by Dr. Ali Shehata
The Practice of Covering the Head and Face in Christianity
Early Christianity too continued this requirement for women as not only a tradition, but also due to scripture. In the New Testament, Paul writes:
And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. [NIV, 1 Corinthians 11:5-10]
Although this is the only Biblical passage explicitly requiring the covering of the head, a number of Early Church Fathers discussed, at length, head coverings in their works. The classic nun's garb, for example, stands as being most representative of the conservative style of female dress in the Christian world. Furthermore, Christian art from its earliest forms shows women, such as the Virgin Mary, wearing head coverings. In Christian writings and art though, as opposed to those of Judaism, greater attention is paid to the issue of modesty as it relates to the covering of the head, and even at times the veiling of the face. Dr. Alan Ingalls, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at the Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania writes:
Whether a woman wore a veil at all times or not is best left to further study. The woman, like the man, seemed to wear some kind of head-covering as a part of her normal attire. That head covering was likely different than that worn by the man. It seems safe to say that veils which obscured the face might be worn by women, at least at times, as a sign of modesty or propriety. Removal of the basic everyday head covering was a sign of immodesty or vulnerability. Ingalls, A.D. (2000). Head coverings in the Old Testament. The Journal of Ministry & Theology. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 41-52
To better understand the reasoning behind the veiling of women’s heads in Christianity, we shall now review some quotes taken from the writings of several Church Fathers and other significant personalities in Church history.
The great Church Father Tertullian is often sited on this matter, for he dedicated an entire work, On the Veiling of Virgins, to the subject. In it, he argues that virgins are not exempt from the law of veiling. He argues in conjunction with St. Paul's text that the veil should be worn “on account of the angels.” Further, Tertullian calls for women to keep themselves veiled, out of modesty, even outside of the liturgy:
... as they veil their head in presence of heathens, let them at all events in the church conceal their virginity, which they do veil outside the church. They fear strangers: let them stand in awe of the brethren too; or else let them have the consistent hardihood to appear as virgins in the streets as well, as they have the hardihood to do in the churches.
He continues:
I pray you, be you mother, or sister, or virgin daughter—let me address you according to the names proper to your years—veil your head: if a mother, for your sons' sakes; if a sister, for your brethren's sakes; if a daughter for your fathers' sakes ... Put on the panoply of modesty; surround yourself with the stockade of bashfulness; rear a rampart for your sex…. Børresen, Kari E. (1986). Tertulliano. De virginibus velandis. Augustinianum 26 (3):591-593.
These writings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries are enhanced by another distinguished Christian author of the 3rd century, St.Clement of Alexandria. In his extensive work called The Instructor (Paedagogus), St. Clement goes further and connects the face veil to the issue of modesty:
Woman and man are to go to church decently attired ... Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered ... For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled. Clement of Alexandria. (1867). The Instructor, Book III. Tr. William Wilson. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Retrieved from: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/AnteNicene_Christian_Library/The_Instructor:_Book_3
Next, we look to the writings of one of early Christianity’s most renowned Biblical scholars, St. John Chrysostom, who was sometimes called the “Golden-mouthed Doctor”. St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies on St. Paul's text from 1 Corinthians, sees St. Paul as saying that women should be veiled at all times, not only in church:
... the man he compels not to be always uncovered, but only when he prays ... But the woman he commands to be at all times covered ... [he] also proceeded to say, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven." But if to be shaven is always dishonorable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach. And not even with this only was he content, but added again, saying, "The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels." He signifies that not only at the time of prayer but also continually, she ought to be covered. St. John Chrysostom. (n.d.). Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily 26, ver.4. Retrieved from: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/ 03450407,_Iohannes_Chrysostomus,_Homilies_on_First_Corinthians,_EN.pdf
Shifting ahead to the middle ages, we next see in the commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on the same Biblical passage (Commentary on First Corinthians) his understanding that women must be veiled "because of the angels." St. Thomas states that this can be comprehended both literally and metaphorically. In the literal sense, "angels" actually means angels:
This can be understood in two ways: in one way about the heavenly angels who are believed to visit congregations of the faithful, especially when the sacred mysteries are celebrated. And therefore at that time women as well as men ought to present themselves honorably as reverence to them according to Psalms 138 (v. 1): "Before the angels I sing thy praise." Aquinas, T. (n.d.). Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Corinthios lectura. Tr. Fabian Larcher. Retrieved from: https://dhspriory.org/thomas/SS1Cor.htm
In a more metaphorical way, St. Thomas says that "angels" can also be understood to mean the priests who celebrate the liturgies, and in this way he too connects the issue of veiling to modesty:
Therefore, the woman should always have a covering over her head because of the angels, i.e., the priests, for two reasons: first, as reverence toward them, to which it pertains that women should behave honorably before them ... Secondly, for their safety, lest the sight of a woman not veiled excite their concupiscence.
Moreover, the first Protestant Reformers also required the covering of the head. Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife and a former nun, was known to wear a head-covering even after leaving Catholicism. Also, 16th century Protestant founding fathers like John Knox and John Calvin both called for women to cover their heads. John Calvin’s views on the veiling of women are also tied to the question of modesty. He writes:
So if women are thus permitted to have their heads uncovered and to show their hair, they will eventually be allowed to expose their entire breasts, and they will come to make their exhibitions as if it were a tavern show; they will become so brazen that modesty and shame will be no more; in short they will forget the duty of nature. Skolnitsky, S. (tr.). (1992). Men, Women and Order in the Church: Three Sermons by John Calvin. Dallas, TX: Presbyterian Heritage Publications
Furthermore, European Renaissance artists and those who came later—well into the 16th and 17th century—regularly depicted women, both commoners and those of high status, as covering everything except the face and hands. This trend continued with the settling of America as can be seen in Puritan portraits of women wearing head coverings, and lasted into the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the early 20th century, Protestant churches did away with their requirement that women cover their heads during church service. In Catholicism, though it was Church canon that women should cover their heads and also "desirable" that women should be separate from men in church, the Roman Catholic Church also omitted these requirement in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. In this manner has Christianity continued to change its position on this matter up till the present day where now only a few sects of Christianity still implement female head coverings.
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