The Loaded Mantilla
When I first joined the Catholic faith in 2017 I chose to follow the personal act of donning the mantilla. When I say I had no idea what I was getting into… I mean it. The moment I showed up at the church San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica wearing a veil and a skirt I immediately found myself ostracized. Everywhere I would go within church people would glare. Even during the communion rites themselves I was glared at from people in the pews. They looked at me with disdain and disgust. And this judgment wasn’t just found in the pews of the church but in the RCIA director herself who treated me very differently than every other person in the class. I was devastated. I didn’t know what I was doing wrong or why the way I dressed bothered them. In fact I didn’t even know the hateful judgementalism that the mantilla had come to symbolize. I was hurt and I felt rejected. I was trying so hard to fit in, but wasn’t. To me donning this veil was simply a way to show my devotion to t...