“There is nothing wrong in being fashionable.
God does not require us to ignore the dictates of fashion so that we look grotesque!
But, fashion can never be the supreme rule of conduct.
There is a limit beyond which fashion can bring about the ruin of a soul.”—Pope Pius XII
When dressing for Holy Mass or any sacred event in the church, keep in mind that we come to this sacred place to adore and worship our Savior, Who comes to us in His very flesh. Each Sunday we genuflect at the point in the Creed where we profess the Son of God “became flesh by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary”; the priest genuflects in adoration immediately after consecrating the Host; we genuflect again in the Last Gospel at the passage: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Clearly, we come to Sunday Mass to adore the hallowed FLESH of the Savior. On the other hand, people do not come to Mass to see our flesh. Those attending Holy Mass, therefore, are asked to cover their flesh adequately so as not to offend God and distract others from their fruitful adoration and reception of the Body of Christ. One can certainly dress comfortably without violating modesty. Please be so kind as to review and embrace the following guidelines of modesty at Our Lady of Lourdes. May God reward you!
Rules for Modesty at Our Lady of Lourdes . . .
To dress becomingly for God and neighbor, and in keeping with the reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament, kindly refrain from wearing shorts, tee-shirts, tank-tops, revealing blouses, sleeveless or backless dresses, or form-fitting clothing of any sort. Please wear dresses and skirts fall below the knee when sitting even with leggings (i.e., around mid-calf in length). With due regard to time and circumstance, all are encouraged to wear decorous attire befitting sacred and divine worship.
The Importance of Dressing Modestly . . .
“... the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury... But the fruit of the Spirit is charity... modesty, continency, chastity” (Gal 5:19,22-23); and “I will therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention. In like manner women also in decent apparel: adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire, but as it becometh women professing godliness, with good works” (1Tim 2:8-10).
The Importance of Wearing Chapel Veils . . .
The Roman Breviary and Tradition teach that Pope St. Linus was “the first to govern the Church after Peter. His faith and holiness were so great that he not only cast out demons but also called the dead back to life. He wrote the Acts of St. Peter, particularly what Peter had done against Simon the magician. He decreed that no woman should go into a church without having her head veiled” (Matins, Sept 23).
This good Pope was only confirming what St. Paul taught the Corinthians: “every woman praying or prophesying with her head not covered, disgraceth her head... let her cover her head” (11:5-6); and thereafter the same Apostle rhetorically asks: “doth it become a woman to pray unto God uncovered?” (11:13).
Let us humble ourselves ...
and fulfill this precept!
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Pope Pius XII
“... modesty foresees threatening danger, forbids us to expose ourselves to risks, demands the avoidance of those occasions which the imprudent do not shun. It does not like impure or loose talk, it shrinks from the slightest immodesty, it carefully avoids suspect familiarity with persons of the other sex, since it brings the soul to show due reverence to the body, as being a member of Christ and the temple of the Holy Ghost. He who possesses the treasure of Christian modesty abominates every sin of impurity and instantly flees whenever he is tempted by its seductions” (Sacra Virginitas, no. 58).
“The good of the soul is more important than that of the body; and we must prefer the spiritual well-being of our neighbor to that of our bodily comfort... If a certain type of clothing constitutes a grave or approximate occasion of sin and puts in danger the salvation of your soul and that of others, it is your duty to stop wearing it...”
Pope Benedict XV
". . . one cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and condition; made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree the in decency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God. Most of them would formerly have blushed for those toilettes as for a grave fault against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on the public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives the heavenly Author of purity. And We speak not of those exotic and barbarous dances recently imported into fashionable circles, one more shocking than the other; one cannot imagine anything more suitable for banishing all the remains of modesty" (Sacra Propendiem, no. 19).
St. Anthony Mary Claret
“Now observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women and raiment and adornments of Jesus... Tell me: what relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus’ feet? The rings on their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the crown of thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there is a marked likeness between these worldly women and those who, incited by the devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a woman’s death I think Jesus will be heard asking: ‘Cujus est imago haec et circumscripto—Of whom is she the image?’ And the reply will be: ‘Demonii—of the devil.’ Then He will say: ‘Let her who has followed the devil’s fashions be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary.”
St. Padre Pio
“I desire that all of you, my spiritual children, fight by your good example and without any human respect, a holy battle against indecent fashion. God will be with you and you He will save! The woman that seeks vanity in her dress can never belong to Christ, and these same lose every adornment of the soul the very moment these idols enter into their hearts. Being watchful of every vanity in their hearts, because the Lord permits the fall of these souls for such vanity.”
Our Lady of Fatima
“The sins which cause most souls to go to Hell are the sins of the flesh. Fashions will much offend Our Lord. People who serve God should not follow fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same." ... and "Certain styles of dress will come that will greatly offend Our Lord.”
G.K. Chesterton
"The Church prevents us from becoming children of our times."
2014 Vatican Document on the Sensus Fidei (no. 52)
"Every virtue has a double effect: first, it naturally inclines the person who possesses it towards an object (a certain kind of action), and second, it spontaneously distances him or her from whatever is contrary to that object. For example, a person who has developed the virtue of chastity possesses a sort of ‘sixth sense’, ‘a kind of spiritual instinct’, which enables him or her to discern the right way to behave even in the most complex situations, spontaneously perceiving what it is appropriate to do and what to avoid. A chaste person thereby instinctively adopts the right attitude..."
Our Lady of Good Success
In speaking of our times to Ven. Mother Mariana of Jesus Torres, Our Lady prophecied: “In those times the atmosphere will be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible license.… Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or modesty in women. He who should speak seasonably will remain silent.”
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