What Happened to Holy Robes?

Nancy Jubb
December 31, 2009

As the clock ticks down closer to midnight, I'm not really thinking about ringing in the New Year with a big bang like the rest of the world. No, for me and the husband it's all about starting the year off with God. That's why we celebrate God's Day after all, right? I had the chance, more than a few times, to celebrate New Year's with fireworks and all the glitter, but it somehow seemed a bit hollow when I reflected on the fact that I had celebrated the New Year with God every year of my life so far. So why break the record for a few minutes of fun?

But I digress. Last month, at Refresh, we discussed the traditions of the Unification Movement that we each grew up with: the ones we hated, the ones we loved, and the ones that we hope to carry on in the future. One thing that we all seemed to lament about was the lack of holy robe usage at Holy Days, God's Day in particular. For me, getting up in the early hours to travel to the big church in D.C. and getting all dressed up made it all really special. There was one service (the main one) that was led for adults with holy robes and those children who dressed all in white and a separate simultaneous service (mostly geared towards the children) for everyone. Being able to participate with the adults in my white dress and white stockings was so special.

I'm a big advocate for dressing in your Sunday's best, but when you only wear your Sunday's best for God's Day, what makes that day more special than any other Sunday service that we attend? These days it seems to me that they're only used at home for the dedication ceremonies after you've had a baby. I know that it's a pain to organize changing rooms for people but I'd love to see us bring back the holy robe tradition for Holy Days, maybe even just for God's Day. Who's with me?