Passiontide: The Last Two Weeks of Lent

WIKIPEDIA
The free encyclopedia

St. Martins

UNIVERSAL - Passiontide (in the Christian liturgical year) is a name for the last two weeks of Lent, beginning on Passion Sunday and ending on Holy Saturday. In the Roman Catholic Church, all crucifixes and images may be covered in veils (usually violet, the colour of vestments in Lent) starting on Passion Sunday: "The practice of covering crosses and images in the church may be observed, if the episcopal conference decides. The crosses are to be covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord's passion on Good Friday. Images are to remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil." (Specifically, the veils are removed during the singing of the Gloria.) The veiling was associated with Passion Sunday's Gospel (John 8:46-59), in which Jesus "hid himself" from the people. [link]