Dress At Mass

[fides quarens intellectum]

[quote name='Dan' post='1882016' date='Jun 3 2009, 10:50 AM']In our parish, the following sign appears in English and Spanish at each of the doors. Additionally, there is a card in each pew titled "In this Holy place" which reminds the people about no food, no gum, and that poorly behaved children will be sold into slavery ( or something about the crying rooms ).


DRESS CODE FOR MASS When you come to church, you must be conscious of your attire. The following are guidelines when attending or serving as a Liturgical Minister:

Ladies Gentlemen
 Dresses or blouses must cover the shoulder, back & the chest. When bending over, we do not want to see your chest.
 Skirts or dresses must cover the knee or approach the ankle (Not touching the floor)
 Dress Slacks are appropriate.
 No Tennis shoes or Flip Flops.
 Polo or button up shirt
 Shirts should fit appropriately, not too large, not too small.
 Slacks NO Jeans.[/quote]

nice!!


Yeah - i've seen parishes in this country that had specific guidelines about [i]not[/i] kneeling during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, so why not have a similar instructions for what is appropriate to wear?

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Brother Adam' post='1881876' date='Jun 3 2009, 08:19 AM']Thank you Lil Red (for the bumps and comments here) & HSmom. You've gotten me off my high horse. I see looking over the thread that I am venting as much as asking for recommendations. I appreciate Terra Firma's comments as well, you have good points. You'd have to be at our parish to fully understand my strong reaction to clothing at Mass. Our readers wear shorts and our ushers jeans and printed t-shirts. Half the time I see more flesh at Mass than at the beach. I can handle all of the students at Steubenville who show up at the 6AM Mass in PJ's better than I can handle our Mass.

I still find jeans & T-shirts hugely distracting, so do all of the families that make up the core of our orthodox conservative Catholics at our parish. Especially when it is so common. You know people aren't even bothering to try.

I still believe we should dress better to receive Jesus in the Eucharist than to meet the Holy Father. The Holy Father is a mere man, Jesus is God.[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
i agree with you, at the basic level, btw. but i have gone to Mass in jeans and in shorts and in capris. especially right now (and at the end of pregnancy) when basically none of my clothes fit, and i'm not buying nice clothes that will fit now because in a month they won't.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='hot stuff' post='1881885' date='Jun 3 2009, 08:29 AM']How about sign that simply says "The priest doesn't show the top of his thong. Please do the same."

I think that would get the idea across[/quote]
+J.M.J.+

[doe-jo]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1881851' date='Jun 3 2009, 07:55 AM']Exposing too much skin to God's glory can cause cancer. [/quote]
hahahahahaha

[Dan]

Taking it a bit more simply, how about the following:

Ladies,

Front and back cover neck to knees if you please.

Gentlemen,

Nice slacks and shirt are better than jeans covered with dirt.


Or,

Would Sister Marie Rambo, or Sister Ignatius Holyterror let you get away with those clothes in the presence of the Creator of the Universe?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Dan' post='1882111' date='Jun 3 2009, 01:21 PM']Taking it a bit more simply, how about the following:

Ladies,

Front and back cover neck to knees if you please.

Gentlemen,

Nice slacks and shirt are better than jeans covered with dirt.


Or,

Would Sister Marie Rambo, or Sister Ignatius Holyterror let you get away with those clothes in the presence of the Creator of the Universe?[/quote]


Well, most lay people have little or no experience with Sisters of any variety. So they probably would have no idea....

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1882064' date='Jun 3 2009, 01:33 PM']+J.M.J.+
i agree with you, at the basic level, btw. but i have gone to Mass in jeans and in shorts and in capris. especially right now (and at the end of pregnancy) when basically none of my clothes fit, and i'm not buying nice clothes that will fit now because in a month they won't.[/quote]

Yeah, well even I know better than to mess with a mom. Not even the 260 pound pure muscle 6 foot 4 african american boss I had once as a teenager scared me nearly as much as Teresa when she was 9 months pregnant and angry.

When I did my Mass etiquette series last fall (which helped a little bit among those involved) I said there is never a good reason to judge anyone for any reason based on the way they are dressed - someone could be coming from the hospital. Someone could be coming from their job. Someone could be homeless and have nothing else. Given the solemnity of what we celebrate at Mass, everyone should be taking care in how they dress though.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='T-Bone _' post='1881938' date='Jun 3 2009, 12:07 PM']I'd like to chime in on the denim issue:

If I was told not to wear my nice black denim jeans, I'd go to Mass elsewhere. There's Parishes out there that can be modest, but not picky.[/quote]

Whether or not it is appropriate to wear jeans at Mass, that would be a lousy reason to switch parishes. I have been in parishes that do not allow jeans on a regular basis from its members. I just can't think of any ordinary circumstance where jeans are more appropriate than dress clothes for a Sunday Mass.

