Really? There are saints who counsel us on our wardrobe and appearance? Indeed there are. The Catholic religion is so healthily down-to-earth. Today, we will listen to the gentleman of Geneva on the topic of the virtue of “propriety in dress“.
“Now propriety in dress and its appearances consists in material, fashion, and cleanliness. As to the latter, it should be invariable; and as far as possible you should avoid all dirt or untidiness. (…) As to the material and fashion of clothes, propriety in these respects depends upon various circumstances, such as time, age, rank, those with whom you associate; and it varies with different occasions. Most people dress better on festival days according to the season, and in penitential seasons, such as Lent, just the reverse. So at a wedding we wear marriage garments and at a funeral the garb of mourning, and when going into the presence of princes we dress differently from what we do at home. The wife may adorn herself to please her husband, and it is lawful for maidens to desire to be pleasing in the eyes of their friends. (…) Study to be neat, and let nothing about you be slovenly or disorderly. It is an affront to those with whom you associate to be unsuitably dressed, but avoid all conceits, vanities, finery, and affectation. Adhere as far as possible to modesty and simplicity, which, doubtless, are the best ornaments of beauty, and the best atonement for its deficiency. (…) I would have my spiritual children always suitably attired, but without show or affectation. Theirs should be the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. (1 Peter 3: 4).“
Saint Francis de Sales, Philothea or An Introduction to the Devout Life, TAN Classics, p. 197-198
What conclusions can we draw then from Saint Francis de Sales‘ words on the subject of dressing ourselves appropriately?
Propriety in dress is a matter of piety and charity
Being dressed just as the people we associate with and just as the specific situation we enter into demand it means conforming our appearance and outer garb to reality – and as it is, all things in accord with reality are good, while all things contradicting reality are not. And this is not a trifling matter because in this way we honor or dishonor others.
Wearing our best apparel on Sundays for Holy Mass is a matter of honoring the presence of the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament and the presence of His Church. Wearing our best apparel at a wedding feast is a matter of honoring those whose guests we are and whose marital union we celebrate. And attiring and adorning ourselves amiably – in all simplicity and modesty – for a friend or our husband as to be pleasing in their sight does the same: it honors the friend or spouse, it expresses how valuable the other person is in our eyes. Thus it seems to be a matter of justice, for giving “honor to whom honor is due“ is the just thing to do, or we could say: even a matter of piety and charity to be dressed “to the point“ – to the very point of the relationship or of the purpose the situation implies.
Concerning our assistance at Holy Mass and the reception of Holy Communion, we even find a hint in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that a proper preparation for it surely includes the outer dimension. We are at all times this living, breathing, walking body-soul combination after all. And would love that is never outwardly shown but always kept hidden inside ever be the same as what we really mean by calling something love? Would joy that is invisible ever deserve the name?
“To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanour (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.“
Catechism of the Catholic Church, article 1387
The value of modest beauty
The Catholic religion is all about all things true, and good, and beautiful – on the inside, on the outside. We are called to care about all three of them, which belong together like in a triangle or like the tones of a triad. That‘s why both our churches, where we encounter the truth in the person of Jesus Christ, and our homes, where we strive to live well and virtuous, should be beautiful, should be places shining forth with beauty – as well as we ourselves as members of the Body of Christ wherever we may be, wherever we may go, representing “whatsoever (is) lovely, whatsoever (is) of good fame“ (Philippians 4: 8) and spreading “the sweet aroma of Christ“ (2 Corinthians 2: 15).
Yet, this beauty is nothing artificial and nothing additional and alien, but ultimately the beauty of truth and goodness itself – all that is true and all that is good is indeed beautiful. And so Saint Peter tells us that “the holy women“ of old “adorned themselves“ with “a quiet and meek spirit“ and a chaste conduct (1 Peter 3: 2-5).
Because of what is true and good being beautiful, everyone of us is the most beautiful when authentic, not affected, when simple and modest, and when chasing virtue and eschewing vice. Yet caring about the outer appearance of something is part of chasing virtue, insofar as God and His creation are nothing but beautiful. To care about order and beauty surely honors the author and source of all order and all beauty.
Fyodor Dostoevsky once said, “Beauty will save the world“. By this, the famous Russian artist did not mean “art will save the world“, because art in fact is only beautiful insofar as it reflects truth and goodness and represents the created inherent reality of things. No, Dostoesky‘s view of beauty is a metaphysical one: He meant “beauty will save the world“ in the sense that beauty is able to draw us upward – toward the sublime heights of virtue and truth. Beauty is able to lead us to what saves us. As His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron puts it,
“Begin with the beautiful, which leads you to the good, which leads you to the truth.“
His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron
It is Rachel‘s beauty after all – promising something more than just itself – that makes Jacob fall in love with her and labor seven and another seven years for her, for making her his wife.
And maybe we could therefore even remember these words of Christ when thinking about the need for propriety – for a modest, justly pleasing, and pious beauty – in our dress.
“You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.“
Matthew 5: 14-16
Saint Francis de Sales, pray for us!