Barbara wrote:I had no idea that ties are not wanted in Orthodox Churches ! St John said that ? It's his Translation of Relics Feast Day already by the Universal Clock.
I am certainly taken aback at this revelation.
About the long formal dresses for the ladies, I would advocate for them on Pascha and major Feast Days. It adds such a nice note of respect and reverence to see people dressed up in their best. Formal type dresses - not the actual ball gowns hardly seen today anyway - but fancy dress wear in satin and elegant fabrics, enhance the festive look of the happy occasion.
These do not have to be cut low. That problem can be remedied by wearing short jackets or shawls wrapped around the shoulders.
I was reading a book advised to me by my spiritual father in which the priest-author cautioned that modesty, prudence, and temperance are needed in choosing which dresses to wear to church.
At my Traditional Orthodox Christian parish, quite a few of the ladies wear the same skirt Sunday after Sunday as the Divine Liturgy is not a fashion show. Even in the heat, they wear a long woven wool skirt in somber colors such as brown, tan, or black. Indeed, it is a tradition of the Lebanese and Syrian ladies to wear a long black velvet dress with white lace, and again, they will wear the same dress to every Divine Liturgy even during hot summer months.
Yes, the Divine Liturgy has been compared to a wedding and to the Feast of the Lamb. We are to wear, as best as possible, a clean garment, a spotless garment, but not one which will show off our figure as do formal type fancy dresses in satin, silk, and lace. That type of garment is suitable for a wedding, but even then, priests tell the young bride to wear long sleeves, and not to wear the latest high style fashion undress from Paris.