VEILING

 
A veil? Veils? VEILING? This was basically my thought process when I first saw a woman wearing a veil at my home parish in Roanoke. I became curious about what a veil signified but never thought deeply about it until my first year of college when I started to attend daily Mass at the UVa Chapel. Three women always wore a veil to this Mass and I became enamored with the veil’s beauty. It occurred to me that maybe I should wear a veil, but I knew nothing about its meaning, so I brushed the thought aside.
 
However, as I continued to attend Mass and sit with the Blessed Sacrament at St. Thomas Aquinas, the thought of veiling kept reoccurring in my prayers. This thought consumed me for the next couple of months and I decided I NEEDED to know more about this tradition. I scoured the internet for hours at a time to discover its significance and I fell in love with the idea of wearing a veil for all its many beautiful reasons. It’s an outward expression of humility and whole-hearted submission to Christ; it imitates Our Lady’s fiat; and, since women represent the Church, the Bride, and men represent Christ, the Bridegroom, veils become a symbol and reminder of this spousal relationship between Christ and His Church.  
 
After reading these, I saw veiling as a way to fulfill my desire of becoming closer to Jesus and like St. Faustina, “I want[ed] to be completely transformed into [His] mercy and to be [His] living reflection.” (Faustina, Dairy 163)  
 
My second year rolled around, I finally decided to buy a veil. However, veils can be very expensive, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to commit to buying a $50 veil. I jokingly searched “free chapel veils” on Google. I wasn’t expecting many search results, but surprisingly I found a veil apostolate that gives out veils for free (except for shipping). The veil arrived at my apartment and I was very excited, but also nervous. I opened the package and instead of wearing the veil the first opportunity I had, I kept it on my desk for two months. Now that I had finally purchased the veil, I was too afraid to wear it. I feared what other people would think.
 
Every time I passed my desk, I was reminded that I was saying “no” to Jesus. After talking to a friend about these fears, she validated my feelings, but she also made me realize that if I am worried about others’ opinions about my veil then I am not veiling for Jesus, I am veiling for myself. She later offered to let me borrow her veil and ever since that night, I have been wearing a veil in the presence of Jesus. 
 
Most importantly, I veil because the veil recognizes the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. God came down to humanity, suffered, and died to give us the gift of Himself contained in the tiny, white Host. Every Mass, the altar transforms into Heaven on Earth, where the angels and saints descend to sing the “Sanctus” with us, glorifying God by adoring His sacrifice on the altar. Once we receive the Lord through the act of Holy Communion, we become living, breathing tabernacles as Christ dwells within us. Everything that is holy and sacred in the church is veiled: the altar, the chalice of the Precious Blood, and the tabernacle. The veil is a proclamation that we become holy tabernacles of the Lord. 
 
Wearing a veil is about more than theological reasons, it is a way for me to become more intimate with our Lord. As I fell in love with the person of Jesus, I wanted to become more radically His. I wanted to be changed by His love and mercy. St. Thérèse of Lisieux once said, “Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart…” He is there for me alone, so I am there for Him alone, and the veil becomes a sign of this submission to Jesus Christ. 
 
I veil because Jesus is the Beloved Bridegroom and I am His beloved and I want to give all of myself to Him when I am in His presence.