Q: I recently attended mass where the presider was an abbot. One server was wearing a shoulder veil to hold the abbot’s miter when he took it off his head. I thought that shoulder veils were only to be worn when a bishop celebrated mass, not an abbot.
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A: Actually, there is no longer any requirement for a server to wear a veil to hold the miter even when a bishop celebrates mass. The Ceremonial of Bishops is silent about the practice. Many bishops like servers to wear veils because they keep the miter clean. The practice continues by custom, not by law. So if an abbot wants the same service, he can justify it from observing what many bishops do. But it’s not in the law any more.