Please enlighten me and perhaps others who read your newspaper, about an appropriate dress code for Sunday Mass. I find it disrespectful to see not only teenage kids but also adults at Mass as if dressed for a day at the beach.
"...Mass-goers can forget that they are taking part in solemn worship in a holy place, not out on the public roads. "
We all have biological urges that produce physical pleasure. Christians have to enjoy these in a healthy way and not go to such extremes as gluttony or lust. It is here we need to apply the virtues of temperance and modesty.
St Paul gave this warning: “We must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world” while waiting for Christ’s return (Titus 2:12).
The virtue of modesty, as you imply, is not being observed in the way many Catholics dress, especially in the pews at Sunday Mass. This could be because the modern world seems to care little about it, seeing no harm in provocative fashions and advertising.
Recent photographs of near-naked members of the British royal family published in some newspapers have raised awareness that everyone has a right to preserve their privacy, particularly that of their own bodies.
It is here that the Christian virtue of modesty comes in.
Modesty affirms the sacredness of the human person and so it preserves the human body from becoming an object of curiosity and lust.
The Catechism tells us that modesty is decency, inspiring one’s choice of clothing and keeping silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity; it is also discreet (2522).
Mass-goers should be made aware of this. Most do not intend to be immodest or provocative, but they can forget that they are taking part in solemn worship in a holy place, not out on the public roads.
St Peter’s basilica in Rome, for example, enforces regulations forbidding admission to those wanting to enter in shorts and skirts above the knee, sleeveless garments, transparent or tight-fitting garments and the wearing of excessive jewellery. This demonstrates that the basilica is not for commercial or other secular use, but exclusively for the worship of God, in which unbecoming clothing is inappropriate and offensive.
At Sunday Mass, similar restrictions ought to apply. This is not merely to stave off feelings of lust in others, but to help all present to focus on the sacred liturgy with as few distractions as possible.
Apart from these self-evident norms, there is no fixed dress code for attendance at Mass.
Thank you Mr. Shackleton, very informative piece.
I think this is something Catechism teachers and RCIA teachers should teach their learners. I will certainly refer my RCIA instructor at our parish to this article.
While Michael makes a good point, I personally think that there are far more important things to worry about than visible externals like dress. (And even someone who is modestly dressed can excite or inflame feelings of lust in another. In fact, clean cut men dressed to the nines can be quite bewitching.)
In Mark 7 we read that Jesus teaches that it is the interior life that defiles a person, rather than things like their dress.
As Jesus said: “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
I would far rather come across a shabbily dressed person of inner integrity at Mass than across someone who might be dressed in a Gucci suit but who would, for example, feel absolutely nothing to break a strict confidence.
Personally, I would hope that catechism teachers would spend a little time emphasizing Jesus’ teaching about what really constitutes being “clean” or “unclean”.
We remember: when we are invited to listen to President Zuma in Parliament, we sort of dress up correctly and properly. When we go to a Catholic Church we endeavour to dress correctly as we are meeting our Creator, we look at the tabenacle which contains the Real Presence in awe, and out of respect, whether we are in grave sins or spotlessly pure to receive holy communion, we dress properly. Women dress modestly. When we look at the Protestants, they dress properly. I invite certain readers to write in the Protestant magazines to promote what is promoted by them in our Catholic churches. I have always been puzzled by their aptitude to conduct their campaigns on this site when really they belong to non-Catholic circles. They create confusion. Remember the sacrosanct agenda…
We meet our Creator wherever we are at any moment in time … Jesus is not confined to the Tabernacles of our Churches, the sanctuary is the whole of creation, there is no real difference between sacred and secular since they are all made sacred by Jesus … the whole of creation, every atom in creation, every particle has been re-created by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We should thus “dress respectably” at all moments, wherever we are … how do we “dress respectably”? By putting on Gucci suits and Prada booties? Or by “dressing” our interior world by endeavoring to make our hearts close to Jesus?
I know where my efforts will go … (though I also know my own failings, for if my heart is close to Jesus, it must be close to yours too, PRM … and in that regard, I have to admit to my own hypocrisy).
Indeed catechism teachers are indeed in the front line when it comes to instructing good Catholic ethics, manners, duties, and sound knowledge to innocent minds. The Authorities should be extra careful who they appoint as teachers : we are talking here of the salvation of souls for eternity. But of course, the Authorities themselves are often(not always) poisoned with modernism and liberalism….So ?
The encouraging thing is that slowly the Church is regaining her sanity after the ‘exhilirating’ days of the revolution.
I understand clear language, unambiguous language, I do not understand codes in language. St Michael, protect our young ones from any harm.
