A Veil for a Crown

Several months ago, I started veiling at Mass. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a tugging at my heart, an indescribable desire to veil myself in the presence of the Lord. I've read about why other people veil, trying to find a tangible explanation to give to others (and to myself) for why I do. I could go on to tell you what I have read, that women veil because people veil what is sacred (like the Holy of Holies which was kept behind a veil), but for me, veiling is something more.

It's about risking what other people might think about me in order to show God how much I love Him, that I am not afraid to deny myself for His sake. It's about blocking off my view of others around me so that I can focus better on God Himself. It's a reminder to me that I am His humble servant and that I should bow before Him.

And in all my searching, I came to realize that veiling has reminded me that there is something – Someone – greater and that I belong to Him. In church I come before God, and He has chosen me to be one of His own. The Father has claimed me as one of His children; I am His daughter, and Jesus, the King of the universe, is my brother. Therefore, as a sister of the King and an heir of God, I am a princess.

But Jesus came to the world without a crown and left it with a crown of thorns. Why should I have better? Why would I need more? No, a crown of gold or silver adorned with fine jewels would not remind me of my God so much as something more humbling, like a veil, something that covers up a woman's beauty and saves it as a gift for God alone. My veil reminds me that I am royalty and that my God is not a God of earthly things but of things that are hidden within us – hope, love, joy.

When I veil, I am declaring myself a child of God and a sister of Christ, and I could not be more proud to veil in humility before Him.