Question 5 - Dress Code
Father, how should we dress for Mass ?
Although these things should be obvious to everyone, the virtue of Christian modesty has disappeared everywhere. Therefore, please allow me to remind you as clearly as possible the way you are expected to dress for Mass.
Women and girls:
You must cover your head. Any head covering is fine: veil, hat, etc, provided that it is not eccentric or disrespectful as a very large hat would be, for example, or a baseball cap.
You must wear a dress that falls well below the knee when sitting. Your dress must not be too tight, see-through, with slits, etc. Remember that the purpose of a dress is to hide the precise shape of the body and not to reveal it… No pants are allowed in church for women even if you are wearing a long coat or shirt (unless you are wearing pants under your dress for health reasons).
The upper part of your clothes must be modest as well: no sleeveless shirts even during summer. Your sleeves should reach at least the elbow. No low cut: the lowest the neckline of a shirt must be to remain modest is approximately 5 cm below the pit of your throat.
Please avoid some clothes and items that are completely inappropriate in church: high heels; piercings; excessive make up; if you have some tattoos, please make sure they are covered.
It would be preferable if leather and jeans jacket were avoided as they represent a spirit that is contrary to the spirit we expect to see in church.
You should avoid dressing in a pompous fashion that would attract attention or in a neglectful manner.
Men and boys:
You must uncover your head in church.
You must not wear blue jeans or shorts; anything that is skin tight is inappropriate.
No athletic shirt; no t-shirt; you should be wearing a shirt with long sleeves or at least sleeves that come close to the elbow.
Please avoid some clothes and items that are completely inappropriate in church: sunglasses, piercings, no spiked hair. If you have a tattoo on your arm, then you will have to cover it by wearing long sleeves.
No sneakers unless they look like a shoe.
It would be preferable if leather and jeans jacket were avoided as they represent a spirit that is contrary to the spirit we expect to see in church.
You should avoid dressing in a pompous fashion that would attract attention or in a neglectful manner.
Please remember that dressing properly for Mass is an act of Faith in the real presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ and an act of veneration towards Him. If we were to meet the king of a country, how careful would we be to avoid anything that would hurt his eyes! In church, we meet the King of Kings.
«And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.» Matthew 22, 11-13
Please remember also that many of the things we have just said (although not all of them obviously) would apply also in your daily life. The virtue of modesty is not to be kept only in church, but every day and everywhere, because God sees us everywhere. We will examine the question of how one should dress every day outside of church another week.
