Dominicale
Dominicale a white veil anciently worn by women at the time of receiving the Eucharist. It has been disputed whether the dominicale was not a linen cloth which women, in the sixth century, were in some churches required to take to the Eucharist, and with which they covered the hand before the bread was laid upon it. Augustine may refer to this in one of the sermons usually ascribed to him, De Tempore, in which he says that it was customary for men to wash their hands when they communicate, and for women to bring their little linen cloths to receive the body of Christ. In the Council of Auxerre, A.D. 590, a rule was enacted that no woman should receive the Eucharist in her bare hand, but nothing further is prescribed. The best authorities, however, are of opinion that the dominicale was a veil for the head. — Farrar, Ecclesiastes Dictionary, s.v.; Bingham, Orig. Ecclesiastes book 15, chapter 5, § 7.
