My wife recently asked our priest (unbeknownst to me) whether it was permissible to wear makeup. This has not been an issue for us; I never gave her a hard time about it, but I also never thought she needed it. At the superficial level, most people would find her attractive without it. It was only his answer, which struck me as curious, which caused me to investigate it.
Here is the curious (and acceptable part of the priest's response):
"Not only should you strive to look socially acceptable, but further you are you consecrated by your baptism you are a temple of the Holy Ghost through the state of grace. To look as befits a temple of God is proper.
Like the use of any creature, there can be the possibility of using it in excess and defect."
That response seems at once "reasonable" yet "superficial." To "look as befits a temple of God" is done through dignity, integrity, seriousness, and virtuosity.....not makeup.
I found this quote online from St. Cyprian (and affirmed by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa) which has me rethinking the whole matter entirely:
"St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Father of the Church (De Habit. Virg.): “I hold that not only virgins and widows, but also wives and all women without exception, should be admonished that nowise should they deface God’s work and fabric, the clay that He has fashioned, with the aid of yellow pigments, black powders or rouge, or by applying any dye that alters the natural features. . . They lay hands on God, when they strive to reform what He has formed. This is an assault on the Divine handiwork, a distortion of the truth. Thou shalt not be able to see God, having no longer the eyes that God made, but those the devil has unmade; with him shalt thou burn on whose account thou art bedecked.” (Quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, in the Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part, Q. 169, Art. 2)
Now I worry I have been remiss in allowing my wife to wear makeup (a woman who, being much holier than I, gathered all her makeup in a bag and tossed it in the trash without my knowledge!).
What do you guys think about the morality of women wearing ANY MAKEUP AT ALL?
I am extremely reticent to take the opinion of an SSPX priest over St. Cyprian and St. Thomas Aquinas!