Christians around the world are now celebrating Holy Week. It began on Palm Sunday, March 24, and lasts through Easter Sunday evening. Holy Week is the center of the Christian Year, and the heart of Holy Week are the days of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, called the Sacred Triduum (three days).

The solemnity and seriousness of Holy Week are evident in many Christian churches, including the church of St. Bernard Abbey on the Benedictine monastery grounds in Cullman.

Crucifixes and images of saints are covered with violet cloth as Christians “fast” from the beauty and comfort of sacred images.

“Holy Week begins with Passion (Palm) Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem where, during the coming week, he would suffer, die and rise,” said Abbot Marcus Voss, O.S.B., leader of the monastery of about 20 Benedictine monks, who also explained the events of the Easter Triduum.

On Holy Thursday evening, the institution of the Mass at the event called “The Lord’s Supper” is celebrated, and the abbot of the monastery washes the feet of 12 men in commemoration of Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet. Holy Thursday is sometimes called “Maundy Thursday” (from the Latin word “mandatum” or “command”), from Jesus’s command made on this day that his followers are to love as He loves — demonstrated in the very act of washing feet.

On Good Friday, Jesus’s perfect act of love is remembered: His suffering and death. In that connection the cross is honored with great solemnity.

On Holy Saturday, all keep watch with Jesus as He lies in the tomb until the darkness of Saturday evening. It is then that light pierces the darkness in the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil is the great celebration of Christ’s resurrection and victory over death.

Finally comes Easter Sunday morning and Easter Mass and services at many Christian churches throughout Alabama and the world.

“For almost 2,000 years, Christians have worshipped God in special services during these holiest of days, and we are privileged to do the same,” said Abbot Marcus.

In the Church’s tradition, the veiling of crosses has several meanings: It is a “fasting” from sacred depictions which represent the Easter glory of salvation. Just as the Lenten fast concludes with the Easter feast, so too, fasting from the cross culminates in honoring the cross on which the sacrifice of Calvary was offered for the sins of the world on that first Good Friday. An important part of the Good Friday Liturgy is that honoring of the Cross, which includes its unveiling. Once the Cross has been unveiled, it is logical that all crosses would be unveiled so that they too might be honored by the faithful and remind all of the glory of the Holy Cross of Christ.

Likewise, a fasting from the wonderful images of the mysteries of faith and the saints in glory, ends at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night when all celebrate the victorious Christ, risen from the tomb.

Some writers have explained that the veiling is to remind all of Jesus’ humiliation and to imprint the image of the crucified Christ more deeply on minds and hearts. The veiling of crosses and images, making them “present” but “absent,” draws attention to their importance and beauty — as wonderful objects that remind one of the gift of salvation and the communion of saints.