Do you ever ask yourself, “Why are Phoenicians so casual?” Whether it’s at Symphony Hall, a nice restaurant, or a graduation ceremony, you find a majority of people wearing something everydayish like jeans and a T-shirt, or shorts and flip-flops. When I lived in San Francisco it was more common to see little girls and women wearing dresses or nice skirts with dress shoes and men in pants and a jacket or tie at such places. Apparently, many Phoenicians don’t think that dressing up is necessary, except maybe for weddings and proms.
I guess it is no surprise then that a pastor of a Catholic Church in Phoenix recently reprimanded his parishioners for dressing too casually and/or immodestly for Mass on Sundays. He was not at all subtle in mentioning the temptations priests experience during Mass when women dress immodestly, like being, er, visually assaulted by plunging necklines in the communion line.
But cleavage issues aside, I don’t recall any explanation having been given for why communicants of either sex shouldn’t look like we are going to a barbeque directly after Mass. Isn’t there something just as amiss with the dads in untucked polo shirts, cargo shorts, and flip flops?
The heat in Phoenix is a great excuse to be scantily and/or sloppily dressed. Maybe that’s the reason why some people can’t justify being too covered up or buttoned down—one could easily pass out from heat exhaustion, or so it is claimed.
Maybe we should blame the department stores for assuming that everyone shares their standards. We women have a difficult time finding skirts and dresses that aren’t too short or tops that don’t reveal too much. Am I right, ladies?
Cover those shoulders—or else.
If Catholic Phoenicians have such a hard time dressing themselves properly, maybe the Diocese of Phoenix should demand that they do the right thing, just like the Vatican does. I read this past summer that Rome’s “St. Peter’s” dress code is now being enforced at the very boundary of Vatican City itself! Violators are getting turned away at the checkpoints by impressive looking Swiss Guards armed with halberd pikes and assault rifles, even on hot summer days.
It would be pretty easy for each parish to get their own sign copied from the image at the top of this post. (I LOVE the little tiny cleavage line on the woman in the “NO ENTRY” category!) Less easy to come by would be the Swiss muscle and metal that back up the rules…though I suppose the diocese’s own heavily-armed Knights of Columbus could stand at the entrance of every Church brandishing their rapiers to enforce when necessary.
Woman being escorted out of a church for bare knees.
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I completely agree!! And I think it is perfectly reasonable to follow the Vatican’s example here. It is hard to find modest yet modern clothes but it is possible. I manage to find decent skirts, dresses and shirts at popular departments stores all the time.
Popes in the past have offered clearly defined standards of modesty, for example: “A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper.” -The Cardinal Vicar of Pius XII, 1956. Granted these standards might seem extreme to most in our scantily clad era, but the precedent has been set for Church leaders to be explicit about what’s acceptable.
Maybe some Catholic Phoenicians who don’t like to be told what to wear need to hear this: “If the Obamas can do it so can you!” See (http://www.stylelist.com/2009/07/10/michelle-obama-style-first-lady-meets-pope-wearing-traditional/) for a picture of the President and his wife showing respect for the Vatican’s dress code.
Putting aside the erosion of cultural taboos about dress, I wonder whether a link could be drawn between sloppy Sunday dress and actual belief (or lack of belief) in the Real Presence. I once heard an R.C.I.A. instructor say, “If people really believed they were going to be in the presence of God, they would be lined up around the block in their finest clothes.” There’s truth in that statement.
Atticus, I think you could be right to make that connection. I tend to believe that there is something else going on. I’m sure there are plenty of Catholics out there, especially teenagers, who really believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and still go to Mass looking like they just rolled out of bed. One time this past year I remember going to Mass at Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral and seeing all of the teens who were acting as ushers that Sunday wearing casual clothes–one of them looked like she was literally in her pajamas! How likely is it that all these teens had know idea why they were there that Sunday?
After I read this I went out to water the garden. This is the place where I can think rationally. I agree with a need for modesty–it is necessary for the sake of our priests as well as for all the males in attendance at Mass.
However, the thing that strikes me most is something that Atticus has touched upon: perhaps it is a lack of real appreciation for what they are celebrating.
This, however, is a matter that I am incapable of judging. Ultimately, the modesty issue, like many external issues, is a heart issue. It is difficult to legislate. The best place to start is in our domestic churches. I like to start with myself and my daughters. I do my best to dress modestly (which at this point in my life is also monotonously as I am nearly nine months pregnant with dwindling wardrobe options…ha!) and dress them modestly, and not casually, as well.
