is a priest in Italy.  Although he is not a traditional priest, there is much to learn from him and the Italian way of life.  In his parish, in Lodi Italy, next to the church is a garden that contains an Italian Bar which serves cafe lattes, expresso and other drinks.  Also in they have a Bocci Ball court and tables and chairs where people can sit and visit.

Every Sunday afternoon, the parishioners gather to play Bocci Ball, visit and to drink expresso.  There is a great sense of love and community that goes beyond the Holy Mass.

I have always strongly believed in importance of Sacred Liturgies and no visiting in church.   But I also strongly believe in having a loving community.  Many of the saints said that it is not sufficient to not sin to get to heaven, but that we need to honestly love each other.

A week ago we had a baby shower at the parish with food and sports.  But it began to rain so hard we had to rush inside.  It stormed for over an hour.  Some of the braver young men continued to play soccer the whole time in the rain.  When they went home, they told their parents that that was the greatest time they had in the whole summer, getting wet and muddy.  (We are getting a lot of rain here in Phoenix and I credit it to the Latin Mass and the modesty of the women who go to the Latin Mass.)Yesterday Evenings Soccer Game at St. Catherine’s

Just talked with a farmers wife in Escalon California and she said that a lot of the wells keep going dry in the San Joaquin Valley.  It was the farmers and farm workers who kicked me out of my parish because they did not like modesty in church and secondarily, the Latin Mass.  When I was at St. Patrick’s, every time I led the parish in prayer for rain, it always rained.  Just one week I remember when our prayers were not answered.  People noticed it too.

Back to the topic.  At that baby shower, a man, who is trying to become traditional, said that he did not see a lot of happiness in us traditional Catholics.  Joy and love seemed to be lacking.  The children are happy, but the parents just do not seem content.

Yesterday’s Basketball

Then a young husband, who has been involved for many years here at St. Catherine’s, came to talk to me too.  He brought up the exact same topic.  We talked about how we are trying so hard to stay away from sin, keep our children innocent and to pray in a way that pleases God, yet at the same time, this makes us more serious, more judgmental and closed in on ourselves.  He wanted to propose that we try make a greater effort to love each other.

So I really want to encourage all of us traditional Catholics to organize events, sports and potlucks where we can genuinely get to know each other and to love and care for each other. We want to keep the quiet, the reverence in Church at the Latin Mass.  But after, we want to reach out to each other and show genuine love and concern for each other.  We all need more love, God’s love, family love and holy human love.Yesterdays Volley Ball and Food In the Distance.

‘Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.‘  Galatians 6:10.  This says to me that we need to start by being kind to other Catholics.

As many of you know, every Sunday at 6:00 pm, fathers and sons get together with me to play soccer and basket ball.  Now the Templarios are playing volley ball and eating together at the same time.  It will take some work to put in picnic tables and permanent volley ball poles, but it is all worthwhile.  Love, Charity, cost.  I think that God was so happy seeing us all play and have a good time together.

We are so blessed to be traditional Catholics who try to be Holy, Reverent and Loving.  Tomorrow we have a Missa Cantata for Our Lady’s Birthday, Sept. 8 at 5:30.  But we also have a party for her afterwards in the hall to celebrate and help us love all of Mary’s children here at St. Catherine’s Parish.  All are invited.

Duties We Owe to Holy Mother Church – St. Peter Julian Eymard – Part I

http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2015/08/06/traditional-catholic-duties-1/

Traditional Catholic Duties 1

Posted on August 6, 2015 by fc

Here is a summary of the duties of all Catholic Christians toward God’s Holy Church as well as the secular society using primarily the writings of St. Peter Julian Eymard.

EVERY CHRISTIAN has to fulfill towards the Church the four duties of the Fourth Commandment of God. As spiritual fatherhood is greater than physical fatherhood, so our duties towards the Church must enjoy primacy of honor and of fidelity.

Now, the Fourth Commandment directs us to honor our parents, to love them, to obey them, and to assist them in their needs: such are the duties of Christians towards the Pope, the bishops, and the priests, each according to the order of his dignity and of his mission in the Church.

Honor. – We must honor the Pope as the visible Vicar of Jesus Christ. He should be the Teacher of teachers, the Father of fathers, the Master of masters.  That is why he use to wear the tiara, the triple crown of Jesus Christ signifying ruler, sanctifier and prophet. To the Sovereign Pontiff, therefore, we owe sovereign honor and supreme respect; the Pope is to us in all our conduct what the Blessed Sacrament is to us in all our adoration. With the pope stands or falls Christianity. We are either papal or we are nothing.

