Passiontide: Why do we cover statues?

The fifth Sunday of Lent has a special name: Passion Sunday. This is the beginning of Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter.

As we near Holy Week, many churches will remove their holy images or cover them with purple cloth as an act of fasting, to remove distractions and focus our attention solely on Jesus. We remove the coverings as part of the Easter celebration, bringing back the fullness and beauty of our churches.

You can enter into Passiontide by covering the crucifix, statues, and holy images in your home. Use inexpensive purple fabric or even drape purple tissue paper over these items. You can hold them in place with tape or safety pins and then remove them on Easter morning.

Looking for help explaining this tradition to your kids? We’ve got a coloring & info page for you here!

You can read more about Passiontide and Holy Week in All about Lent & Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance & Salvation with Children. These resources were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here, or we'd love for you to ask for it at your local Catholic book store. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style! 

And you can find all of the free resources linked in this post: