Tweet
The Times, UK
November 16, 2013 Saturday 12:01 AM GMT
Ripping this veil in two opened the gateway to Heaven
BYLINE: Geoffrey Rowell
Why are veils vexing? It seems that scarcely a month goes by without
some discussion about hijabs, niqabs and burkas, with concern
expressed on the one hand about the cultural and religious rights
concerning the appropriate dress for Muslim women, and on the other
about the anonymity of wearing such clothes in a court of law. These
cultural clashes also play into ancient religious traditions, and the
significance of clothing and vesture in communicating religious
identity. Veils are only one part of the rich tapestry of clothing in
all religious - as in all human - traditions, from black-tie dinners
to jeans and pop culture. As has been rightly said: "Clothes have
always a symbolic import, and continue to do so" - as fashion editors
can attest.
There is a pre-history to our contemporary clashes about hijabs and
burkas. Protestant anti-Catholic polemic, in the 19th century and
earlier, objected to the veils and habits of Christian nuns, for much
the same reasons. Yet the nun's veil was in origin simply linked with
the normal clothing of married women, and nuns were seen as married to
Christ. Ritualist priests in the Church of England in the 19th century
were prosecuted for wearing the traditional Eucharistic vestments -
the "rags of popery" to Protestants on the one hand, and "the barest
alphabet of reverence for so divine a mystery" to Anglo-Catholic
priests on the other. Yet the rich chasuble has its origin in the poor
man's poncho, an outer garment to keep him warm.
How clothes were worn had religious and cultural significance. The
Christians of the Ethiopian highlands traditionally wear a toga-like
cotton shamma, which is folded and held in different ways according to
what you are doing and to whom you are speaking. Orthodox deacons
offer the intercessions in the Liturgy with their long stoles held at
the end in one hand before them as they face the great icon-screen, in
the same way in which plenipotentiaries came before the Byzantine
emperor. The icon-screen itself is like a wall shutting off the
sanctuary, the holy place, and in Armenian churches instead of the
icon-screen there are great curtains which are pulled across the
sanctuary at moments of particular solemnity in the Liturgy.
In the Temple at Jerusalem the Holy of Holies was hidden from view by
the Temple veil, the great curtain which hung in front of the
sanctuary. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that it "was a
Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and
scarlet, and purple", the mixture of the colours being an image of the
universe, representing earth, air, fire and water. The curtain was
embroidered with "a panorama of the entire heavens". The veil marked a
boundary - a boundary between earth and Heaven, between this world and
the next. It was a reminder of the otherness of God, the God who is
awesomely beyond the limitations of human language. So, we might say,
veils always have to do with mystery - and, when worn by women, with
modesty.
The Gospels note that when Jesus died on the Cross, the great Temple
veil was ripped in two from top to bottom. This means that the gateway
to Heaven is now laid open. In Mark, the oldest of the Gospels, this
echoes the story of the Baptism of Jesus, when the "heavens were torn
apart" and the voice of God proclaimed Jesus as His Son. Now, as Jesus
dies on the Cross, the Temple veil is torn in two, and the centurion
by the foot of the Cross echoes the voice of heaven, proclaiming that,
"Truly, this man," this crucified Jesus, "is the Son of God." The side
of Jesus is pierced by a soldier's spear, and blood and water issue
out, which the Church has seen as the two sacraments of Baptism and
the Eucharist, given that we may share in the Divine life, the life of
the new creation. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews dares to say
that, for Christians, the veil is the flesh of Christ. As Charles
Wesley's great Christmas hymn proclaims, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead
see! Hail, the incarnate Deity! Life and light to all He brings, Risen
with healing in his wings!"
For, as St John puts it, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory." And St Paul tells us that "now, with
unveiled faces, we behold the glory of the Lord", that we may be
"changed into his likeness from glory to glory".
Geoffrey Rowell was Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe from 2001 to 2013
November 16, 2013 Saturday 12:01 AM GMT
Ripping this veil in two opened the gateway to Heaven
BYLINE: Geoffrey Rowell
Why are veils vexing? It seems that scarcely a month goes by without
some discussion about hijabs, niqabs and burkas, with concern
expressed on the one hand about the cultural and religious rights
concerning the appropriate dress for Muslim women, and on the other
about the anonymity of wearing such clothes in a court of law. These
cultural clashes also play into ancient religious traditions, and the
significance of clothing and vesture in communicating religious
identity. Veils are only one part of the rich tapestry of clothing in
all religious - as in all human - traditions, from black-tie dinners
to jeans and pop culture. As has been rightly said: "Clothes have
always a symbolic import, and continue to do so" - as fashion editors
can attest.
There is a pre-history to our contemporary clashes about hijabs and
burkas. Protestant anti-Catholic polemic, in the 19th century and
earlier, objected to the veils and habits of Christian nuns, for much
the same reasons. Yet the nun's veil was in origin simply linked with
the normal clothing of married women, and nuns were seen as married to
Christ. Ritualist priests in the Church of England in the 19th century
were prosecuted for wearing the traditional Eucharistic vestments -
the "rags of popery" to Protestants on the one hand, and "the barest
alphabet of reverence for so divine a mystery" to Anglo-Catholic
priests on the other. Yet the rich chasuble has its origin in the poor
man's poncho, an outer garment to keep him warm.
How clothes were worn had religious and cultural significance. The
Christians of the Ethiopian highlands traditionally wear a toga-like
cotton shamma, which is folded and held in different ways according to
what you are doing and to whom you are speaking. Orthodox deacons
offer the intercessions in the Liturgy with their long stoles held at
the end in one hand before them as they face the great icon-screen, in
the same way in which plenipotentiaries came before the Byzantine
emperor. The icon-screen itself is like a wall shutting off the
sanctuary, the holy place, and in Armenian churches instead of the
icon-screen there are great curtains which are pulled across the
sanctuary at moments of particular solemnity in the Liturgy.
In the Temple at Jerusalem the Holy of Holies was hidden from view by
the Temple veil, the great curtain which hung in front of the
sanctuary. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that it "was a
Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and
scarlet, and purple", the mixture of the colours being an image of the
universe, representing earth, air, fire and water. The curtain was
embroidered with "a panorama of the entire heavens". The veil marked a
boundary - a boundary between earth and Heaven, between this world and
the next. It was a reminder of the otherness of God, the God who is
awesomely beyond the limitations of human language. So, we might say,
veils always have to do with mystery - and, when worn by women, with
modesty.
The Gospels note that when Jesus died on the Cross, the great Temple
veil was ripped in two from top to bottom. This means that the gateway
to Heaven is now laid open. In Mark, the oldest of the Gospels, this
echoes the story of the Baptism of Jesus, when the "heavens were torn
apart" and the voice of God proclaimed Jesus as His Son. Now, as Jesus
dies on the Cross, the Temple veil is torn in two, and the centurion
by the foot of the Cross echoes the voice of heaven, proclaiming that,
"Truly, this man," this crucified Jesus, "is the Son of God." The side
of Jesus is pierced by a soldier's spear, and blood and water issue
out, which the Church has seen as the two sacraments of Baptism and
the Eucharist, given that we may share in the Divine life, the life of
the new creation. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews dares to say
that, for Christians, the veil is the flesh of Christ. As Charles
Wesley's great Christmas hymn proclaims, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead
see! Hail, the incarnate Deity! Life and light to all He brings, Risen
with healing in his wings!"
For, as St John puts it, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory." And St Paul tells us that "now, with
unveiled faces, we behold the glory of the Lord", that we may be
"changed into his likeness from glory to glory".
Geoffrey Rowell was Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe from 2001 to 2013