Oh, don’t be sorry…I thought the parish council thread that was taking shape was very interesting. I had no idea that is how they operate in fact and that how they are supposed to operate is fairly unknown. It should be a thread!
Ahhh but I should know better
However, let’s see if I can redeem myself by tying the Parish Council into the thread.
The Parish Council is now more properly known as the “Pastoral Council” in order to emphasize the role the council plays in directly advising the Pastor of the Church and helps to over see all of the various committees to co-ordinate their activities (prevent duplication of efforts etc…) So, in this case with the covering of the Crucifix (or out right removal) this action most likely would been taken the liturgical committee. As a member of the Pastoral Council, either myself (and most likely others) would have taken notice of this action and more than likely researched it and if found to be potentially liturgically incorrect, because we are to advise the Pastor, would bring the action(s) to the attention of the Pastor.
So in this case, if it is an improper act, the council has an obligation to advise the Pastor, present why we think it is an improper act, and then let the Pastor take action as he sees fit. For example, it had been the custom of my Church for over 50+ years to remove the Holy Water from the fonts at the START of Lent. However, when I assumed my position as a voting member I pointed out that
The Congregation for Divine Worship had a position that this should not be done prior to the Sacred Triduum. And for the past 5 years, that practice has stopped and will not be continued unless something else is handed down.
So with this in mind, I looked into this question of removing or covering the Crucifix and other statues during Lent and Easter…
It does seem to be a common practice during Lent to cover the statues and other holy images during the last two weeks of Lent (with the exception of the stations of the cross)
(
Covering of Crosses and Images in Lent)
Here again it seems in England:
Why are Crucifixes and Statues veiled in Church at the end of Lent (PDF so I’ll subquote)
The Roman Missal provides that before the Vespers
of the Saturday preceding Passion Sunday the
crosses, statues and pictures of Christ and of the
saints throughout the church, with the exception of
the Stations of the Cross, are to be covered with a
plain opaque violet veil. The crosses remain covered
until the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday; the
other statues remain covered until Easter Eve. The
reason the statues of the saints (in our case St Mary
the Virgin) should be covered is that it is improper
for the servants to show themselves when the
master is hidden
MIND YOU: I did NOT do a very deep search/research into this as I would for my Parish.
As for the Covering of the Crucifix after Easter, from those two sources and pulling out my revised copy of the revised Roman Missal (yes I have a copy, I was on our RCIA team and we teach right from the book! ) I do not see any permission granted to cover the Crucifix AFTER the Easter Vigil or indeed at anytime. SO I asked the Deacon to allow me to read thru the Sacramentary, It appears there that the practice has historical merit, has not been officially voted on by the Bishops, and therefore is optional.
I find nothing in the Sacrastan’s Manual that allows for the Corpus to be covered or removed at any other time in the liturgical year.
In my church, the Main Crucifix has a White Vail that Drapes BEHIND and around the Corpus but not covering the Corpus. As the Archbishop was with us for confirmations and Divine Mercy Sunday he must not have found it to be an issue, and he’s somewhat conservative!
If I were in the Parish that OP was at, and a voting member of the pastoral council for that parish, I’d have to ask the Pastor why the Corpus was being covered/removed against what I understood the rubrics to require.
