Just wanted to know

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MrsYounan

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Friends,
Am I correct in saying that the Saturday of the 4th week of Lent is traditionally when we veil the crucifixes and images of Church in our churches and homes. They then stay veiled until after the celebration of Good Friday, when we remove the veils from the crucifixes and the other images are unveiled on the night of the Feast of Lights ( The Easter Vigil) ?
MrsY:rolleyes:
 
MrsYounan said:
Friends,
Am I correct in saying that the Saturday of the 4th week of Lent is traditionally when we veil the crucifixes and images of Church in our churches and homes. They then stay veiled until after the celebration of Good Friday, when we remove the veils from the crucifixes and the other images are unveiled on the night of the Feast of Lights ( The Easter Vigil) ?
MrsY:rolleyes:
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Hello.

Actually, the Fourth Sunday of Lent is known as Laetare Sunday. Rose vestments are used. Therefore, I don’t think the veiling happens at that time. It happens, if memory serves, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. That’s when the parishes in my diocese start veiling the statues and the Crucifix.

There may be others wiser than me, but, that’s what I remember.
 
benedictgal said:
Hello.

Actually, the Fourth Sunday of Lent is known as Laetare Sunday. Rose vestments are used. Therefore, I don’t think the veiling happens at that time. It happens, if memory serves, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. That’s when the parishes in my diocese start veiling the statues and the Crucifix.

There may be others wiser than me, but, that’s what I remember.
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From Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts Congregation for Divine Worship
  1. After Mass (of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday) the altar should be stripped. It is fitting that any crosses in the church be covered with a red or purple veil, unless they have already been veiled on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday of Lent. Lamps should not be lit before the images of saints.
 
Phemie said:
From Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts Congregation for Divine Worship
  1. After Mass (of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday) the altar should be stripped. It is fitting that any crosses in the church be covered with a red or purple veil, unless they have already been veiled on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday of Lent. Lamps should not be lit before the images of saints.
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Thanks, Phemie. I guess it’s a carryover custom that my parishes have had since prior to the Council. But, you are right. Actually, the circular letter in question is called Paschales Sacramentalis.
 
Is this Sunday when we take our palms back to be burned for the Ash Wednesday ashes?
 
MrsYounan said:
Am I correct in saying that the Saturday of the 4th week of Lent is traditionally when we veil the crucifixes and images of Church in our churches and homes. They then stay veiled until after the celebration of Good Friday, when we remove the veils from the crucifixes and the other images are unveiled on the night of the Feast of Lights ( The Easter Vigil) ?
MrsY:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
This venerable practice has roots that go back over a thousand years in Catholic tradition, to the time of the Latin rite’s encounter with the Byzantine rite during the Crusades, and the liturgical reforms of Cluny around the end of the first millenium, when it was recognized that to veil a thing is to reveal something about its true nature. Suppressed for a time after the Second Vatican Council, this “fasting of the eyes” is back and is being observed in a growing number of parishes. In November 2001, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops formally approved it, and directed that its authorization be placed in the Roman Missal among the rubrics for Holy Week:

“In the Dioceses of the United States of America, crosses in the church may be covered from the conclusion of the Mass for Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent until the end of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. Images in the church may be covered from the conclusion of the Mass for Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”

Here’s hoping the practice continues to spread.
 
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