Sacristan's Corner-- On veils and and seeing 'through a glass, darkly'

Here I've combined the fourth and fifth of the bulletin blurbs I've been writing, since both are on the topic of veils, the last focusing on the veiling of the statues for Passiontide. 

You probably remember that the Veil of the Temple was torn in two at the very moment of Jesus' death. But maybe you wonder what this mysterious veil was. Its origins are in the Book of Exodus, where the Lord instructed that the Holy of Holies containing the Ark of the Covenant and God's Mercy Seat be shielded from people's eyes. 

Veils, in other words, were important for the Jews to separate what is sacred from what is of the world. For the same reason, the tradition of veiling holy things has entered into Christian practice. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says that it is “very fitting,” for example, that the chalice be covered with a veil. You may have also noticed that there is now a veil over the tabernacle, which is our own true Holy of Holies, and that there is even a veil over the ciborium which the priest takes from the tabernacle before distributing Holy Communion. 

In short, these veils are beautiful reminders from our Catholic tradition that we ourselves are constantly striving to become less of the world, so that one day we may pass through the veil of this world into God's direct, unveiled presence in life everlasting. As St. Paul beautifully puts it, we see the Lord in the midst of the struggles of this life “through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). 

Today you've probably noticed that all the statues and crosses are now also veiled. These last two weeks of Lent are traditionally known as “Passiontide” because during the 5th week of Lent the Preface of the Lord's Passion is used and then, on Palm Sunday, the Passion account is read. 

Passiontide marks an intensification of our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In Medieval Germany a large purple cloth known as the hungertuch, or “hunger cloth,” would be stretched across the entire sanctuary throughout Lent to Good Friday, a dramatic precursor to our current practice of veiling the statues. The idea is that we should hunger for the comforting visuals—the familiar statues, images, and artwork that ordinarily aid our prayer and contemplation. 

We will get them back, of course. First the Crucifix will be unveiled for our veneration on Good Friday. Then all the Passiontide veils will come off at the Easter Vigil, for the Risen Lord “satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9).

Blurb 1 (The Crotalus), Blurb 2 (Benedictine Arrangement), Blurb 3 (Benedictine Arrangement, Part 2)

We are all set for Passiontide at St. Peter's, Middle Ridge, Wis.