All Saints'

[Frank MacDuffy]

I'll be wearing a kilt to Mass. I've been wearing my kilts to Mass for quite some time.

[Dirk Skene]

I will not be wearing a kilt to Mass. My reasoning in this: The focus at Mass is on the Eucharist. In the U.S. a kilt is still seen as unusual. While my attitude normally is "this is me ... take it or stick it!" at Mass the picture is much bigger than me. You as an Anglican or Episcopalian can easily relate.

I am also opposed to girls in short shorts and very short skirts at Mass for the same reason. Even though, sad to say, this does happen.

As I buy more kilts I will be wearing them more & more. But in there will still be a few limited places where etiquette and custom will dictate a suit & tie.

Cirthalion, my kilted brother, you asked for my opinion ... there it is.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Interesting question, and I think related to the other recent thread about wearing a kilt to court. If it is your daily attire, as it is for some of us, it is not a question. If it is not and you have reservations about wearing it in a particular situation, then you should not. That would indicate that you recognize that there are personal reasons why a particular palce and time are not appropriate for you to wear a kilt. Our own Matt Newsome has expressed a similar viewpoint regarding kilts and church on his blog. At the end of the day it comes down to what you are comfortable with.

While this can be a crusade for some, I feel it is better to wear a kilt as another garment in my wardrobe. For any occasion more formal than a backyard BBQ, I will definitely be kilted, I no longer own trousers. For other occasions, I make my choices based on what I am going to be doing. Swimming is definitely in shorts, everything else is based on how I feel.

[Cirthalion]

Thanks for the opinions, all. I've pretty much decided to wear a kilt to All Saints service this Sunday. All Saints is all about connecting with the dead and departed, one's ancestors, and the saints and heroes of the church: many of these, in the Anglican and Episcopalian tradition, were kilted (consider the Samuel Seabury tartan, named after the first American Episcopal bishop). And so I am going for it. I understand and respect the motive of not wanting to draw attention away from the mass, but in this case a kilt is not as much a gesture of self-expression, but a nod of respect to tradition and one's forebearers, those who have gone before. I feel it fits the occasion.

Cirthalion

[macwilkin]

Thanks for the opinions, all. I've pretty much decided to wear a kilt to All Saints service this Sunday. All Saints is all about connecting with the dead and departed, one's ancestors, and the saints and heroes of the church: many of these, in the Anglican and Episcopalian tradition, were kilted (consider the Samuel Seabury tartan, named after the first American Episcopal bishop). And so I am going for it. I understand and respect the motive of not wanting to draw attention away from the mass, but in this case a kilt is not as much a gesture of self-expression, but a nod of respect to tradition and one's forebearers, those who have gone before. I feel it fits the occasion.

Cirthalion

Interesting...Matt mentions an "Episcopal" tartan in his blog entry on the Clergy tartan...I wonder if this is the same as the "Samuel Seabury" tartan?

For those who are not aware, the Rt. Rev. Samuel Seabury was the first American Bishop in the Episcopal Church, consecrated by Bishops Skinner, Petrie and Kilgour in St. Andrew's Cathederal in Aberdeen on 14 November 1784.

Cheers,

Todd

[Martin S]

If something is right six days a week, how can it be wrong or sinful or unlawful on Sunday?

Or vice versa?

If mugs are wrong, they are wrong every day of the week, methinks.

Martin, firmly atheist, knowing there's no-one out there watching me.

[Freelander Sporrano]

I'll be wearing a kilt to Mass. I've been wearing my kilts to Mass for quite some time.

Me too

[McClef]

Kiltiness is next to godliness.

If one wants to look smart in church I can't think of a better way of doing it.

It is written that God looks at the heart and not at the outward man so if the outward man is wearing a kilt I'm sure the Lord doesn't mind a bit.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Here is a link to my blog posting that KiltedCodeWarrior mentioned:
http://blog.albanach.org/2006/04/why...or-easter.html

The context there is wearing the kilt to Mass on Easter, but the same basic principles apply. It explains why I, as a Catholic, do not make a habit of wearing a kilt to Mass (and why there are certain exceptions, such as Weddings).

Oh, and Cirthalion, Catholics certainly celebrate All Saints Day as well! Where do you think Anglicans got it from? :-)

For those curious about the history and meaning behind All Saints Day, here is an excerpt from an article I wrote on the origins of Halloween:

All Saints Day, celebrated on November 1st, is the day set aside in the Catholic Church to recognize all of the saints and martyrs, known and unknown. Christians have been honoring the martyrs of the faith since the earliest times by celebrating a feast day in their name, usually on the anniversary of their martyrdom. Many Christians were martyred together, and so of course some martyrs shared a common feast day. As the number of Christian martyrs increased, especially under the reign of Diocletian, it became impossible to have a separate day to honor each of them. And as other, non-martyred Christians were recognized as saints and honored with their own feast day, the calendar soon was overflowing!

The Church felt that each saint and martyr should be venerated, and so to avoid any deficiency, appointed a common day for all. The earliest such celebration was observed in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. Other places observed such a day at different times during the year from as early as the fourth century. The November 1 date was first established in the West by Gregory III (731-741), who consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to all the saints, and fixed an anniversary celebration on that date. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended this November 1 celebration to the entire Church.

The vigil for the feast was celebrated pretty much from the beginning. A Vigil Mass is a Mass celebrated on the evening before a feast day, both in anticipation of that feast, and also because the Church traditionally has reckoned the beginning of a day to be at sunset of the day previous.

An archaic name for All Saints Day is All Hallows Day (Hallowed = Holy = Sanctified, as in the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be thy name...."). The vigil for All Hallows Day is called All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Eve is shortened to Hallows Eve, to Hallowe'en.

Also FYI, in addition to All Saints Day on November 1, when we reverence all the holy departed, we also have All Souls Day on November 2, when we remember and pray for all the deceased (sanctified or not).

A lot of Catholic Churches, our parish included, will keep a "book of the dead" in the church during the whole month of November, where parishioners can enter the names of their departed loved ones, who are then remembered in the prayers of the church for the entire month.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled kilt discussion....

[McClef]

Of course it has to be up the the individual and the primacy of their individual conscience.

But when you think of it there are plenty of other things that could potentially distract at a Mass - ladies hats, priests' and bishops' vestments, organists playing wrong notes...

And once you are in your pew you are normally there for most of the service, except when coming forward to make your communion so I would think that any distraction caused would be minimal.

I'm no longer a practicing catholic but when I was I saw people attending in all kind of different gear here in Wales and in Scotland catholics are just as likely to be kilted as their prebyterian and episcopalian neighbours on a Sunday.

Maybe it's more of a "novelty value" problem in the US?