DEPORTMENT IN CHURCH
A woman once asked a priest, if she could wear pants to daily Mass in the winter, when it was cold and snowy out. He said yes. Now she is expecting snow in July.
We have all gotten lax in the last forty years. Many of the younger people have never been to Mass in a church or what appeared to be Mass. Many have never set foot in the church. Like the early Christians, we have been deprived of churches. Unlike the early Christians, many of us have the blessing of private chapels to attend Sunday morning prayers in and to visit at other times; chapels with the extraordinary privilege of gaining all indulgences attached ordinarily only to a visit to a church!
Reliable men were needed to inform the faithful of the time and place of the divine services, to open and lock the doors, to keep out undesirable., From the book Ordinations explaining the order of porter. The Church instituted a minor order to keep the church free from undesirables. Part of their duty was to prohibit the immodestly dressed from entering church. How many of us would be denied entry into church, if we were able to present ourselves there?
Remember the saying Sunday best or Sunday go to meeting clothes? True the latter term is Protestant, but even the Protestants knew that one presented oneself before God only one’s best clothes, that only had a problem with going to the wrong place and they knew that God was not present in their churches. God is present in our chapels, and even if He isn’t we should set aside time on His day for His praise and dress appropriately. You see, what we wear reminds us of who we are and what we are about. Priests and religious wear a special habit to remind them of their sublime obligations. We would consider a man crazy, who went swimming in a tuxedo; likewise we should consider a man crazy, who presents himself before God in T-shirt and jeans on the Lord’s Day morning! Public worship, whether it be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Divine Office, Public Rosary or Sunday morning prayers, is not a T-shirt and jeans affair. There is a minimum dress code that we should observe to honor God.
There are two things to be observed. One is when we come to public prayers are specifically to make a Holy Hour, etc. The other is when we just drop by the chapel, when we are about other business. In the first case a higher dress code is required, than in the second place. In both cases, the norms of modesty must be observed by both men and women. Yes, there is no double standard, men sometimes offend against modesty worse than women do! And, we who have been so blessed by being given the truth in this time when most have received the operation of error to believe lies, should exceed the laws of modesty, not break them!
Dress For Public Prayers
When Our family realized the Mass was taken away, we went many Sundays without even an apparent Mass. On Sunday morning all dressed up in their Sunday best. For men, this meant a suit and tie, and for women a dress reaching below the knee. We then proceeded to Mass prayers followed by Catechism. Although a suit and tie may not be required, a T-shirt is certainly inappropriate, as well as pants on women. A tie is probably in order for men, and this includes all men over the age of reason! In fact this dress code should be observed, even when praying on Sunday mornings at home to remind us of the solemn obligation we are partially fulfilling, that of the Third Commandment.
The Third Commandment
From Pope Saint Pius Xth’s Catechism:
1 Q. What does the Third Commandment: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day, command us to do?
A. The Third Commandment: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day, commands us to honour God by acts of worship on festivals.
2 Q. What are festivals?
A. In the Old Law they were Saturdays and certain other days regarded as specially solemn by the Jews; in the New Law they are Sundays and other festivals instituted by the Church.
3 Q. Why is Sunday sanctified instead of Saturday in the New Law?
A. Sunday, which means the Lord's Day, was substituted for Saturday, because it was on that day that our Lord rose from the dead.
4 Q. What act of worship is commanded us on festivals?
A. We are commanded to assist devoutly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
5 Q. With what other good works does a good Christian sanctify festivals?
A. A good Christian sanctifies festivals: (1) By attending Christian Doctrine, sermons, and the Divine Office; (2) By frequently and devoutly receiving the sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist; (3) By the practice of prayer and works of Christian charity.
6 Q. What does the Third Commandment forbid?
A. The Third Commandment forbids servile works and any other works that hinder the worship of God.
7 Q. What servile works are forbidden on festivals?
A. The servile works forbidden on festivals are those works called manual, that is, those material works in which the body has more part than the mind, such, for instance, as are ordinarily done by servants, labourers, and artisans.
