Mantillas are a bit rare in the OF, and you didn't specify whether it is EF or OF. At an EF mass, no one would notice. At an OF mass, you would be the center of attention if you are in front. It is up to you to decide if that attention would be favorable, and if it is something you even want to deal with.

I suppose it depends on where you are and the culture. Most places in my diocese, a mantilla would barely be noticed by most people, whether EF or OF. Actually, it seems more and more common for younger women around here over the past several years.

Don't scruple the "draw attention" thing and go ahead and wear it. There was an excellent article the discussed the theological and spiritual significance of the mantilla that I could kick myself for not bookmarking. I'll try to find it because if you read it I'd bet you would always wear it in church.

Scott, dare I advocate the opposite?

You shouldn't because I mean "scruple" in the colloquial sense that actually means "don't be overly scrupulous". Wearing mantillas are in and of themselves a just and seemly practice and unless one has a true problem with "showboating" as it were, one ought to be encouraged to wear them if they are moved to. The very fact that she asked about it being an issue of humility is an indication that it is likely no problem for her and therefore encouragement would be more warranted than caution in this case.

How much humility is there in an action that would immediately draw attention to yourself and prompt all sorts of question and discussion?

Maybe you can phase in the mantilla: e.g., if you're playing for a holy hour on a weekday, or for Stations of the Cross, you can go for it.

Leave the sequins for the organ shoes. This way Diane Bish isn't alone in making a fashion statement.

Well, speaking of sequins. Did you ever see Virgil Fox?

Mantillas are one of those many externals EF people are attached to, but that many OF folks joyfully leave in the dust as no longer relevant, essential, or of any significance.

If you want to wear a mantilla, your heart is humble, and you are not trying to parade a false holiness, then wear it! If it is going to distract others or draw attention because of your unique status as a musician, maybe re-think it.

On organists wearing robes/cassocks (WHEN THE WHOLE CHOIR ISN'T OR THERE IS NO CHOIR PRESENT) - It's always struck me as a type of lay clericalization. Or, as some might say less ceremoniously, it smacks of being a "priest-wannabe."

There are many who get so worked up about the mantilla being such a beautiful sight and a sign of true saintliness and if only more women covered their hair etc etc etc...

I'm not one of those people. I personally don't care if a woman does or doesn't wear one. I tend to think they look a little silly, but that's my own opinion. Although I've seen on some Orthodox women a tendency to wear a decorative scarf on their head, which I think is rather snazzy. But whatever.

I wear a dark suit to church. Every Sunday. Whether attending or working. Even when it's warm out. And Iive in Texas. Only exception is evening services, if I'm coming from somewhere else, in which case it's at least a tie.

I don't do it to inspire the masses to deeper and deeper devotion with my bold self-effacing humility. I do it because that's what I like to wear and it looks damn good.

If you want to put on The Catholic Show for everyone at church to ooh and ahh, just leave it at home. If it's a nice compliment to your ensemble that you feel comfortable in, go for it. No difference to anyone but you and your mischievous 2 year old!

Ally, did you follow the link from Fr. Z to the original post? The 'mantilla' she showed would otherwise be called a moebius scarf or cowl, very fashionable at the moment.

I heartily agree with CharlesW. Also, you never know what sort of conversational opening it will engender, leading from the mantilla/veil to ars liturgica to singing the Mass instead of singing at Mass... Just be ready to say to a detractor, in a winsome manner, "Actually, it was never abrogated in canon law, and I wear it because..."

(And also be prepared for some people to be totally confused. In my diocese, the EF is vastly unknown, even though we have two parishes that offer it as a mass of precept and three others that offer it weekly or monthly. When I was invited to be part of the 'massed choir' for Chrism Mass, of course I wore my mantilla---I always do, at both Forms; I'm a schola director and only occasionally a substitute organist-- and the ladies all wanted to know if I was a religious. In addition, they had never heard of the EF. It was an opportunity. Then they were all agog that the girls among the delegation from my son's private Catholic high school were also veiled, and that we all received on the tongue, kneeling.)

However, is it just my imagination, or is it true that only men have commented so far?!

A fair point, but I should also point out that I linked the video of the young girl who later in it goes into the whys. I also happened to have noticed more young girls wearing them at the OF in the various parishes I've visited. Still uncommon, but it's not like it is a circus-show oddity; this is why I don't think there will be distracting gasps, murmurs and finger-wagging from the congregation if she decides to wear it.

I usually wear a shirt, tie and hat (outside, of course), sometimes a jacket. Depends on when I roll out of bed...

I guess my prose doesn't give it away.

Write more feminine. Now! :D

The 1917 Code of Canon Law required that men be bare headed when assisting at sacred rites, in or out of church; it required women to have a covered head.

The 1983 Code replaced the 1917 Code. The new Code has no similar instructions about bare or covered heads.

I remember one winter, somewhere 1968--1972, there was a fad for teen girls to wear a furry white hood, that looked like a giant puffball. Looking down from the choir loft, I smiled at a field of mushrooms.

I forget when many women started to ignore the 1917 canon. It was certainly before 1983. In the same way that permission was given for communion in the hand, perhaps the rule makers were just recognizing fait accompli.

I think the mantilla is a good idea. Black for married women, white for single.

St. Paul has a well-known passage, that a woman's hair is her glory, and then draws out his reasoning why she should cover it. He doesn't mention the pastoral reason: modesty is chastity's bulwark. Flamboyance by men or women in church should be avoided. I submit that the custom of veiling a women's hair makes it easier for well-intentioned but red-blooded bachelors to attend to their prayers.

