Deep Lent

Ladies and gents, if you came to church this morning and saw the statues and pictures in your parishes covered with cloths, then you know we have entered into Passiontide, what I will refer to as “Deep Lent”.

The further we go into Lent the deeper we progress into the reason for Lent in the first place: the mystery of the Passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ (leading to the Resurrection) and its implication upon our lives.

We are now at a deep moment like the crossover point of the deep end of the pool (the pool of grace, that is). So, let’s start swimming.

From a note by the liturgy director at the seminary:

“There is a venerable practice of veiling images in churches for the latter days of Lent (historically known as Passiontide). The rubrics of the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal note: “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this [5th] Sunday may be observed.

An interesting historical survey of the practice of veiling images can be found here:

https://www.locusiste.org/blog/2015/03/veiling-images-in-lent

Cover image: Cross veiled during Passiontide in Lent (Pfarrkirche St. Martin in Tannheim, Baden Württemberg, Germany). Author: Bene16. No changes made. Used under CC BY-SA 3.0 license.