Our Lord is most certainly not restricted to the Tabernacles in the sanctuary. That however still does not change the fact the He is there, sacramentally present in the Blessed Sacrament and when we go to church, no matter how we may like to dilute the reality of what our dress says about our belief, our dress speaks volumes about our belief!!
It is not only our dress that speaks volumes. How many times do we pop into the parish office to speak to the priest or whoever. How many of us will take a minute to go into the Church and greet our Lord in the Tabernacle before we leave the church grounds and carry on with daily activities.
Malcolm is right about Catechism teachers being in the front line. In some instances it may be better to have no Catechism teachers than those who use their position as Catechism teachers as a platform to promote what they think the teaching should be rather than communicating what it actually is!
I agree that we must dress with modesty at Mass. I once saw a teenage girl wearing a t-shirt saying (I hope with a big dose of irony) “Porn star in training” at Mass, and almost fell of my pew. That, clearly, is inappropriate.
But we must also beware that Mass is not a fashion show. My main problems with the dress-for-Mass debate are that it, firstly, puts the focus on external matters when it is our internal state that is much more important; and, secondly, it might induce us to judge others, which can be an occasion for sin.
Perfect point Gunther and I believe we all fully agree with you.
I know the gist of this article is about those who dress in a provocative and immodest manner when attending Mass, but sloppiness is also another annoying aspect (for me, anyway). Of course, Mass is not a fashion show, but I don’t think it is entirely appropriate to look like you just rolled out of bed and reached for the first thing you saw in your wardrobe either. I find it slightly baffling that a large proportion of parishioners at my church look like they’re going for a braai or a quick run to the grocery store, rather than a Holy Mass. I’m by no means a snob (I’m not even rich, I live on the proverbial “peanuts” per month) but I do believe that when you go to the House of the Lord, and receive His body and blood in the Eucharist, you should do your utmost to show your respect to Him, even in appearance. Surely everyone, and especially those with the means, can “bother” to dress formally, or at least semi-formal, for Mass? The tracksuits, jeans, takkies, etc thing just does not gel with me, sorry!
I agree with Gunther. Its not a fashion show. So lets beware of the dangerous scenario where a person is made to feel uncomfortable because their dress is not as ‘outlandish’ or as ‘posh’ as the next person at Mass. If a beggar, who sleeps rough, walked in off the street, he should be made to feel as welcome, maybe even more so, than the regular best dressed parishioner at Mass.
Yet, as Michelle says, in most instances what we really are getting at is the fact that many people are just being plain sloppy in dressing for Mass. Its not about judging people. Its about the fact that those same people probably wouldn’t go to a job interview dressed like they do, but somehow they believe its okay for Mass.
I often attend the sunday mass at a ‘poor’ parish so to speak and I can say that the faithful are well-dressed. They are poor , having to walk in the sun and rain for kms to come to have the mass. They are an example to the more affluent people. There I see respect, reverence, quietness, no talking, even small children are quiet, they obey…. They are the faithful of the traditional mass and they are admirable.
To those who remember the days of pre-1962, can they recall how people behaved in church ?
It was different. Let’s go back only to what was good, what was working. This is not nostalgy and being stuck in the past. This about recognizing what the poison of Modernism and Liberalism has done the to the Holy Church.
Forward in Faith, fellow Catholics.
I also agree with Gunther above. I wonder what any Catholic would do if his/her eyes fell on a T-shirt which read “porn star in training” at church…
You see, in the name of absolute freedom, absolute freedom of expression, in this day and age of enlightenment, after having come out of the Dark Ages, how could anyone dare approach this girl or her mother and explain that the T-shirt in question is not appropriate in a Catholic church? After all, she has the absolute right to wear what she wants, where she wants : now that’s LIBERALISM and modernism: you are free, you are liberated, others do not count as much as yourself…Again, it is this question of ” me, me, I, ek, etc… This illustrate perfectly what it is all about.
I would venture to say that it would be our duty to approach the girl in question and, with charity and kind words, explain why it is not suitable to wear such a shirt. Again, I would ask : would this be accepted in a Protestant church? No. Then why , how, could we allow it in our Catholic churches? You see what Liberalism brought us. Am sorry to harp on that subject, but Catholics need to be told about all this. Do not forget that Popes have condemned this error as they have condemned Modernism.
In a group discussion today it was noted that there are apparently more and more young women from a range of parishes who have taken to wearing a Mantilla during Mass. (Not big numbers of women) We could only guess their reason behind the decision to do so because we don’t know. The point that was of such interest was the age of these young women. By accounts they seem to be women younger than 30, but older than school going age.