During Lent, you may notice that we cover the crucifix, statues, and icons in our church with purple cloth. The last two weeks in the season of Lent are called Passiontide, which begins on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. During this time, the focus shifts from Christ in the desert to Christ during His Passion. This once widespread custom of veiling statues fell into disuse but has in recent years been reaffirmed by the Holy See and by the Bishops of the United States. Statues are veiled for the Fifth Sunday of Lent and are unveiled before the Easter Vigil. Our Altar Cross will be veiled after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and unveiled after the Good Friday Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. The veiling of crosses and statues is a kind of “fasting” from sacred depictions which represent the Pascal glory of our salvation. Just as the Lenten fast concludes with the Pascal feast, so too, does our fasting from the cross culminate on Good Friday in our adoration of the holy wood on which the sacrifice of Calvary was offered for our sins. Likewise, a fasting from the glorious images of the mysteries of faith and the saints in glory culminates on Easter night with a renewed appreciation of the glorious victory won by Christ who rose from the tomb to win for us eternal life. Our church votive candles are removed while the statues are veiled and will not return until after the Easter Vigil. We thank the Ladies of St. Francis for donating the purple cloth and Kathy Koehler for making the drapes which veil the statues.