You may notice this weekend that our statues and crucifixes in church have hidden themselves. This is the traditional practice of veiling sacred images during the final days of Lent, the period known as “Passiontide”. Rather than recreate the wheel, I found a helpful article that shines some light on this custom:
“It seems strange that during the most sacred time of year Catholics cover everything beautiful in their churches, even the crucifix. While it may appear counterintuitive to veil statues and images during the final weeks of Lent, the Church recommends this practice to heighten our senses and build within us a longing for Easter Sunday…In the Roman Missal [the big, red book father uses during Mass] we find the instruction, ‘In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.’ This is the current practice of the Church…but why go to such lengths to cover up images that are designed to raise our hearts and minds toward heaven? First of all, we use veils to alert us of the special time that we are in. When we walk into church and notice everything is covered, we immediately know that something is different. These last two weeks of Lent are meant to be a time of immediate preparation for the Sacred Triduum and these veils are a forceful reminder to get ready. Secondly, the veils focus our attention on the words being said at Mass. When we listen to the Passion narrative, our senses are allowed to focus on the striking words from the Gospel and truly enter into the scene. Third, the Church uses veils to produce a heightened sense of anticipation for Easter Sunday. This is further actualized when you attend daily Mass and see the veils each day. You don’t want them to be there because they are hiding some very beautiful images. And therein lies the whole point: the veils are not meant to be there forever. The images need to be unveiled; it is unnatural for them to be covered. The unveiling before the Easter Vigil is a great reminder of our own life on earth. We live in a “veiled” world, in exile from our true home. It is only through our own death that the veil is lifted and we are finally able to see the beauty of everything in our lives.”
From an Aleteia.org article: “Why Do Catholics Cover Crucifixes and Statues During Lent?”
This is another one of our Church’s beautiful and meaningful traditions, which helps us to enter more deeply into the mystery of what God is doing when we attend Holy Mass. And a shoutout to all of the ladies who took the time to make these veils! It was a generous contribution and I am very grateful to them for their hard work. And while I’m offering thanks, I want to thank everyone who contributed to making our Annunciation Family Brupper a success. It was a delightful gathering and we couldn’t have done it without the help of our staff and volunteers. We have a good team here – thank you!
One last thing: you may have noticed a survey in your bulletin regarding Mass times in the future. If you think you have a good idea for our family of parishes, please consider sharing it through the survey. But as I mentioned in the description on the front page of the survey: please pray about it. I cannot stress enough through this process how important prayer is for us. We may wonder why God is asking us to do these things; this whole Beacons process may seem like another veiled mystery. But if we never ask Him, how will we know the answer? Pray, pray, pray – then pray some more. May God bless you in the week ahead and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
