Who Covered Up All The Statues?

I've been asked this question a lot lately since more places started doing this before Holy Week.  To answer the question directly- I have no idea who.  I think the question people really want to know is- Why are the statues covered? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, it is probably the custom of your parish or worship site to do this only on Good Friday (which has been the liturgical norm until now).  This is probably one of those things that we do every year, but a lot of people may not know why.

The requirement in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is that on Good Friday, the altar is to be bare, without cloth, candles or cross.  The cross that is normally visible is covered, so that more focus and emphasis is given on the cross that is used during the Good Friday liturgy.  Images of saints such as statues or icons are also covered since these are rather celebratory and signs of the Resurrection.  You'll also notice that candles (which remind us of Christ being the light of the world) are used minimally- only for the Blessed Sacrament and the cross that is used for the Good Friday liturgy.  All this is done as a stark and sobering reminder that our Lord suffered and died on this day.

In a lot of places, the custom of veiling or covering of statues and icons is done before Good Friday.  Some of this is liturgical innovation that has become more widely accepted, and some of it is following an older tradition.  Before the liturgical revision in 1970, it was the norm to cover crosses and images during the Passiontide, the last two weeks of Lent.  They were then uncovered at the Easter Vigil when the Gloria is sung.  When the liturgy was revised after Vatican II, this custom of covering crosses and images during the last two weeks of Lent was left up to the conference of bishops in each country, and the US bishops did not elect to include it.

The new 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal (RM III), now permits the covering of crosses and statues beginning on the 5th Sunday of Lent:

In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.

This is why more places started doing it this year.  Personally, I'm not sure about covering the cross before Good Friday, but during the last two weeks of Lent there is some value to fasting from the externals (such as the images of saints) so that our focus is directed more to the essentials- the altar and the cross.

Minneapolis-St Paul's Fr Paul Hartmann gives a good analogy for this, comparing the covered images to presents that are gift wrapped.  We know they are there.  We may know what's in package, but they are covered or wrapped in anticipation of the occasion we're about to celebrate.  In this case, the celebration is Easter, and the imagery of saints and other representations of heaven can be considered small gifts from our Lord on the occasion of His resurrection.

On a funny note, when somebody asks me why the statues are covered, I like to joke and say, "Because it's easier than removing them."   Then I watch for the perplexed look on the individual's face.  They actually do remove them in some places, but this is not done often since statues can be pretty heavy!

May you have a blessed Holy Week, and a joyous Easter. 

 

So Who's Fasting on Ash Wednesday?

When I was in college at Loyola University Chicago, a friend whom I hadn't seen in a while told me that he had stopped attending Mass regularly.  He then said, "With Lent coming up, I'm going to start going back."  Half joking I ask him, "If you haven't been going to church, then how did you know Lent was coming?"  He replied back with a similar joking tone, "I still read the bulletin!"

Several weeks later on a Friday in Lent, I was at the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie with two college friends who were also Catholic.  While we were getting something to eat at the food court, I surprised to see that my friends (who similar to me attended Catholic grade schools and high schools) were ordering items that had meat.  When I asked them about it, it was as if I was the only one in the entire world who actually followed the Lenten observances. 

What is it about Lent that captivates, yet is so polarizing?  Whether you are attending Mass regularly or not, there's something about Lent that gets our attention, and people tend to fall to either one side or the other- either they do their best to take Lent seriously and take on the Lenten observances, or they know Lent is happening around them and could care less to partake.

Regardless of which side people fall on, you might find them in church on Ash Wednesday.  It's one of the most attended days of the year next to Christmas and Easter, and it isn't even a holy day of obligation.  It's not on the same date every year, there's no associated holiday retail sales, yet people still seem to know when it is. Even the evening news will have a lot of coverage of people going to church for Ash Wednesday.  So what is it that makes people drawn to churches on that day, to the point where additional liturgies are scheduled and priests are on standby to give out ashes?

If I had to make a guess, it's our humanity.  Whether Lent is just someone's Ash Wednesday attendance, the full 40 day observance, or somewhere in between, each of us has a need to recognize that we are the created and that we owe something to the Creator for our shortcomings, for not being all that we were intended to be.  Somehow we know this, and at least once a year we have a chance to acknowledge it.

How we participate in the Lent is a reflection of how we handle that acknowledgement. Many people try to embrace the disciplines, even doing more than expected.  Others don't see any need to even try; perhaps with no desire to compare who they really are to who God wants them to be.  Don't get me wrong- people who don't fast or abstain aren't out to be bad people. Depending on how formed their conscious is, threatening eternal damnation for eating a burger on Friday or for going to an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet on Ash Wednesday is probably a little much. But one thing is for sure, how Catholics respond to Lenten practices is a sign of where they are on their faith journey, and shows how seriously they take it.

Regardless of where people are, we all need to support each other.  If you're one take the Lenten disciplines seriously, then support others (especially people who don't) with humble encouragement.  If you don't take the Lenten disciplines seriously, then at least be supportive of the people who do.  What's harder than being a Christian?  Being around one during Lent.

Here are the specifics of the Lenten disciplines for Latin rite Catholics:

According to Canon Law (specifically Canons 1251-1253), Catholics age 14 and older are to abstain from meat on Fridays unless the day is a solemnity (the Annunciation and St Joseph are two solemnities that occasionally fall on a Friday in Lent).  Catholics beginning their 16th year are to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  If you live in the USA, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has a more precise observance for the fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: age 18 to 60.

Some last tidbits about Lent:

The Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes the afternoon of Holy Thursday.  Holy Thursday afternoon through the Easter Vigil is  considered the Easter Triduum, which is really a liturgical season of its own. 

You'll notice a few minor changes in the liturgy during this time.  The Gloria will be omitted, with the exception of St Joseph (March 19), the Annunciation (usually March 25, transferred to April 8 in 2012) and the Chrism Mass.  Alleluia is not said/sung from Ash Wednesday until the gospel acclamation at the Easter Vigil.  The liturgical color is violet, even on memorials of saints.  The only exceptions are the solemnities (which are white), Laetare Sunday (rose), Palm Sunday (red), and the Chrism Mass (white).  It is custom to lessen liturgical decorations and music is generally simplified during Lent.