In a discussion of the veil, attributed to the Virgin Mary, in the Church of Panagia of Blachernae in the fifth century, in her PhD dissertation on the Eastern Orthodox “Orthos” focused on Mary, Catholic theologian Virginia M. Kimball wrote the following about the “veil” and its positive function in antiquity, something that meshes well with a recent blog post article from Book of Mormon Central, This Book of Mormon scripture changed the way I view veils, women, and the temple):
Ancient symbolic meanings of “the veil”
Hypothetically, it is interesting to explore the mystical meaning of “veil” as inherited by the first Jewish Christians—saying it theologically of the establishment of Theotokos as the Ark, place of the holy One, and protectoress of all Christians. There is, in the Hebrew Scriptures, an inherent meaning of bride in the symbolism of the veil, perhaps explaining theologically to the early Christians, who were aware of Hebraic symbols, that Virgin Mary was from the moment of the Annunciation, the bride of Christ and mother of the Church (and where she eventually becomes recognized as the bride of Christ.
a. עצין, the veil or shawl mentioned in connection with Rebekah, who put it on when she approached Isaac before her marriage (Gen. 24:65). Here the veil appears to have been the mark of the marriageable maiden, and was removed in connection with the marriage ceremony (cf. Akkadian kallatum kutumtum, “veiled bride”). Such a veil was used by Tamar to rick Judah (Gen. 38:14, 19); here it was a device to conceal her face.
b. רדיד, the veil-like garment worn by the women of Jerusalem (Isa. 3:23) and the maiden in Song of Songs 5:7 (“mantle”). The LXX understood it as being a thin summer garment (θεριστρον), probably something like the stoles worn by women today. [This is the image seen in the icon relating the appearance of the virgin at Blachernae to Andrew the Fool and all the faithful who were praying at the shrine at the time of this reported vision.] (Virginia M. Kimball, Liturgical Illuminations: Discovering Received Tradition in the Eastern Orthros of Feasts of the Theotokos [Bloomington, Ind.: 2010], 485-86)
In an endnote to the above, Kimball wrote:
The language of icons is communicated in symbol and image. The suggestion here is that the elements of the phenomenon of Virgin Mary’s appearance with the veil, as a robe covering all the people, has deeper mystical meaning and relates to her as mother of the ecclesia. Medieval illumination constantly portrays the image of her as the bride in the Son of Songs. (Ibid., 697 n. 951)
In this light, and the fact that it is within the framework of Eastern Orthodox Marian devotion (EO theology has a very high view of Mary, the Mother of Jesus), such shows that the “veil” can be positive and empowering for women, not denigrating.