So technically a man may wear a hat in church.

lol, I always tell Diane, your going to start a fashion trend with those organ shoes

She probably should have figured out how to "copyright" her shoes, haha!

A couple of years ago I felt in prayer that i should stop wearing trousers (which I always wore) and switch to skirts, to honour our lady. I've done that, mostly, A couple of years ago a two friends got married in the EF, and at their wedding I covered my head, though noone else did, even among the Ef frequenters. About a year ago I felt moved to cover my head at Mass (OF), and have been doing so ever since.
Head covering for females was a requirement of Law until 1983, under the 1917 Code. i remember women in our parish doing this, but it had already died out by 1983. (I'm in Ireland, btw)
One of the drivers behind the simplification of the Code in 1983 was to leave out minutiae and to orient the Law into expressing the approach of 'hierarchy of truths' - ie dealing with most important and core things, and returning to the realm of custom things which were customary and did not require to be under the sanction of law.
So head covering was left out, not because the Church didn't want it to happen, or was encouraging the opposite, but because it is sufficient to refer to scripture and custom to see the right behaviour, but noone is bound under penalty of law, a just pastoral solution.
So what does scripture say? Unequivocal support for women covering their heads. And custom? Ditto until recent times, and one might well argue that the abandonment of headcovering sprang either from opposition to the Church's self-understanding as hierarchical, or from carelessness, or ignorance of scripture. I can't see any good reasons for abandoning the practice.
Practically - it was weird covering my head. One solution I found was to buy a little Amish headcopvering, a sort of round (6 or 8 inches) black lace veil, which with clips fixes fairly immovably on my head covering the top of my head and hair to about my neck, but it is not all drapy or wavy. As i always pin up my hair that covers all my hair.
I would say its fairly inconspicuous. After I got comfortable with that, I got a more traditional mantilla, to the shoulders. A comb sewn into it means it sits nice and secure without slippage or distraction. THats mostly whatI wear now, though sometimes if conducting childrens choir or being active in some way I go back to the smaller veil.
My only dilemma was what to do when reading, giving an annnouncement or talk or whatever in the church, seeing as head covering and NOT TALKING go hand in hand in the same passage. Mostly I just wear my mantilla anyway, but in some circumstances I have taken it off when going forward to speak, on the grounds of nto wanting to injure anyone hearing something important by distracting them.
But by and large, when i'm just attending Mass I don't worry about distracting other people. Given that I can quite easily get from the greeting right through to Communion thinking solely of what I can make for dinner with the current contents of the fridge, I am sure that other people, like me, will find something to be disdtracted by if they are that way inclined regardless of what I wear.
Finally, I like it as a principle of liturgical maximalism. Do I have to ? no. But why not?

I have been wearing a veil at our OF parish for the pat 10 years. It was a hard decision to come to, but in the end, I knew it was more about what God wanted from me than what other people might think. I wear it as a sign of humility in front of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and that's all I tell people if they ask me about it. The folks who have approached me about it were either pleased about seeing a veil or seemed genuinly curious. Masses at my parish have continued uninterrupted since that time, leading me to realize that I'm not nearly as important as I think ;)

When I rejoined the choir, I kept wearing it (we sit up front) and I keep it on when I cantor. As far as I know, no one is wigged out by this. The upside is that now 10-12 ladies wear veils or head coverings ( at the choir Mass, anyway) including another lady in the choir.

Keep praying and continue to be open to the Lord's will for you!

About 18 months ago a new family came to our OF parish--the mother and teenaged daughters wore mantillas. I had not considered wearing one prior to that. My 12yo daughter wanted to wear one, but I was concerned about the same question the OP raised as I am in front of the congregation as choir director and cantor. But with three choir members (my daughter and the teens mentioned above) wearing mantillas, I decided to as well. (The family since moved away, so now only my daughter and I wear mantillas at this particular Mass.)

To me, it is a reminder that I am in the presence of our Lord in a way I am not outside the church. It does help me focus more on Christ, not on the others present. No one has ever said anything about my daughter or me wearing a mantilla, except one person wanted to know if it was part of the choir "uniform". I don't know what anyone else thinks about it. It's not a concern of mine. It's not my business to judge others (which I do struggle with when I catch sight of immodest and sloppy dress at Mass) as it's no one's business to judge me. Let's just look at Jesus, shall we?!

Sometimes being the example of prayerfulness helps to inspire others to that same prayerfulness. I am sure initially you would draw attention to yourself, but if your actions that follow that, demonstrate a pure reverance to the Mass, it may have an influence on others to follow.

I agree with this.

Ally for what my two cents are worth...I've worn a Mantilla at Mass since 1999. At our current parish, (we moved here in 2003) we are identified as "that family that veils", since my daughters also wear veils. We are the only parishioners that consistently wear a veil at Mass although visitors sometimes do.

When we first moved here I was uncomfortable worrying that people would think we were showing off. However, after several examinations of conscience and talking with my then spiritual director (who was not a huge fan of the veil in general) I kept wearing it. Because it helps ME grow in humility and holiness.

I will say that it has sparked a number of very interesting conversations over the years and I have seen some people change their mind about what orthodoxy truly means (for some reason the orthodox are seen as mean-spirited, judgmental people, and I am definitely NOT).

Bottom line, if it helps YOU, wear it, and don't be overly concerned about what anyone else (including me) thinks.

edited to add...we go to the OF.