Tea at Trianon: Is Dressing Appropriately for Mass Really that Important?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Is Dressing Appropriately for Mass Really that Important?

Let us keep in mind that one of the only times Jesus displayed wrath was due to disrespect in the House of God. From EpicPew:

From that day forward, I learned how to wear appropriate clothing to Mass every Sunday. Did I dress in a suit every Sunday? No, but I wore dress pants, dress shoes, a polo or button-down shirt (most often a button down with a sweater) and, on occasion, a tie. I am grateful that this lesson was taught to me. Dressing appropriately for Mass completely changed my disposition at Mass. My outer disposition and the clothing I wore now reflected my inner disposition.

I am writing this article to everyone that attends Mass, however, I hope that my fellow Catholic men who read this article will take these words to heart. If you wear dress pants/khaki’s and a polo shirt/button down to work every day, but come to Mass dressed in shorts or jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops—there is a disconnect. I asked myself a few questions: Why would I dress appropriately for work, but dress casually for Mass? Would I wear my work clothes to go to the pool, the beach or the lake? These questions challenged me. (Read more.)