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:

The Tenebrae Service

Tenebrae (which means “shadows” or “darkness”) is a prayer service held during Holy Week. 

Originating from the Liturgy of the Hours, Tenebrae includes chanted psalms that focus on Christ’s Passion. The mournful songs, called dirges, are like a funeral service for our Savior. A row of candles is lit in a stand called the hearse at the beginning of the service, and after each psalm is chanted, a candle is extinguished until only one remains.

This somber service helps us to think about Jesus’s death on the Cross as we await His Resurrection.

Have you ever attended Tenebrae as a family? You can share this coloring page with your kids and read more about it in All About Lent & Holy Week.

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:

Palm Sunday: Palm Weaving Coloring Page & Video

When you arrive for Mass on Palm Sunday, you will receive palm fronds to hold during the opening procession. You may take those palms home and can tuck them behind a crucifix on the wall or hang them over a door. Some people braid and weave palms into elaborate patterns—such as crosses, roses, or crowns of thorns—for the procession on Palm Sunday. You can try to weave your palms into a simple cross. These blessed palms are a sacramental that can remind us of Holy Week all year long.

Here’s a video of how to make a simple cross from a palm leaf. If you’d like an easy way to explain this tradition to your kids, you can use this coloring page!

You can read more about Palm Sunday 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:

Walk Through Holy Week Printable Poster

During Holy Week, we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem and remember the events of His Passion, death, and Resurrection. You can stay close to Jesus this week by walking through these stories from the Gospels using our Walk Through Holy Week Poster.

You can print this poster to use as a guide during Holy Week here. 

FYI, this poster is 11x17". You could send it to print at your local office store for less than a dollar, and you'll be able to use it year after year! Or if you want to print on a regular printer at home, you can either scale down to 8.5x11 or print using the poster feature on multiple sheets.

• For an 8.5x11 print: In Adobe Acrobat, go to Print>Page Size and Handling>Select Fit
• For a 11x17 (or larger) print: In Adobe Acrobat, got to Print>Page Size and Handling>Select Poster>Change Tiling Scale and check the print preview to see the size of your poster. Then print (on multiple sheets), trim, and tape together.

You can read more about walking through Holy Week with Jesus 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:

The Saints of Holy Week Coloring Page

We often read about the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John, and St. Mary Magdalene during Holy Week, but do you know the stories of these other saints? Use this coloring page to learn more about St. Longinus, St. Veronica, St. Simon of Cyrene, and St. Dismas. Click here to download and print.

You can read more about the Saints of Holy Week in All about Lent & Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance & Salvation with Children. These coloring pages 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:

Good Friday Crucifixion Coloring Page

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, 

because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

During the quiet of Good Friday, you can share this Crucifixion coloring page with your children as we reflect on the great love of our Savior. Click here to download it.

You can read more about Good Friday in All about Lent & Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance & Salvation with Children. These coloring pages 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:

Paschal Candle Coloring & Info Page

At the beginning of the Easter Vigil Mass, the new Paschal candle is carved with a cross and the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End. It is also labeled with the numbers for the current year. The Paschal Candle is lit during the whole Easter Season, and then at all baptisms and funerals throughout the year. 

You can use this coloring & info page to share more about the Paschal Candle with your kids, or read about it in All about Lent & Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance & Salvation with Children. These coloring pages were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

Update: While the coloring page is always relevant, Shari was so kind to update the file with the correct dates for the next few years. Click here for candles with these dates:

2026 Paschal Candle Coloring & Info Page
2027 Paschal Candle Coloring & Info Page
2028 Paschal Candle Coloring & Info Page
2029 Paschal Candle Coloring & Info Page

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: