On Brides, Prostitutes, and Chapel Veils

Recap : God wants to marry each of us! It is the command He gave to Hosea in the book that bears the prophet's name : to go marry the prostitute. We are prostitutes when we give ourselves to lovers other than God, to people, things, idols that will not bring us fulfillment. According to Hosea, God is a wild lover. We sin when we give ourselves to less wild lovers than our God.

The Song of Songs too shows the ardor with which God longs for us. Christopher West called the Annunciation the "New Song of Songs." It is "God's marriage proposal to humanity." It resulted in a "yes," from Mary and new life -- just as human marriage does. I love the implication this image has for the Rosary. Not only does it repeat an angel's words, honor Mary, and meditate on the Mysteries, but it repeats the manner and method of our salvation. It repeats God's proposal to us, His willingness to become man to marry us. We are like children, telling again and again the story of how our parents met, loving their love.

The Apostles experienced the same kind of union at Pentecost when they too were "overshadowed" by the Holy Spirit. We experience the marriage at the Eucharist.

Which means, incidentally, that we approach the altar for communion as a bride, prepared to conceive eternal life. As a bride! I don't want to spend too much blog space on the topic of women veiling themselves at church, but I love the relationship here. We come forward as brides... we are the bride of Christ. In modern times, the main place I find veils in Christianity is the head of a bride. In this way, wearing a veil can be a sign of my offering myself (as a layperson) as the spouse of Christ.