Does your parish veil all the statues and crucifixes beginning Passiontide, which is the 5th Sunday of Lent??????
And what colors are used if so? Holy Thursday's color is White, Good Friday is red or black. Are the veils changed?
The last two weeks of Lent are known as Passiontide.
We are remembering Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the final days of His public
ministry. It will culminate with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which we
commemorate on Palm Sunday next weekend) which finally leads to His Passion,
Death and Resurrection, what the Church calls “The Paschal Mystery.
You might be wondering why we have covered the statues
for Passiontide. Wonder no more! I will
explain it!
It is a custom going back centuries but lost after
Vatican II’s revision of the Mass and the Lectionary we use for Mass.
In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (the Traditional
Latin Mass) there is only a one year cycle of readings repeated each Sunday
every year. The Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent in this form of
the Mass and for centuries is from John 8:46-59. In this Gospel, Jesus is
defending Himself from the crowds who want to convict Him and He tells them
that they don’t want to hear the truth and because of this they do not belong
to God. By the end of this argument, things get so heated, the Gospel tells us
the following about the crowd:
“Then
they picked up rocks to throw at Jesus, but He hid Himself and slipped out of the Temple
Precincts”.
The Gospel of John makes clear that at all times Jesus
is in control. He will not allow Himself to be killed until the appointed time.
The appointed time, of course, is Good Friday as the culmination of a trial
brought on by the religious and civil authorities of the day.
Thus the covering of the statues indicates that the
Church in her liturgies awaits the right time, the appointed time for Jesus to
be arrested, tried and condemned. But we await also the celebration of Jesus’
Resurrection and the Triumph of the Cross. God bless you.
15 comments:
Is that St. Mary's in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati?
The veiling is a charming practice and should have been maintained. Ironically, the liturgical progressives who accuse traditionalists of being all about externals, demanded we get rid of the externals they don't like.
Normally everything is veiled in violet. However, the altar cross and processional cross are veiled in red on Palm Sunday, and in white on Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday the veil on the crucifix (if used - there is another option for the Ecce lignum crucis) is red.
This is what happens in the Novus Ordo at the London Oratory. This year the Birmingham Oratory, which for some years has used the EF for its Solemn Mass on Sundays and HDOs, is using the EF for the whole of the sacred Triduum. This means that for the time being they are stuck with the unsatisfactory 1955 revision. However, the pre-1955 rites are making a comeback, for example in the ICKSP.
Sunday is Passion Sunday and we veil everything in violet awaiting the singing of the Gloria with the ringing of the bells and the lights being turned on during the Midnight Mass of the Easter Vigil.
The Roman parish to which I also belong maintains the tradition of veiling all until the Gloria during the Easter Vigil. My late Grandmother's parish, per their tradition, veils the high altar with a curtain after the that is dropped when the Gloria is intoned during the Easter Vigil.
Well, our parish has only one statue, that of Christ with hands in the orens position on the wall behind the altar. No crucifixes to cover either. Sad but true.
I only recall veiling in purple or violet, and that is a practice that sadly has disappeared. Recently I only have seen one church do this, and that was several years ago.
Father McDonald,
Here is a real bombshell that will cause the NCR's hair to catch on fire:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6886391/African-Catholic-cardinal-brands-mass-migration-new-form-SLAVERY.html
In the Ordinariate, veiling in purple commenced on Ash Wednesday. At the cathedral, the statues are veiled except for the crucifix at the altar and the stations of the cross. That will come later. Also the photo and reliquary of Blessed Miguel Pro is down presumably until Easter.
Oddly enough, our images were veiled on Ash Wednesday, but based on previous years the veils will most likely come down on Holy Thursday.
At least they were veiled though.
Mallen
Father McDonald,
A huge improvement to your church's sanctuary would be to use a seasonal antipendium on the altar and arrange the altar like you do for the EF. It would add needed gravitas to that altar.
TJM we have a parish debt of $5 million on this church with monthly payments of $40,000. It was $47,000 when I got here but we were able to refinance from a 15 year loan to a 20 year loan.
Thus, money, to say the least, is tight and things I would like to do I can't because of money.
However, if you send about $5,000 to me, I will order these expensive adependiums.
Better yet, send me about $75,000 and I will place this altar where the tabernacle is and get a new altar similar to the one in Macon which would be grand in here!
I'd prefer, though, if you would send $5 million do I could retire the debt, add stain glass, new altar and the like.
Father McDonald,
Ok, why don't we just settle for arranging the altar like you do for the EF: that would be a HUGE improvement.
Shrouded the statuary and Cross today. Father climbed the ladder to do it himself. He is afraid of scratching the statues with the poles that were made for that purpose so he does it be hand. I will design an improved version this year for his safety. The Knights of Columbus cleaned and the Altar Rosary Society swept and told the Knights what to do. Had a new guy show up. Had been away from the Church for a long time. Heard about us and came to Mass. went home, got the family, his mom, etc. they were all helping today. He cant get enough.
Stained, not "stain" glass.
Post a Comment