THE 9th STEEL CITY MEDJUGORJE ANNUAL MARIAN CONFERENCE
Conference Dates not yet Determined


INFORMATION FOR RELIGIOUS

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HABIT BEGINNINGS

Q. How did the wearing of religious garb or the habit begin? Was it the dress of a widow in mourning? Why did religious order change? Someone said for health reason. Most senior seculars do not accept this updating of religious garb. Please respond with a positive answer if possible. Are religious order being phased out? If so, why?

-Name and address withheld

A. The wearing of distinct garb for either widows or consecrated virgins goes all the way back to the origins of Christian life. We find entire treatises written on the matter by authors such as Tertullian, Ambrose and Jerome - long before the existence of religious orders as we have come to know them. The idea was simple: These women had a special role within the Christian community, especially as being dedicated to works of charity and prayer, and the faithful wanted to know who they were, so that they could approach them with their requests, to be edified by their presence and to express their reverence for them. The veil is a particular sign of the consecrated life, and the Fathers of the Church see it as a symbol parallel to the bridal costume of a woman joined to a man in holy matrimony - that is, this virgin is mystically married to Christ.

Distinctive habits for various religious congregations, of course, did not begin until a variety of such communities were founded. Sometimes the garb was simple, sometimes elaborate. Certainly, there were habits that were not very conducive to proper hygiene or to safety in modern conditions - for example, driving - and, for such reasons, Pope Pius XII urged Sisters to update their habits back in the 1950s; we shouldnote, however, he did not tell them to shed habits altogether. Interestingly, few congregations paid any attention to his wise counsel. The Second Vatican Council repeated the Pontiff's advice in exactly the same terms; this time around, many communities took "updating" to be a synonym for "eliminating."

Popes Paul VI and John Paul II both decried the adoption of secular dress by Religious (male and female alike); the Code of Canon Law and every other piece of ecclesiastical legislation since the Council has required distinct religious garb. Unfortunately, most religious congregations in the United States and other "developed" countries have roundly ignored this norm, largely to their own destruction, as we have watched with distress the dissolution of these very same communities. Refusal to accept the law of the Church and an equal refusal to correspond to common sense is generally punished by extinction. Not surprisingly, faithful communities are thriving.

By the way, the distaste for Religious in lay clothes is not limited to "seniors"; if anything. I have found even greater nonacceptance of it amoung the yound, who understand and need visible signs of consecreation to the Lord and His Church in this terribly secularized would in which we live.
From "The Catholic Answer" by Father Peter M.J. Stravinskas

-Name and address withheld

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