8 Q. What sin does one commit by working on festivals?
A. One commits a mortal sin by working on festivals; brevity of time, however, will excuse from grave sin.
9 Q. Is no servile work at all permitted on festivals?
A. On festivals those works are permitted which are necessary for life, or for the service of God; as well as those done for a grave reason, with leave, when possible, from the Pastor.
10 Q. Why is servile work forbidden on festivals?
A. Servile work is forbidden on festivals in order that we may the better attend to divine worship, and to the care of our souls; And to enable us to rest from toil. Hence innocent recreation is not forbidden.
11 Q. What else above all should we avoid on festivals?
A. We should above all avoid sin and whatever leads to sin, such as dangerous diversions and dangerous places of amusement.
Pope Michael’s Commentary
Although we cannot attend Mass on Holidays of Obligation, we must keep them holy as required by the Third Commandment. Now the Holy Days of Obligation are all Sundays, Christmas, the Circumcision, the Ascension, the Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception. We should sanctify the day, not just an hour of it. To omit to pray on Sunday is certainly a serious matter. In fact, we should spend as much time in prayer as we would, if we assisted at Mass. Meditation is central to the obligation to pray on the Lord’s day. (Oh, that we didn’t have such a pagan language!)
Other References to Modesty in Pope Saint Pius Xths Catechism
42 Q. What do the words: To receive Holy Communion with devotion mean?
A. To receive Holy Communion with devotion means to approach Holy Communion with humility and in person and dress; and to make a preparation before, and an act of thanksgiving after, Holy Communion.
The Way to Assist at Mass
15 Q. What is required in order to assist at Holy Mass well and profitably?
A. To assist at Holy Mass well and profitably two things are necessary: (1) Modesty of person and (2) Devotion of heart.
16 Q. In what does modesty of person consist?
A. Modesty of person consists especially in being modestly dressed, in observing silence and recollection and, as far as possible, in remaining kneeling, except during the time of the two Gospels which are heard standing.
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The Sixth and Ninth Commandment
1 Q. What does the Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, forbid?
A. The Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, forbids every act, every look and every word contrary to chastity; it also forbids infidelity in marriage.
2 Q. What does the Ninth Commandment forbid?
A. The Ninth Commandment expressly forbids every desire contrary to that fidelity which husband and wife vowed to observe when contracting marriage; and it also forbids every guilty thought or desire of anything that is prohibited by the Sixth Commandment.
3 Q. Is impurity a great sin?
A. It is a most grave and abominable sin in the sight of God and man; it lowers man to the condition of the brute; it drags him into many other sins and vices; and it provokes the most terrible chastisements both in this world and in the next.
4 Q. Is every thought that comes into the mind against purity a sin?
A. The thoughts that come into the mind against purity are not of themselves sins, but rather temptations and incentives to sin.
5 Q. When is a bad thought a sin?
A. Bad thoughts, even though resulting in no bad deed, are sins when we culpably entertain them, or consent to them, or expose ourselves to the proximate danger of consenting to them.
6 Q. What do the Sixth and Ninth Commandments command?
A. The Sixth Commandment commands us to be chaste and modest in act, in look, in behaviour, and in speech. The Ninth Commandment commands us in addition to this to be chaste and pure interiorly, that is, in mind and in heart.
7 Q. What must we do to observe the Sixth and Ninth Commandments?
A. To be able to observe the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, we ought to pray often and from our hearts to God; be devout to the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of purity; remember that God watches us; think on death, on the Divine chastisements, and on the Passion of Jesus Christ; guard the senses; practice Christian mortification; and frequent the Sacraments with the proper dispositions.
8 Q. What must we avoid in order to preserve ourselves chaste?
A. To preserve ourselves chaste we must shun idleness, bad companions, the reading of bad books and papers, intemperance, the sight of indecent statues or pictures, licentious theatres, dangerous conversations, and all other occasions of sin.
Michael Fighting
"Michael…who standeth for…thy people," — Dan. 12:1-12
