Fr Robert Hendrickson
Dear Friends in Christ,
This Sunday begins a short two weeks in the life of the Church called Passiontide, the two weeks between Passion Sunday and Easter. Historically, this is when churches would veil all statues and other ornamentation except for Stations of the Cross.
There is all sorts of conjecture about when and how and why this custom developed.
These coverings remain in place until the Gloria is sung again at the Easter Vigil. One traditional exception was that the cross used for veneration on Good Friday was slowly unveiled during its procession to wherever it was to be venerated at a church.
The crosses are veiled because Christ during this time no longer walked openly among the people; he hid himself. Hence in the papal chapel the veiling formerly took place at the words of the Gospel: “Jesus autem abscondebat se” (Jesus hid himself from them).
Another reason is added by Durandus, namely that Christ’s divinity was hidden when he arrived at the time of his suffering and death.
The images of the saints also are covered because it would seem improper for the servants to appear when the Master himself is hidden.
In some places the crosses were covered on Ash Wednesday; in others on the first Sunday of Lent.
In England it was customary on the first Monday of Lent to cover all the crucifixes, images of every kind, the reliquaries, and even the cup with the Blessed Sacrament. The cloths used were of white linen or silk and marked with a red cross.
In some churches, this white linen covering was huge and could cover all of the statues and art behind the Altar; this was called the Lenten Array. Some parishes still maintain this distinctly English custom.
In other places veiling in purple all through Lent has emerged as a custom which kind of blends a few different of the more traditional customs.
All of these acts, over the centuries, were an outward and visible sign of what was happening in the hearts of the faithful. In so many ways, Lent was a journey to rediscover the Christ hidden in our lives.
By our own action and inaction, inattention and distraction, malice and malaise—in so many ways we find ourselves unable to see Christ. Veiled beneath the suffering of life we imagine we are alone. We can’t seem to find our way out of the wilderness.
Lent is the rediscovery of the central hope of our lives. It is the journey to the empty tomb together. All of the externals point toward the interior journey and orient our attention.
The stark simplicity manifested by veiling ornamentation is the mirror process of fasting, Almsgiving, and works of mercy. The stripping back of some of the distractions in the church is the twin process of the stripping away of the conceits and conveniences that create that sense of distance between us and the living love of Christ.
After this Passiontide we will find ourselves at Easter. Every bit of human creativity is thrown into the adoration of Christ and celebration of his victory.
In none if this should we mistake our music, art, architecture, and more as anything less than a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. They are not for our entertainment or enjoyment.
They are the outpouring of our faithful joy. They will be the twin process of celebrating outwardly what Christ has done for the whole of creation and inwardly what he has done and might yet do in our hearts.
Each Sunday here is an Easter celebration in a way. And we often mark it in elaborate ways via music and movement. But the Sunday service is the culmination of a week lived in prayer and service.
If one maintains the Book of Common Prayer’s assumed pattern of daily prayer (morning prayer, noonday prayer, evening prayer, and compline) then Sunday morning is the exuberant punctuation of a week of 28 other times of focused prayer.
It is the celebration together of lives given over to the faithful work of seeking and serving Christ in the world. It is dessert after a week of square meals!
So as we move through the various changes of ornamentation or the like over the next few weeks let it be a mirror of our interior journey. Let us go deeper in our searching so that we may be even more joyful in our celebration at finding and having been found by Christ anew this Passiontide.
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Robert