Of course, this is my plan, but sometimes, like yesterday, the three year old completely disregards the wearing of underwear and I don’t notice until we are already in attendance
I agree with you, Alishia! If it is true that modesty is a virtue, it is very important for parents to understand what virtue is and how it is required so that they can help to develop this habit in their children in our homes or “domestic churches.” I found this amazing article by Cardinal Meyer on Chastity and Modesty published in The American Ecclesiastical Review, July 1967. O.K., I know it is from 1967 but apparently modesty was a real issue at that time as it is now and all over the world, not just in Phoenix.
I can’t believe it but this article quotes Pope Paul VI to have said to the bishops of the world that “it is altogether imperative to admonish and exhort, in whatever ways seem most apt, people of all stations, but particularly youth, to avoid the dangers of this kind of vice which is so directly opposed and potentially so hazardous to Christian and civic virtue.” If you can, please everyone read this article or the “choice” quote below. I find it relevant to this discussion to consider that “modesty is a virtue allied to the virtue of temperance, or the general habit of self-restraint.” For the whole article go to:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=1087
“The Virtue of Modesty
This brings us to a consideration of the virtue of modesty in the general scheme of virtues, and more especially as it relates to the virtue of chastity.
The virtue of modesty, in general, may be described as that virtue which prompts us to be decorous, proper, and reserved, in the way we dress, stand, walk, sit—in general in the way we behave exteriorly. This virtue of modesty bears a relation to other virtues besides that of chastity, especially to the virtue of humility. In a special manner, however, the virtue of modesty is particularly regarded as the guardian of chastity in thought, word, and action.
St. Thomas says that it is the virtue by which we rightly regulate our conduct in respect to those things that can lead to impure thoughts, desires, and actions, in ourselves and in others. He says that, while chastity deals with the regulation of difficult things, powerful passions and strong desires for pleasure, modesty deals with the regulation of easy things, the remote and proximate occasions and conditions that lead to unholy desires. Thus we see that modesty is a virtue allied to the virtue of temperance, or the general habit of self-restraint.
It is this virtue of modesty, in its relation to chastity, which prompted the Holy Father to address himself to the Bishops of the world, through the Sacred Congregation of the Council, and to remind them that “it is altogether imperative to admonish and exhort, in whatever ways seem most apt, people of all stations, but particularly youth, to avoid the dangers of this kind of vice which is so directly opposed and potentially so hazardous to Christian and civic virtue. ‘How beautiful then is modesty and what a gem among virtues it is!’ Therefore, let it not be offended or violated by the easy allurements and attractions of vices which arise from that manner of dressing and from other actions what we have mentioned above and which decent people can but lament.” Again, in his encyclical letter on Holy Virginity, our Holy Father writes about modesty: “Educators of the young would render a more valuable and useful service, if they would inculcate in youthful minds the precepts of Christian modesty, which is so important for the preservation of perfect chastity, and which is truly called the prudence of chastity. For, 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. . . . He who possesses the treasure of Christian modesty abominates every sin of impurity and instantly flees whenever he is tempted by its seductions.” “
Oops! I meant to say how virtue is acquired not required!
Having been lucky enough to spend a summer in Italy, there was a very Italian method (brisk walk, sweep of an arm, complete with a staccato command) to essentially brooming the underdressed out of line and away from the entrance of almost ANY church I visited.
I also recalling seeing some at the Vatican wearing inexpensive Tyvek (almost untearable paper — think hospital wristbands) pants in slick white or red, with a dashing Vatican logo down the side.
Schadenfreude is always fleeting, however. A post like this reminds me that I often dress to meet what I see as a bare minimum — and not as a necessary preparation and act of respect for what is to follow.
Nice article.
One question: why in the world are you showing Knights of Columbus saluting a Freemason in his regalia (apron and jewel)?
Or maybe more to the point…why are they doing it in the first place?
I guess I don’t understand. As a person new to the Catholic community (I am now going to start at a Catholic church after not being allowed near one when younger), I struggle to understand the dress codes at the Phoenix area churches. I know how my dad’s family dresses at church, but they have lived in Long Beach, CA and New York City. How do I dress for Phoenix weather without being out of dress code? As a female, are walking shorts and a short sleeved blouse or shirt okay? Jeans or khakis during the winter?
Hi, Michaele. May God bless in your journey and I hope that He will draw you deeply into His presence. This post was meant to be humorous, but thought provoking. The truth is that there are no Canon laws requiring that you dress modestly at Catholic mass or you will be tried by a Canon lawyer or something.
However, the dress code for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome clearly reflects the fact that there has always been an expectation of modest dress (and even Canon Law until 1984 required it of woman anyway) when approaching the table of the Lord and His real presence within the Eucharist. The Vatican clearly believes that people who are not believers should even be held to this truth, if you will. I would say that Mass requires more than just covering your body in the right places, and given that St Peter’s dress code is certainly meant for both tourists and Mass goers the shorts image is probably meant for the tourists. And, considering that Mass is the wedding feast of the Lamb, doesn’t it make sense to dress up a little?
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