This Sunday is
Passion Sunday... or at least it used to be. In new Modern Roman Calendar it is the 5th Sunday of Lent. The change occured during the evolution of the Roman Missal in the late '60s and early '70s. Prior to that in the pre-conciliar (Pre-Vatican II Council), it was the start of
Passiontide.
Aside from all of the changes, one thing has remained true. As the Church approaches Holy Week, the Triduum and Easter, we being to focus more intensely on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In doing so, a tradition that has continued on in the Church, and is still practiced today,
is the covering or veiling of statues, icons and crosses during lent.
On
WDTPRS.com Father Z. has
his reasoning behind the practice:
In the 1962 Missale Romanum, the Extraordinary Use of the Roman Rite, this is First Passion Sunday. In the Novus Ordo we also call Palm Sunday “Passion” Sunday. Today is the beginning of “Passiontide”. It is known as Iudica Sunday, from the first word of the Introit of Mass, from Ps 42 (41).
We lose things during Lent. We are being pruned through the liturgy. Holy Church experiences liturgical death before the feast of the Resurrection. The Alleluia goes on Septuagesima. Music and flowers go on Ash Wednesday. Today, statues and images are draped in purple. That is why today is sometimes called Repus Sunday, from repositus analogous to absconditus or “hidden”, because this is the day when Crosses and other images in churches are veiled. The universal Church’s Ordo published by the Holy See has an indication that images can be veiled from this Sunday, the 5th of Lent. Traditionally Crosses may be covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and images, such as statues may be covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil. At my home parish of St. Agnes in St. Paul, MN, the large statue of the Pietà is appropriately unveiled at the Good Friday service.
Also, as part of the pruning, as of today in the older form of Mass, the “Iudica” psalm in prayers at the foot of the altar and the Gloria Patri at the end of certain prayers was no longer said.
The pruning cuts more deeply as we march into the Triduum. After the Mass on Holy Thursday the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the main altar, which itself is stripped and bells are replaced with wooden noise makers. On Good Friday there isn’t even a Mass. At the beginning of the Vigil we are deprived of light itself! It is as if the Church herself were completely dead with the Lord in His tomb. This liturgical death of the Church reveals how Christ emptied Himself of His glory in order to save us from our sins and to teach us who we are.
The Church then gloriously springs to life again at the Vigil of Easter. In ancient times, the Vigil was celebrated in the depth of night. In the darkness a single spark would be struck from flint and spread into the flames. The flames spread through the whole Church.
If we can connect ourselves in heart and mind with the Church’s liturgy in which these sacred mysteries are re-presented, then by our active receptivity we become participants in the saving mysteries of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. To begin this active receptivity we must be baptized members of the Church and be in the state of grace.
Now some of you have never seen this before in your parish. You may even wonder, "Is this just another pre-Vatican II thing? Isn't this only allowed in Tridentine Latin Mass Churches?" Well the answer to those questions is NO. In fact, a "Tridentine Church" is a Catholic Church, that happens to celebrate the Mass in the usus antiquior, so the CHURCH itself would fall under the same guidelines as any other church. So then what does the Church say about this?
Here is a
statement from the USCCB from March of 2006:
The Veiling of Images and Crosses
1. Does the new Missale Romanum allow for the veiling of statues and crosses?
The Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, provides a rubric at the beginning of the texts for the Fifth Sunday of
Lent, which allows that: “the practice of covering crosses and images in the Church from the Fifth Sunday of Lent
is permitted, according to the judgment of the Conferences of Bishops. Crosses remain veiled until the end of the
celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday; images remain veiled until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”
2. Have the Bishops of the Unites States expressed the judgment on this practice?
Yes. On June 14, 2001, the Latin Church members of the USCCB approved an adaptation to number 318 of the
General Instruction of the Roman Missal which would allow for the veiling of crosses and images in this manner.
On April 17, 2002, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments wrote to Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, USCCB President (Prot. no. 1381/01/L), noting
that this matter belonged more properly to the rubrics of the Fifth Sunday of Lent. While the decision of the
USCCB will be included with this rubric when the Roman Missal is eventually published, the veiling of crosses
and images may now take place at the discretion of the local pastor.
3. When may crosses and images be veiled?
Crosses and images may be veiled on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Crosses are unveiled following the Good Friday
Liturgy, while images are unveiled before the beginning of the Easter Vigil.
[4]. Is the veiling of crosses and statues required?
No. The veiling is offered as an option, at the discretion of the local pastor.
[5]. What is the reason for the veiling of crosses and images?
The veiling of crosses and images is a sort of “fasting” from sacred depictions which represent the paschal glory
of our salvation. Just as the Lenten fast concludes with the Paschal feast, so too, our fasting from the cross
culminates in an adoration of the holy wood on which the sacrifice of Calvary was offered for our sins. Likewise,
a fasting from the glorious images of the mysteries of faith and the saints in glory, culminates on the Easter night
with a renewed appreciation of the glorious victory won by Christ, risen from the tomb to win for us eternal life.
[6]. Why are crosses unveiled after the Good Friday Liturgy?
An important part of the Good Friday Liturgy is the veneration of the cross, which may include its unveiling.
Once the cross to be venerated has been unveiled, it seems logical that all crosses would remain unveiled for the
veneration of the faithful.
[7]. What do the veils look like?
While liturgical law does not prescribe the form or color of such veils, they have traditionally been made of
simple, lightweight purple cloth, without ornament.
[8]. Is it permissible to veil the crosses after the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday?
Yes. The concluding rubrics which follow the text for the Mass of the Lord's Supper (no. 41) indicate that “at an
opportune time the altar is stripped and, if it is possible, crosses are removed from the church. It is fitting that
crosses which remain in the Church be veiled.”
I plan on taking sometime this weekend to do the same with the statues, icons, and crosses around my house. It would be neat to see others do the same. It is really simple to accomplish this. All you really need is a few measurements and some PURPLE cloth. (I typed out a whole instruction set on how to accomplish this and realized it made it seem more complicated than it is, you should be able to figure out how to measure and buy the material necessary. If you do need directions, drop me an email and ill send them to you.)
Getting your parish to do this might be a little more difficult. Some parishes have quite a number of statues, icons, and crosses and some are in quite difficult places to access. Others don't have the ability to purchase the material necessary for such a thing. But maybe we can all talk to our pastors to see if this can be done, especially if some of us are willing to pay for it.
If you have never been in a church that does this, you are missing out. What a humbling and shocking experience it is to walk in and not see such things. I have been to churches that are over 100 years old, that were built in the Gothic and Romanesque style that cover everything. It took my breath away, I suddenly realized how vacant my life would be without these images, and that transformed into the mental image of living without the people behind the images in my life. Also, for those parishes that celebrate the veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, it makes that celebration all the more meaningful.
I would love to see pictures if readers are able to capture photos of a church that practices this tradition. Please email me at:
angelsdefendus@gmail.com - I will try and get your pictures up on a post!
-Posted by: Joe
