Lenten Changes in the Church

Spring brings changes that are easy to notice: in the hours of daylight, in the weather, in our clothing, in our activities. It also brings changes in the Church as we enter Lent.

Lent might be considered a season of change resulting in growth. We begin the forty days with ashes on our foreheads and no flowers in church. The music, if there is music, is to be simple accompaniment to songs, which themselves are reminders of what these days are about. Have you missed the Gloria at the beginning of Mass? Do you find yourself wanting to say/sing Alleluia? These are silenced during Lent. All these changes emphasize the true meaning of Lent and help us to consider where we are and how we can grow in our faith.

Purple is the color which most of us associate with Lent; we see it in the vestments and the altar drapes. But did you notice that the priests wore rose-colored vestments last week? It was Laetare Sunday, which is comparable to Gaudete Sunday in Advent, a time to remember what we are anticipating and be joyful. So last Sunday, we celebrated the halfway mark of Lent as we heard the entrance antiphon from Isaiah 66:10-11: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning: exalt and be satisfied at her consoling breast.”

This Sunday, we again notice something different, something that reminds us that we are only two weeks away from Easter. Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Passiontide, the last two weeks of Lent. The Church shifts her focus from Christ in the desert, as we heard in Matthew 4:1-11, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, to Christ during His Passion.

Catholics of a certain age may recall crosses and statues draped, or veiled, in purple throughout Lent, an unmistakable sign of the penitential season the Church had entered and invited us to embrace. The tradition of veiling finds its source in John 8:46-59, where the Jews attempt to stone Jesus because of His claims of being the Son of God, but He hides from view: “They picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” (John 8:59)

Covering or “veiling” crosses, statues and images with unadorned violet opaque cloths begins on the Saturday before the 5th Sunday of Lent. It is an older tradition of the Church that remains an option today. No one is sure when it began, but the origins seem to come from the medieval tradition of the “hunger cloth,” which was a huge violet cloth hung in front of the altar to keep the congregation from viewing the altar during Lent. Originally, Lent was a time that public sinners were “banished” from the church and had to do a public display of penance. Over time, the understanding that everyone is a sinner prevailed and sinners were no longer restricted from the liturgy in church, but the “hunger cloth” remained, providing a “fast of the eyes” to all who attended Mass then.

The covering of sacred images is a beautiful tradition that can lead us to greater contemplation as we walk with Jesus through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Our eyes are not drawn away to other objects and we can turn our focus to the altar and inward to contemplate Christ. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, / in quiet and in trust shall be your strength” (30:15). This removal of distractions from church interiors is one way to focus our minds on God’s call to a deeper interior life with His Son.

In the Roman Missal 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.”

The practice of veiling images alerts us that something is different, that the last two weeks of Lent are a time of immediate preparation for the celebration of the Sacred Triduum. The veils serve as a reminder that there is only a little time left to walk with Jesus this Lent, to hear His voice, to change our hearts.

Easter is coming! The veils will be removed, and we will be truly joyful as the Gloria rings out at the Vigil and we hear “Alleluia” once again!

Deacon Ed Herrera