Fun and Dreams with Spanish Lace Veils

It had been a rainy day; drab and dull with little excitement. But then the doorbell rang and suddenly, everything changed. The deliveryman brought packages to the front door... This was the shipment they had been waiting for, and in it were several new styles of mantillas direct from Spain!

 As the sisters tried out the new styles, they began to dream of what they would wear at the various churches and cathedrals they were to visit during their next whirlwind trip to Europe!

Alice Von Hildebrand's View on Veiling.

"And 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 the 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.”

Here she is (above) in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI, wearing of course, a black veil. Do you agree with her reasoning? Did the veil (and head covering in general) disappear because women viewed it as a sign of "inferiority", or was it more a stripping away of yet another part of our Catholic identity, or was it both? By Catholic identity, I mean things like the rosary, the old statues, genuflecting, crossing oneself when passing a graveyard, etc... That sort of thing just wasn't "cool" post VII. I think that in the late 1960's and 70's, all that was viewed as the sorts of things old ladies did, not modern day Catholics. I was of course very young at the time, and she was a woman, so perhaps I'll defer to her on the matter due to her having been there.

Private Audience with the Pope?

I had a lady order three black veils recently... They went out last week. She said they were for a private audience with the Pope.

Get out! Really? I ask. She says, 'Yes." And she promises to send me the pictures with the veils, if possible. Wouldn't that be so grand? I would love to see that!


The lady ordered two of these. (The Zita Veil)

And one of these (The Gemma Veil). 

If and when I hear back from this lady, I will keep you posted, for sure.

Habemus Papam

Where were you when the new pope was announced? And how about the time before this, when they made the announcement for Holy Father Benedict XVI?

Both times I was hanging by the television, waiting, waiting. Both times were really close to school pick up time, which is 3:15 pm. This time I was a little late in picking the children up. It was okay, because as fortunate had it, that morning I'd told them to meet me after school in the school library. So they weren't hanging around looking for me outside the school.... The time before this, when it was B16 being announced, I heard it on the car radio in front of the school. 

Coincidence, or do the Cardinals just like having the announcement made at school pick up time? God bless our new Holy Father! I pray God grants many good years to him.

On the day the Holy Father resigned.

The Italian caption reads:
L'immagine del giorno è di Alessandro Di Meo, fotografo dell'agenzia Ansa. Il fotoreporter è riuscito a catturare la caduta di un fulmine sulla cupola di San Pietro proprio nel giorno dell'annuncio delle dimissioni di papa Benedetto XVI

Loggot's (from Fisheater's) translation:
Today's picture is by Alessandro Di Meo, photographer of the Ansa agency. The photojournalist was able to capture a lightning bolt falling on the cupola of Saint Peter's, on the very day of pope Benedict XVI's resignation announcement.

Holy father, I love you. You were a great pope. I wish you had died with your boots on. You were in my prayers before the Blessed Sacrament today. We will keep you in our intentions.