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As a woman I am grateful for the custom of head covering when entering into the presence of Our Lord and God. It is such a simple, easy, act and one which allows me to express respect, devotion and humility in the presence of my Creator. Although, admittedly of lesser value, it is much easier than attending daily mass or praying for hours, but it affords the opportunity for me to say to my God, "I love You, I adore You and I feel my humility in Your presence. I cover my head in Your presence to show You and remind myself and others that I respect You and know that I am quite small in Your presence. It is a humble expression of my love for You."

It seems that the floodgates for mediocrity have been opened in our church since the 1960's. This breaks my heart because there is so much devotion and respect which we can express to God by way of simple, little, acts which are now either eschewed or unknown by Catholic parishioners.

I am very grateful to our pre-Vatican II church and my parents who  taught me various ways of always remembering the awe and mystery of my Creator by performing little acts of respect toward Him in my daily life. I am only sorry that those things are no longer taught to our young members.

By bowing my head, reciting ejaculations, dressing respectfully, covering my head and genuflecting, to name just a few, I remind myself and God of where I fit into the grand scheme of things and express respect for where and from Whom I came. And as a special bonus, I hurt no one and do not interfere with any one's faith in the process.

Why then all the hoopla and furor over such a small, modest, little act? When I enter my local church to attend Mass knowing that I am the only woman or one of perhaps two wearing a chapel veil I am inwardly saddened, but not offended. I genuinely believe that we are all here working toward the same goal at our own pace and level. I am only sorry that the other women in my congregation are missing the ability to express love and reverence to God in such a simple and modest manner.

Each time we eliminate these small acts of subservience to Our Lord we all loose. Collectively there is less respect shown to God and the resulting outcome is that subconsciously these omissions undermine our awareness and devalue our estimation of the power and grandeur which is He. Put quite simply we forget what we owe our loving God.

I am reminded of an incident I observed in Mass this summer. Down the center isle came an extraordinary minister dressed in a brightly-flowered, Hawaiian shirt (shirttail out), Jamaica shorts, and feet clad sock-less in sneakers. As I watched him saunter down the isle, arms swinging in a most casual stride I thought to myself, how could this man dress this way and approach the Blessed Sacrament so casually if he believed in the True Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist?

This incident brought home to me the fact that those little acts of respect are what help to keep us connected to the reality of our existence. By replacing them with a casual, everyday approach the importance and grandeur of the Blessed Sacrament slowly slips away. We are ego driven creatures in need of constant reminders of the respect and love we owe our God.

In view of this consequence the importance of the fine lines of cannon law pails. What is more important than faith and the help the one, true, Catholic and Apostolic Church can offer it's member in this pursuit?

…I began to sense a call to cover my head. To remind me that I am in a holy place and the lace covering my peripheral vision reminds me to direct my worship to the Lord and away from the random thoughts which plague me at the worst possible time.

…Finally, I reverted to the faith of my childhood, and it seems it was permanent, and maybe something in me was seeking an outward sign. And outward commitment to something I had internally realized.  Believe you me, I am feminine through and through. But something happens when I enter God's house; I understand that I am a woman; and perhaps someday I will be the woman He created me to be. I am a woman in His image and everywhere, I see His mother upheld as an example of femininity. She is veiled. She always points the way to Jesus and in doing so, she is a leader among all women, as well as men.

I heard the call to imitate Our Lady and I have found, through wearing the veil, that no matter what I am outside of Mass, when I arrive to worship, I am a woman of God, and nothing else matters.  The veil is a sign of modesty and submission to God. It is a reminder of the holiness of our location, and I do need this reminder at times.

The reality is this; wearing the veil is a personal devotion. God may speak to us all in different ways, and maybe some of us need the equivalent of blinders used on horses to keep our attention forward. I do not want anyone to see me as other than a sinner in need of correction, for ultimately, that is why I veil.  There are many acceptable reasons to veil, and they may vary from person to person. For myself, it's my vanity and a certain reminder that I am a woman after Mary's own heart and God has willed it this way. He has willed that I be a Catholic woman, to follow in her footsteps and point the way to Jesus for others. I don't have to be a religious sister for this; I need only recognize that as a woman, I have a duty in God's service, as do we all.

We do not cover our heads out of submission to men. I abhor the thought! We do not cover our heads to stand out or seem more holy than others. We cover our heads out of respect for the Lord who is present.

If we as women go to visit the Pope, we are to veil ourselves. How much greater is Jesus than His Vicar? Isn't the decision to veil, then, in the presence of Christ obvious?

Is there any more to be said, or as usual, have I been too-long winded?

1 Corinthians 11:4-6 Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered disgraceth his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head not covered disgraceth her head: for it is all one as if she were shaven. For if a woman be not covered, let her be shorn. But if it be a shame to a woman to be shorn or made bald, let her cover her head.