Then to the Bishop, we owe high honor and profound respect; he should be the hand, the heart, the mouthpiece of the Pope, and of Jesus Christ; he is a successor of the apostles, seated on the steps of the pontifical throne and sharing in the spiritual royalty of the Sovereign Pontiff.

To the pastors, to the priests, we owe religious respect and angelical honors; they should be the “angels” of the New Testament, the ambassadors of heaven, the ministers of God.

To despise a faithful priest, is to sin against him, which is a sin against Jesus Christ Himself. “He who despises you despises Me,” said the Savior. He has said through the Prophets: “Lay no hand on them … servants anointed.” A violation of this command calls for the most terrible chastisements. For he who sins against the priest strikes at the teacher, the mainstay, the channel of Catholic Faith; and he is himself justly punished by the weakening and loss of faith.

And since, usually, there is no remission of sins without the priest, no Eucharist without the priesthood, and no charity without this fire which feeds it unceasingly, he who no longer believes in the priesthood is lost. That is why the enemies of Jesus Christ attack the members of His priesthood with such treachery and fury; they correctly perceive such an attack as a most effective means to paralyze the power of faith and destroy religion in the heart of the faithful.

The spiritual battle of the antichrist will center on the priesthood and the eternal Sacrifice, said the Prophet Daniel. This battle has already begun and is growing in intensity. Let the faithful, therefore, beware of the devilish stratagems of their enemies who, in order to destroy faith in their priests, never cease to point out their human frailties and, if need be, to calumniate them so as to render them despicable and an object of scandal to the faithful. Let the faithful close ranks around their faithful priests as around their spiritual commanders; let them defend their divine mission and honor their priesthood; let them, out of filial piety, overlook the failings of human nature to which Jesus Christ leaves His priests subject in order to keep them humble and to oblige the Christian to practice charity and to supernaturalize his faith; let them, out of sorrow, pray for those priests that have fallen.

Love. – We love the mother that has given us life, the father that provides and protects, devoting himself to our good. Similarly, the Church is the Mother of our souls. She has brought us into the world for Jesus Christ amidst the sufferings of martyrdom. She gives us spiritual life; a life than no one can take away from us (one can only lose it by his own sins). She educates us for life eternal that through Jesus Christ we may share God’s very glory and happiness. As a tender and watchful Mother, She guides and sustains our steps amidst the perils and dangers of life, defends us against the attacks of our enemies, dresses our wounds, works and suffers with us; and She will not leave us until our eyes are closed to the light of day, our last words have crossed our dying lips, and our heart has stopped beating.

Then, taking our souls, She lifts them to the bosom of God, their Creator and Savior, after having purified and blessed them and clothed them with Her merits. Her love will even follow the soul to Purgatory; there She can still use Her power of expiation and of prayer. Her mission of salvation stops only at the gates of Heaven. Who can help loving such a good and tender Mother?

Who can also help respecting the Pope’s office, the common Father of the faithful, to whom Jesus Christ has allowed us to have? And who will refuse to the Bishops and priests, the shepherds of our souls, the filial piety that lightens their burden, formidable even to angels, that encourages their zeal, consoles them in their tribulations and comforts them in their sufferings? They are fathers, fathers of an immense family, fathers with no support other than the Divine Providence that has sent them into the world like Jesus Christ.

Our Lady Of The Snow – August 5th

http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2015/08/05/our-lady-of-the-snow-august-5th/

Posted on August 5, 2015

A feast celebrated on 5 August to commemorate the dedication of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. The church was originally built by Pope Liberius (352-366) and was called after him “Basilica Liberii” or “Liberiana”. It was restored by Pope Sixtus III (432-440) and dedicated to Our Lady. From that time on it was known as “Basilica S. Mariæ” or “Mariæ Majoris”; since the seventh century it was known also as “Maria ad Præsepe”.

The appellation “ad Nives” (of the snow) originated a few hundred years later, as did also the legend which gave this name to the church. The legend runs thus: During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to Our lady. They prayed to her that she might make known to them in what manner they were to dispose of their property in her honour.

On 5 August, during the night, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill and, in obedience to a vision which they had the same night, they built a) basilica, in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later, not even by Sixtus III in his eight-lined dedicatory inscription [edited by de Rossi, “Inscript. Christ.”, II, I (Rome, 1888), 71; Grisar (who has failed to authenticate the alleged miracle), “Analecta Romana”, I (Rome, 1900), 77; Duchesne, “Liber Pontificalis”, I (Paris, 1886), 235; Marucchi, “Eléments d’archéologie chrétienne”, III (Paris and Rome, 1902), 155, etc.] it would seem that the legend has no historical basis. Originally the feast was celebrated only at Sta Maria Maggiore; in the fourteenth century it was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pius V. Clement VIII raised it from a feast of double rite to double major.

