Did You Know? The Last 2 Weeks of Lent are Called Passiontide and the Crucifix and Others Statues are Covered with a Purple Cloth or Veil

The last two weeks of Lent are called Passiontide that begin on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. This is when the Church focuses on Christ during His Passion. From Fifth Sunday to Holy Week, especially Good Friday the readings emphasize Christ's agony, trials, temptations which will ultimately lead to His death on Calvary. 

In the period of Passiontide, parishes of veil the crucifix and other statues and images around the church with a purple cloth.

In the Roman Missal it is instructed, “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.”

The practice of veiling images evokes a sentiment of penitence for the congregation,  the last two weeks of Lent are a time of immediate preparation for the celebration of the Sacred Triduum. The veiled images build within us a longing for Easter Sunday.

When images are unveiled before the Easter Vigil, we are reminded that we, in a sense, live in a veiled world. It is through our own death that we are able to see our true home, and the veil is lifted. Christ lifts the veil through His Resurrection.

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26