The Role of the Dress in the Catholic Church - Essay Example

 It is a custom for the clergy in the mainstream to have special attires whose resemblance is that of their Master, Jesus Christ as well as serving as a sign of humility (Pastoor 331).

The priests

            Mainly, these wear long Albs besides chasuble attire that varies with the occasion or period as per liturgy regulations.  

The nuns

            These ought to be in long gowns besides a headpiece or veil that covers their entire heads signifying humility as per Jesus’ mother (Pastoor 331). Based on Catholic traditions, women and men bear varied behaviors and tasks to play both in the church as well as in the entire society, hence each to dress differently. The nuns dressing marks the first implication of how their behavior and the roles they play vary from the men’s activities and manners, to second them in their duties. This is especially in the church whereby nuns participate only in undertaking lesser tasks like helping to give out communion but not conducting mass service.   

The Bishops

            They often wear black clerical outfits and a long chain around their necks as a follower of their master though at the capacity of a shepherd.

            It is good or useful to identify a person from his or her physical appearance. For instance, Catholic Church leaders have different roles to play besides which when they are physically unique makes it easy for their followers to know well where to seek assistance.

Greek Orthodox monks and the Amish use dress for similar purposes. Describe the dress of each group and how it fits into their lives. Do you see any important differences in terms of appearance and/or social function?

Greek Orthodox monks

            The women ought to wear long dresses besides covering their heads with shawls when going to the monastery as a sign of respect to the holiness of the place (Boase 94). The monks mostly dress in black-colored cassock referred to as Raso that has remained unchanged since the Byzantium period up to date (Boase 94). 

The Amish dresses

            In most cases, Amish wear homemade clothes sewn by the women. Their clothing styles motivate humbleness as well as separation from the world turning them being comprehensive peacekeepers and discouraging conflict for whatever reason. They have a simple way of dressing in which they avoid ornamentation. Men dress in straight-cut suits in which their coats have no collars, pockets, or lapels. They also wear trousers with suspenders besides black shoes (Trollinger 16). However, the Amish women dress in solid color clothes with long sleeves. They wear black cotton socks and black shoes as well, besides wearing jewelry, make-up, or even patterned clothing is forbidden (Trollinger 16).

Differences

Amish men dress in suits while the orthodox monks wear gowns.

            Amish people mostly stay in their clothing while it is not necessary for monks unless they have reached the rank of a priest.

            Among the Amish, there are no marital restrictions contrary to the Orthodox monks where if one attains a priesthood rank before he is married, he cannot marry at all.   

            Besides the groups we examined in class, there are several other Christian denominations that have special forms of dress (either for leaders or the whole group). Pick one from the list below... look for an article or video online if there's nothing in the textbook (cite your source)... and describe that group's body supplements and/or modifications (clothing, hair, jewelry, hats, etc...). What do they require? What do they forbid? Why?

The Mennonite

            The conservative Mennonite women ought to wear plain attires besides though they are not compulsory. They also keep their hair covered using small prayer caps whereas men suspended suits and black shoes. They share many traditions with the Amish religion whereby they also prohibit jewelry and makeup and they have long hair covered with a hat.

            Women are not allowed to wear trousers, other men’s clothing, and vice versa because according to the Bible it is unlawful to dress in an attire of the opposite sex. Moreover, they cannot use radios, televisions, and the internet because they refer to them as temptations that lead to moral behaviors (Kraybill 157