The mass is the common one for feasts of the Blessed Virgin; the office is also the common one of the Bl. Virgin, with the exception of the second Nocturn, which is an account of the alleged miracle. The congregation, which Benedict XIV instituted for the reform of the Breviary in 1741, proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast should again receive its original name, “Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ”.

Found in the Catholic Encyclopedia which you can read online here

You can read a nice commentary on the feast day here and here.

Veiling Indicates Sacredness

It has been taught that when God created Eve, he physically touched her while placing the soul in the body thus making her sacred. As a result, women’s bodies are sacred (besides the fact that they have the ability to grow human life inside their womb). The Catholic Church covers those items that are sacred. Thus, it makes sense to wear a veil while in the presence of our creator. Please read the beautiful article about why women should wear a mantilla at mass.

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https://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/why-women-wear-mantillas-in-church/

Why Women Wear Mantillas In Church

Posted on January 15, 2014 by kathleen

Chapel veils, or mantillas (which comes from the word manta, meaning cape) are typically circular or triangular shaped pieces of black or white lace that are draped over a woman’s head when attending Mass, or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Traditionally, the black veils were worn by married or widowed women, while the white veils were worn by young girls, or unmarried women, but there are no hard and fast rules about this.

“Therefore ought the woman to have a power over her head, because of the angels.” (1 Corinthians 11:10)

St. Paul reminds us that as Christ did the will, and sought the honour of God the Father, so the Christian should avow his subjection to Christ, doing His will and seeking His glory. We should seek a fitting demeanour in our dress and habit, avoiding everything that may be dishonourable before the Throne of God. By covering her head with a veil (or mantilla) the woman is agreeing to her beautiful and unique feminine status. She is showing respect and reverence for the holy angels too, always invisibly present before the Blessed Sacrament, who will come to her side in love and protection. This veiling of the woman before the Lord Our God, may also be a humble imitation of the angels’ behaviour, who when they sang the praises of God, and adored and glorified his perfections, covered their faces and their feet with their wings. (Isaiah 6:2)

From the very earliest days of Christianity, wearing chapel veils as head coverings when entering a Church to pray and adore God, was a common practice among faithful women. Since the Second Vatican Council this practice has no longer been requisite for women attending the Novus Ordo Mass, yet contrary to what many believe, it is still very much supported and encouraged by the Church. Many Catholic women of all ages are now rediscovering this beautiful, age-old tradition. At Latin Masses, and in particular at the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, generally all the women in the congregation can be seen with their heads veiled as a sign of reverence, modesty and piety in their recognition that they are praying in the Sacramental Presence of God.

This act of partially concealing a woman’s physical beauty (especially her lovely hair) is so that the beauty of God may be glorified instead. A veil is both a symbol and a mystical sacrifice that invites the woman wearing it to ascend the ladder of sanctity. It is also a way of emulating the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her humility, purity and submissiveness.

Moreover, the mantilla, or chapel veil, signifies the role of women as a life-bearing vessel. The chalice holding the blood of Christ is veiled until the Preparation of the Gifts, and the tabernacle veiled between Masses. Both of these vessels hold the Eucharist – the very life of Christ. In a similar fashion, woman was endowed with the gift of bearing human life.

“This is why the female body should be veiled, because everything which is sacred calls for veiling. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he veiled his face. Why did he veil his face? Because he had spoken to God, and at that very moment there was a sacredness that called for veiling. Now… feminists after Vatican II suddenly discovered that when women go to Church veiled, it is a sign of their inferiority. The man takes off his hat and woman puts on a veil. My goodness, how they have lost the sense of the supernatural! Veiling indicates sacredness and it is a special privilege of the woman that she enters church veiled.” Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand

“Reclaiming the Sacred” has three articles giving some deeply insightful thoughts about women who wear mantillas, using the captivating comparison and metaphor of the crown jewels in the Tower of London! http://reclaimingthesacred.com/2013/12/26/unwrapping-a-veil-of-mystery-the-mantilla/

Here, with a H/T to “ragazzagallese”, are some of the many websites where beautiful mantillas and veils may be purchased: Zelie’s Roses and Loving Mantillas. And this one: http://rosamysticamantilla.com/