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In Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, a black veil is the traditional sign of a professed nun. Some monasteries or communities bestow the black veil at the first profession of vows, but usually it is bestowed with the profession of solemn vows.Marcelle Bernstein, ''The nuns'', Collins, London, 1976, p. 94
While the first vows could be made in a canonical hour, usually Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
, or in a separate ceremony,
the solemn vows of a nun are made in a Holy Mass
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
. After the introductory rites of the Mass and directly before the vows are made, the nun will lie prostrate as the community and all in the church pray over her, present her vows, signed upon the altar, to the bishop and profess her vows to the abbess or prioress of the monastery. When the vows have been professed the white veil of a novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession
A profession is a field of work that has ...
will be swapped for the black veil of the professed, and she is usually crowned with a wreath of flowers.
See also
*Christian headcovering
Christian head covering, also known as Christian veiling, is the traditional practice of women covering their head in a variety of Christian denominations. Some Christian women, based on historic Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, L ...
References
{{Reflist * Religious headgear Catholic religious clothing