WHY ARE THE CROSSES AND STATUES COVERED WITH
PURPLE CLOTHS IN THE LAST DAYS OF LENT?
 
          When I was growing up, I often wondered why the beautiful images inside the church, except the Stations of the Cross, were covered with purple cloths starting the 5 ^th Sunday of Lent until the Easter Vigil. There seems to be something odd and disturbing about it considering that as we move closer to Holy Week, the images and statues, especially the cross, should remind us all the more of the passion of Christ. Why cover the image (cross) that is so central to the season of Lent? When I was an altar boy preparing to change to serve for Mass for the 5 ^th Sunday of Lent, I asked my parish priest why the statues were covered, and I expressed to him that it looked as if we were doing a general cleaning or painting in the church. Growing up, I usually associated “covering the furniture” with cleaning and painting. I don’t know about you, but there’s always this feeling of sadness and uneasiness looking at the statues and crucifixes covered. It also looks unwelcoming, especially to those who are visiting a Catholic church for the first time! I often wonder what non-Catholics think, especially when there is a funeral during the week of the 5 ^th Sunday of Lent, when they see the images covered. My parish priest smiled at me and asked me a question: What do you feel when you see them covered? Do you like them covered? Without hesitation, I said, “No, they looked awful!” He was probably shocked with my response. Then he explained to me that this is precisely what the covering of the statues and crosses needs to evoke in us—this feeling of discomfort, this uneasiness or feeling “awful” because, even though the cross symbolizes the triumph of God over death, it also expresses the unimaginable agony and suffering that Christ endured. This discomfort should move us to a greater appreciation of what God had to endure in order to redeem us. 
          A priest commenting on this ancient practice puts it this way: “When we recognize that we now venerate the Cross not so much as an emblem of victory (as in the Triumph of the Cross) but as an instrument of humiliation and suffering, we will soon understand the spiritual realities which are conveyed through the covering of the crosses. In his passion, our Savior’s divinity was almost totally eclipsed, so great was his suffering. Likewise, even his humanity was obscured – so much so that he could say through his prophet: I am a worm and no man (Psalm 21:7). His face and whole body were so disfigured by the blows and scourges that our Jesus was scarcely recognizable! Thus, the wounds he endured hid both his divinity and his humanity. For this reason, we veil the crosses in these final days of Lent – hiding our Savior under the sad purple cloth.”
          This covering of the images, especially of the crucifix, takes on a more profound meaning during the celebration of the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday as the priest unveils/uncovers the cross three times as it is presented to the community. The “hiddenness” or the “covering” of Christ’s divinity as he endured his passion is now uncovered, is now being “behold”, no longer veiled or hidden because it is precisely the triumph of God’s love. The veiling of the cross and the images should move us to a greater “hunger” for God, who after two weeks of being “hidden”, now totally gives himself on Good Friday, totally unveiled in his act of self-donation and then restores the whole creation to its original dignity in his Resurrection on Easter. In his Resurrection, everything else is uncovered; everything hidden is now revealed because the glory of God is now fully manifested. In the meantime, let us be shocked and be uneasy with the hiddenness of God’s divinity and humanity as we behold those statues and crucifixes covered with a shroud of
mystery. – Fr. Cary