Habit (Veils) Catalog

[laetitia crucis]

I recently saw this on Gemma's "Religious Habit" Yahoo! Group and thought I'd pass it along here.

[url="http://www.wrightscatalogue.com/catalog.html"]Wright's Catalog[/url]

I thought it was quite spiffy. I never knew there were actual companies that made veils (and other parts of that habit for that matter.) This just fascinates me. Plus, I've always wondered how some Orders got that extra "height" on their veils (like some Dominicans, the Sisters of Life, etc.)

[img]http://www.cmswr.org/member_communities/Images%20Member%20Communities/baby.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.cmswr.org/slideshowmembercommunities/images/vocp4.jpg[/img]

Does anyone know what purpose it provides to have that added height away from the head? Ventilation? Style?

Just curious.

[zunshynn]

for the PCPA it's symbolic... the white headband symbolizes that her mind is on Christ.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='02 March 2010 - 06:46 PM' timestamp='1267569975' post='2065555']
for the PCPA it's symbolic... the white headband symbolizes that her mind is on Christ.
[/quote]

I really like that symbolism!

As for having a white veil, the Sr. Mary Gabriel, S.V. said the Sisters of Life always have a white veil to symbolize that they are always learning and growing in their vocation. I thought that was pretty neat. I think she also said something similar why the PCPAs wearing white.

--

So, I just saw this picture in the "Nuns Picture Thread" and it looked just like one of the veils and mesh frames/caps in Wright's Catalog:

[img]http://www.ssfpa.org/images/event/Christmas2009/SrBenedictaBaby2009.jpg[/img]
(I love this picture!)

Is there a significance or symbolism to the height of the veil that use these kind of mesh frames/caps? Maybe that one's mind is always "raised" to God? I just think it's kind of interesting.

[CatherineM]

My mom used to make habits when I was a kid.

[brandelynmarie]

I read somewhere that the sisters would use cut up bleach bottles to give heighth to their veils. And recently, someone told me that habits are trademarked & that is why, for example, active Carmelite orders will have a modified veil & habit, similar & recongnizable, yet slightly different from the O.Carm. or OCD.

[TeresaBenedicta]

How do you keep the veils on?
Do most orders keep short hair?

[zunshynn]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' date='20 March 2010 - 06:14 PM' timestamp='1269130460' post='2076506']
How do you keep the veils on?
Do most orders keep short hair?
[/quote]

The PCPA veils actually snap onto the top of the guimpe, which ties in the back. I don't know about orders like the Dominicans where the veil rests right on the head, but it seems like it must tie in the back or something.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='brandelynmarie' date='20 March 2010 - 08:45 PM' timestamp='1269128708' post='2076499']
I read somewhere that the sisters would use cut up bleach bottles to give heighth to their veils. And recently, someone told me that habits are trademarked & that is why, for example, active Carmelite orders will have a modified veil & habit, similar & recongnizable, yet slightly different from the O.Carm. or OCD.
[/quote]

There is a lady I know from my former parish that used to be (she left shortly after Vat. II) one of those cut-up-bleach-bottle veiled Sisters. She said they also used those plastic-gallon ice cream buckets, too. I thought that was pretty fascinating.

I had no idea about the trademarked habits, though! I find that really interesting, too!

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' date='20 March 2010 - 09:14 PM' timestamp='1269130460' post='2076506']
How do you keep the veils on?
Do most orders keep short hair?
[/quote]

The order I was with kept their hair quite short (which I am quite the fan of ).

Under the veils, they wear what we called a "toca" (or I have seen others on VS call it a "toque"). The Sisters of Life call theirs a "cap". It's the little white bit you can sometimes see under the veils. This basically looked like something resembling an Amish bonnet to me. It is supposed to cover a good bit of your ears and ties in the back.

Over the "toca" went the veils which also tied in the back along the hairline.

The "toca" helps keep the veil in place -- quite well, actually. Without the toca, the veil pretty much slides of with ease because of the weight of the veil and the softness of the veil material and of one's hair. Friction, in this case, is a very good thing.



Edit: typo.

Edited March 21, 2010 by laetitia crucis

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='20 March 2010 - 09:33 PM' timestamp='1269131637' post='2076516']
The order I was with kept their hair quite short (which I am quite the fan of ).

Under the veils, they wear what we called a "toca" (or I have seen others on VS call it a "toque"). The Sisters of Life call theirs a "cap". It's the little white bit you can sometimes see under the veils. This basically looked like something resembling an Amish bonnet to me. It is supposed to cover a good bit of your ears and ties in the back.

Over the "toca" went the veils which also tied in the back along the hairline.

The "toca" helps keep the veil in place -- quite well, actually. Without the toca, the veil pretty much slides of with ease because of the weight of the veil and the softness of the veil material and of one's hair. Friction, in this case, is a very good thing.



Edit: typo.
[/quote]

Interesting!

The Salesians don't cut their hair at all, and I thought that that must be awfully strange with a veil. The CFRs said that they did an initial cut for symbolism and then each sister was in charge of what she wanted to do with it... although, they do keep it shorter...

[vee]

I guess it would vary by order & community but do you sleep with the toca/toque/cap on too?

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' date='20 March 2010 - 09:55 PM' timestamp='1269132944' post='2076549']
Interesting!

