What has become of church attire?
There was a time in the affairs of men when certain standards of mien, dress and conduct were prescribed for both the elite and the proles.
Depending on the venue (wedding, funeral, poker game) you showed happiness, grief or deadpan.
At weddings and funerals, you wore attire appropriate for the occasion and at a poker game you wore an old shirt you could afford to lose.
In this same vein, on Sunday you wore your "go to meetin' clothes" which were considered to be your best bib and tucker.
Woe to he who showed up at Sunday church services dressed in inappropriate garments.
The rant above from this curmudgeon is occasioned by the absolute lack of honor to the risen Lord at the Easter service I attended this year.
Approaching four score years, I qualify as a curmudgeon who has seen gentler times when standards of conduct were enforced by family and peer pressure.
Women and girls wore hats, stylish or not, and conservative dresses. Men and boys, suits and ties.
In fact, in my youth, women and girls were required to cover their heads with a hat or scarf when attending Catholic church. Being properly dressed on Easter Sunday was de rigueur.
The scene at Mass on Easter was nearly too appalling for words.
Vatican II did more than liberalize the liturgy; it apparently was a signal to the laity that anything goes.
In the entire congregation, I noticed about two hats on the women. Women in slacks; teen girls and boys in tattered blue jeans; a teenage girl in a denim micro-mini skirt.
What has become of manners? Are people so de-sensitized that Catholic values no longer count?
Has attending Mass on Easter and Christmas become a social occasion rather than a religious experience?
My confreres in the boomer, X, Y and Z generations shrug and admit that's the way it is. God help us, if it is not too late.
Joseph F. Koenen
Arlington Heights