[HisChildForever]

Instead of citing what is not appropriate, maybe cite what is appropriate - positives will attract more people than negatives, and there will be less controversy. Make sure it doesn't look like you're targeting only women's dress, too.

So your bulletin should say something like "Long or short sleeved shirts, long skirts, appropriate pants [so no one comes in sweats], dress capris [since some are make of that sweat pant material], and appropriate footwear." Etc.

[Shpout]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1881817' date='Jun 3 2009, 08:20 AM']You have to do this slowly, so cut out the most outrageous stuff first - short shorts, spagetti straps, minidresses, flip-flops.[/quote]

I agree, maybe make a not of no 'torn' jeans?
And people might want to see the appropiate first...
oooh something I saw once was a little sign with people (like the people on the bathroom signs) dressed appropriately and unappropriately by showing the acceptable clothing lines/length (tshirt (shoulders and modest front cut), long shorts, shoes...)

I think churches should start putting little flyers up to [u]encourage [/u]people to dress more appropriately because I think a lot of it is because of never having been educated to dress well for church....

[Shpout]

[quote name='Dan' post='1882016' date='Jun 3 2009, 10:50 AM']In our parish, the following sign appears in English and Spanish at each of the doors. Additionally, there is a card in each pew titled "In this Holy place" which reminds the people about no food, no gum, and that poorly behaved children will be sold into slavery ( or something about the crying rooms ).


DRESS CODE FOR MASS When you come to church, you must be conscious of your attire. The following are guidelines when attending or serving as a Liturgical Minister:

Ladies Gentlemen
 Dresses or blouses must cover the shoulder, back & the chest. When bending over, we do not want to see your chest.
 Skirts or dresses must cover the knee or approach the ankle (Not touching the floor)
 Dress Slacks are appropriate.
 No Tennis shoes or Flip Flops.
 Polo or button up shirt
 Shirts should fit appropriately, not too large, not too small.
 Slacks NO Jeans.[/quote]

nice! but you dont want to take it too far either because soem people may be poor and cannot afford the best clothe, or clothe that 'fit' just right. We do not want to have poorer people feel that they are being discriminated agains. also not touching the floor sounds a bit much, most people wont wear skits that long anyways, covering the knee is good (or at least knee length) I also think that NICE jeans can be find. when I dress for Church I often think of how I can look 'beautiful' to [u]honor [/u]my God, and if the nicest pair of pants that I have is a pair of jeans then that is what I will wear. I want to look my best with what I have! (at the moment most of my clothe dont fit because i just lost a lot of weight, and i cant afford to buy new cloth just now) we dont want to drive people away from going to church because the dress code is too much like a 'school' uniform. but there has to be limits/boundaries for sure!
just soem of my thoughts anyways

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Brother Adam' post='1882127' date='Jun 3 2009, 11:49 AM']Given the solemnity of what we celebrate at Mass, everyone should be taking care in how they dress though.[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
definitely.

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Brother Adam' post='1881810' date='Jun 3 2009, 09:09 AM']What I have so far, what I most often see people in here.

Not appropriate:

Denim • Jeans • Shorts • Tank Tops • Spaghetti Straps • Capri’s • Tennis Shoes • Flip Flops • T-shirts[/quote]

I wear jeans to church when I go to the ordinary form...

[missionseeker]

I wouldn't have expected that from you, s'mores...

[cappie]

I raed this out at Mass and had it put in print form in the bulletin. I don't remember where it came from:

Many people say that "God doesn't care what we look like; He's just glad we're there." I'm sure there is a lot of truth to that statement, though I've never interviewed God on the subject. Still, I've often wondered why we go to great lengths to look our best on certain occasions and not others. Isn't our outward appearance a reflection of our inner attitudes?

To me, it is not a question of God "caring" what we look like; God's love is a constant given. The real question is whether or not we care what we look like in God's presence. This is why Christians have always been encouraged to truly dress "up" when we gather for worship. It is an outward recognition that what we are gathering for is truly something very important and meaningful.

...with a little common sense we can dress casually and still reflect an attitude of reverence. For instance, short-shorts; grungy jeans, shirts, and athletic shoes; flimsy footwear; and tank-tops should never be worn to Church. Clean t-shirts are acceptable, providing they are not embellished with crude graphics.

Let's not forget that proper dress also includes good grooming habits. At the very least, face and hands should be clean, teeth brushed, and hair brushed or combed.