The Salesians don't cut their hair at all, and I thought that that must be awfully strange with a veil. [b]The CFRs said that they did an initial cut for symbolism and then each sister was in charge of what she wanted to do with it[/b]... although, they do keep it shorter...
[/quote]

I think this is also true for the Sisters of Life -- at least according to my novice friend. She says a few of the Sisters she knows grow their hair out long enough to donate to Locks for Love and then repeat continually.

I have always wondered about the hair length with them and the Dominicans (or really any order that has hair-showing veils). I would totally want a shaved head. So much easier to deal with, and well.. awesome sacrifice, I believe.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='vee8' date='20 March 2010 - 10:09 PM' timestamp='1269133763' post='2076590']
I guess it would vary by order & community but do you sleep with the toca/toque/cap on too?
[/quote]

We did not, though most of us slept with hats (like tobaggons and such) -- I was shocked at how cold my head got at night. A hat was definitely a good idea, especially on chilly nights.

However, I do know of at least one community that I have visited that [i]does[/i] sleep with a "night habit", which includes the toca/toque/cap and veil. As silly/superficial/immature as this might sound, I thought that was really cool. Makes getting up in the middle of the night for Matins MUCH easier, I would think.

I tend to ask about random things like that...

[Orans]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' date='20 March 2010 - 07:14 PM' timestamp='1269130460' post='2076506']
How do you keep the veils on?
Do most orders keep short hair?
[/quote]

You keep the veil in place easily with a thin metal hairband that goes from the front of one ear to the other. It tends to move forward, towards your front, instead of falling back. You don't have to worry about the veil at all and you don't have to cut short your hair.

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='20 March 2010 - 10:17 PM' timestamp='1269134262' post='2076609']
I think this is also true for the Sisters of Life -- at least according to my novice friend. She says a few of the Sisters she knows grow their hair out long enough to donate to Locks for Love and then repeat continually.

I have always wondered about the hair length with them and the Dominicans (or really any order that has hair-showing veils). I would totally want a shaved head. So much easier to deal with, and well.. awesome sacrifice, I believe.
[/quote]

You have a friend that's a novice with the Sisters of Life?! I probably met her last weekend!

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' date='20 March 2010 - 10:30 PM' timestamp='1269135049' post='2076628']
You have a friend that's a novice with the Sisters of Life?! I probably met her last weekend!
[/quote]

Sr. Anne Marie Guadalupe!! -- Did you get to meet her? She is hi-laaaar-ious!

[vee]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='21 March 2010 - 11:24 AM' timestamp='1269134695' post='2076620']
We did not, though most of us slept with hats (like tobaggons and such) --

[/quote]

In Canada the hat you wear outside in winter for tobogganing etc we call a toque. Ive never slept with mine on though. When I hear the word hat I think of something like this.

[img]http://g3b.qataracademy.wikispaces.net/file/view/tobogganing.jpg/91581071/tobogganing.jpg[/img]

Edited March 21, 2010 by vee8

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='vee8' date='20 March 2010 - 10:51 PM' timestamp='1269136306' post='2076641']
In Canada the hat you wear outside in winter for tobogganing etc we call a toque. Ive never slept with mine on though. When I hear the word hat I think of something like this.

[img]http://g3b.qataracademy.wikispaces.net/file/view/tobogganing.jpg/91581071/tobogganing.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

When I hear the word "hat" I think the same thing!! (Ding! Ding! Ding! We have matching universal concepts -- I think that is pretty spiffy. )

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any other word to describe "winter hats" -- like the ones in your posted picture!!! I know they are called something else, but the word escapes me at the moment... I have heard many people call them "toboggans", though I only knew that word to mean "sled" for several years.

Hmmm... you know, I think I've heard those hats called "beanies".

I am a poor specimen of university graduate that has an English minor.

[vee]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='21 March 2010 - 12:01 PM' timestamp='1269136875' post='2076646']
When I hear the word "hat" I think the same thing!! (Ding! Ding! Ding! We have matching universal concepts -- I think that is pretty spiffy. )[/quote]

very [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/caption_cool.gif[/img]

[quote]
"winter hats" -- [/quote]

at the thought of some Mother yelling at her child "Laetitia put on your winter hat NOW."
[quote]

I have heard many people call them "toboggans",[/quote]


Weird people A toboggan is that thing the kids are sitting on.

I wonder if nuns in Canada, the ones that still wear habits (all ten of them) wear toques on their toques outside.

[Cherie]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='20 March 2010 - 09:17 PM' timestamp='1269134262' post='2076609']
I have always wondered about the hair length with them and the Dominicans (or really any order that has hair-showing veils). I would totally want a shaved head. [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/hehe.gif[/img] So much easier to deal with, and well.. awesome sacrifice, I believe. [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif[/img]
[/quote]

It's kept very, very short and is cut in regular intervals. Not quite shaved ... but sometimes VERY close to it!!!

I must admit, it was much easier to wear the cap and veil when the hair was short. Once it gets too long it's much easier for it to slide around a bit and yes, if it gets caught on something, fall off (which was my WORST NIGHTMARE ... thankfully it never happened to me!)

Regarding wearing them at night, some communities have "night-veils" they wear -- a simple cloth with a tie on it in one community I am aware of -- but they always fall off during the night. In our community we could wear the cap to sleep. I always did -- and it hardly ever stayed on the whole night, although I sure tried to keep it on! [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/idontknow.gif[/img]