Veils: Should the woman have a sign of authority on her head

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the
head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man
praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But
every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonoreth her
head; for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven. For if a
woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame to a woman
to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled. For a man indeed ought not to
have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but
the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the
woman of the man: for neither was the man created for the woman; but the
woman for the man: for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of
authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the
woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord. For as
the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things
are of God. Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God
unveiled? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long
hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory
to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 1 Cor 11: 3-15

From this passage of 1 Cor, we may understand some good reasons for women
for having their head covered.
The reasons are, in essence, four
1) The sponsal methaphor of wedding between Christ and the human nature,
represented in liturgy 2) A sign of Christ’s authority over human nature 3)
The respect of perfect equilibrium of cosmos 4) Last, but not least, a
naturally humble deportment.

1) The sponsal methaphor of wedding between Christ and human nature
In the Church, the natural symbolism of man and woman is the following: Man
-every man- represents Christ, the Bridegroom: woman represents humankind:
We can argue this concept from the general context of faith (Hos. 2:20 "I
will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.")
and liturgy (the atmosphere in which faith is exerted in the manner the
most perfect), and from the explicit recalling of wedding by St. Paul
(11:8-9: "For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man: for
neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man").
Christ is to man as man is to woman. Moreover (Cf. 11:7) the man is
-different from woman- "image and glory of God", not by himself, but as he
represents Christ: so he may not have his head covered, because in such
manner he dishonors his head (11:4), his own representing Christ. So
Tertullian says: "Because I’m the image of the Creator, there isn’t place
in me for another 'head'" (Against Marcion, V:8:1)

2) A sign of Christ’s authority
A veiled woman reminds to everyone in the church that human nature is the
Bride of Christ; for this cause ought the woman (as she represents human
nature) to have a "sign of authority" on her head (1:10): this "sign of
authority" is the sign of Christ’s authority over his Bride, the human
nature. So the Concilium Gangrense (17 century) calls the veil "memoriam
subiectionis", "memorial of submission"); St John Chrysostome calls it
"insigne subiectionis" ("insignia of submission");Tertullian: "humilitatis
suae sarcina" (yoke, burden of her (of woman) humility)

3) The respect of perfect equilibrium of cosmos
The church represents also the cosmos, that is filled of the God’s glory,
especially during the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:.: "pleni
sunt caeli et terra gloria tua" The cosmos is perfectly ordered, both the
visible creatures and the invisible (Wis. 11:21 "You, however, ordered all
things by measure, number and weight."). Nobody may forget the presence
-inside the Church-Cosmos- of the perfectly ordered heavenly Hierarchy of
angels: (Heb. 12:22: "But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have
gathered for the festival"). It’s not appropriate that in a perfectly
ordered cosmos as liturgical celebration is, the ordered relationship
between Christ-Bridegroom and Church Bride -the peculiar relationship that
liturgical celebration is finalized to recreate- is not showed; "for this
cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of
the angels" (11:10)

4) A naturally humble deportment.
1Cor. 11:13-15 Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto
God unveiled? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have
long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a
glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
Is veil a divine precept? No, we are in the sphere of "ad melium esse"; but
we have in St. Paul’s text a sure explication of its convenience.

In Jesu et Maria
Father Alfredo M. Morselli
Italy