Dressing for the Wedding Feast, or, Naked in the Garden

Naked in the Garden

Not literally naked in the garden, thankfully, but far too close. The reference here, of course, is to the Book of Genesis. Adam and Eve have disobeyed God and eaten the forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. They are now conscious of sin, and ashamed of their nakedness. When God comes into the garden they try to avoid him . . .

 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:9-10)

You know how the rest of that goes. I will say this for Adam and Eve, though.  At least they had the sense to be ashamed.

I’m reposting below an article I first published more than a decade ago. Last week’s post (“Do Clothes Make the Man . . . or the Woman?“) brought it back to mind. At the time I was working in a Catholic high school. I had just attended my school’s baccalaureate mass, and had literally (not figuratively!) been embarrassed by the immodest dress of some of the graduates. There seemed to be no sense of shame. It got me thinking . . . and the result was:

Dressing For The Wedding Feast Of The Lamb  (9 June 2014)

It’s hard to deny that the standard of dress for Mass attendance is significantly lower than it was a generation or two ago.  I’m not talking about people who, due to work schedule or other external circumstances, need to attend Mass in other than their “Sunday Best.” I mean the very large number of Catholics who could dress better but, for whatever reason, don’t.  And it’s not simply a matter of people dressing poorly. Much worse, many dress immodestly, some to the point where they create a near occasion of sin for their fellow congregants.  Might it not be a good idea to bring back the concept of our “Sunday Best” for Mass, and encourage our fellow believers to do the same?

Maybe God does care what you’re wearing . . .

Some people, of course, will say, “God doesn’t care what I’m wearing, as long as I’m there.” I respectfully disagree. Consider the following passage from the Gospel of Matthew, (a similar one appears in Luke):

But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” (Matthew 22:11-13)

Heaven, Wedding Feast, Mass . . .

Now, one might object that this is not intended as a literal instruction on proper Mass attire. It is rather a figurative description of what our interior disposition should be.  That’s true, but we also believe that our external appearance should reflect our internal disposition. That’s the point of all the standing, kneeling, blessing ourselves with the Sign of the Cross, etc. The word needs to become flesh.  

We recognize this in the secular world. What does it tell my wife if I don’t acknowledge her birthday?  How many wives or husbands would be satisfied with “You know I love you, why should I bother with a card or flowers?” Consider also that the wedding banquet in the passage above stands for the Kingdom of God, which the Book of Revelation (Rev. 19:6-9) describes as the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb.” We also apply this term to the Mass. Note that just before Communion we hear the quote from the Book of Revelation: “Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.”  Heaven, Wedding Feast, Mass, it all goes together. Figurative or not, I wouldn’t dismiss the fate of the poorly clad wedding guest lightly.

Not a Private Encounter

There are places in the Bible, of course, where we do receive explicit directions on liturgical dress, such as St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Here the Apostle says that Men should not cover their heads, but that a women should veil their heads during worship. Her hair is “her glory” which she received “as a covering” (Corinthians 11:15). The Catholic Church took and followed this passage literally from St. Paul’s time through the Second Vatican Council. Most women still veil themselves at Masses in the Extraordinary Form.  One hardly needs to imagine what St. Paul would say about women coming to Mass with legs bared up to mid-thigh, or other immodesties that I blush to mention.  In any case, we can see from Sacred Scripture itself that how we dress for worship has always been important.

A more contemporary authority, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, published a very helpful document [here] in 2006 called “’Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper’: On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist.” Note yet again the connection of the Mass to the Wedding Feast.  This publication considers many aspects of the Mass, including a section called “How Can We Prepare To Receive Holy Communion More Worthily?” which begins by saying:

The Mass is not simply a private encounter between an individual and Jesus Christ. In a mystical manner, the whole Church is present in every celebration of the Mass, including the angels and the martyrs and saints of all ages.

Whose Glory is it, anyway?

In more direct language, the Mass is not just about me, or you, and we don’t get to make up our own rules.  This section contains a brief section on “Appropriate Attire”:

We should also come to the sacred liturgy appropriately dressed. As Christians we should dress in a modest manner, wearing clothes that reflect our reverence for God and that manifest our respect for the dignity of the liturgy and for one another.

Notice the three standards by which we should judge our own dress:  1) “reverence for God” – how would we dress to meet the President, or even a prospective employer?  Shouldn’t we dress at least as well to meet our Creator and the Lord of the Universe?  2) “respect for the dignity of the liturgy” – don’t we dress up for a Broadway show, or the opera?  How then should we dress for the Miracle of the Eucharist?  3) “respect for one another” – wouldn’t we dress up for friend’s wedding, or other special occasion?  And is it respectful to our fellow congregants to distract and even tempt them by dressing provocatively?

Don’t Conform: be Transformed

No doubt someone will point out that you can largely avoid being distracted by inappropriate dress by attending Mass in the Extraordinary Form. That’s true up to a point, although I’ve seen the same problem creeping in there as well. The fact is that we live in a world that has lost a sense of boundaries, because we have lost sight of the idea that everything does not revolve around us and our desires.  Consequently, even many of us Catholics have forgotten St. Paul’s admonition:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Instead we not only conform ourselves, but try to conform even the Church to this world by making it a place where we dress and talk like we do anywhere else, listen to music that sounds just like the music outside (or at least like it sounded, in some circles, in the 1970’s), and where we can’t criticize the secular orthodoxies that are current at the moment.  We have completely lost sight of that most important boundary, the dividing line between the sacred and the profane (used in its traditional sense, roughly synonymous with what we now mean by “secular”).  “Sacred” and its Germanic equivalent “Hallowed” literally mean “separate” or “set apart.” Set apart for God and therefore separate from the ordinary things in our lives.  

Signs, Symbols, and Images

Our need to express both internal and spiritual realities in external and physical ways is real. We used to have numerous reminders that the interior of the Church was “Holy Ground.” Among the things that set it apart were use of a different language, singing a different kind of music, and wearing different clothes.  Even inside the Church the altar rail was a sign to us of our separateness from God, and only those specially commissioned could enter the Sanctuary (as only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies in the ancient Temple) to represent all of us before God.

Today we like to intellectualize everything, because by simply dismissing anything we can’t ourselves figure out we maintain the illusion that we are the masters of reality.  But the intellect only touches the surface of our consciousness: to truly comprehend reality on a deep level we need signs, symbols, and images, we need to experience it, and not simply understand it.  What are we saying about the reality of the Mass, the significance of Christ present in the Eucharist, if we feel free to show up in shorts and shower clogs, or skimpy clothes that draw attention away from the Divine Presence and toward our own bodies?

Lex Gerendi, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi?

So, what to do?  I suspect that many people don’t really know any better, and are just doing what they see everyone else doing.  If that’s the case we should try to lead by example. We can emphasize that how we dress is not only a reflection of our devotion, but can actually be an expression of our devotion, a physical form of prayer.  Perhaps if we make a point of talking, in a positive way, about reverent dress, and come up with a catchy slogan (“Offer The Lord Your Sunday Best”? “Bring Out Your Best Every Sunday”?  Any suggestions out there?) we can start to see an improvement in our local parishes.

I firmly believe that when we take our worship more seriously we take our faith more seriously: lex orandi, lex credendi, “the law of praying is the law of believing” (how many times have I used that quote?).  Whether it’s the improved translation, better liturgical music, or a manner of dress that shows more respect for God, the liturgy, and our fellow-worshippers, anything that brings more reverence to the Mass will have a beneficial effect in other areas as well.  I invite everyone to join me in a campaign to encourage attire worthy of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.