Life in churches: Lenten shrouds

If you look carefully at this photo above, you will see that this small cross, under a window at the back of All Saints Church, North Dunedin, is “veiled” with a piece of porous, black cloth. 

Here's another example, where both the statue and icon of Mary are similarly “shrouded”:

And one of the many crosses (technically, this is an icon crucifix underneath, I think) in the church that were shrouded too.

I had never come across this practice before. There was no one in the church when I popped in, as the rest of my family took in a nearby Lego exhibition, so I'm not sure how All Saints North Dunedin adapt this practice to their local congregational life. Apparently (i.e. according to Wikipedia), the practice occurs in some Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches, and begins on Palm Sunday, when crucifixes, icons, and statues are veiled. A cross is then unveiled and venerated on Good Friday, and the other shrouds are all removed at the Saturday night vigil service.

It certainly adds to the drama of Holy Week, and expresses the special character of churches that emphasize the use of elements and sensory traditions in their worship and liturgical life (All Saints North Dunedin, in their own words, “is a vibrant, Anglo-Catholic, faith community”).

But my favourite part of the church was the sweet, spicy aroma of incense that greets you on entry, and this small bunch of blue flowers, and this little turquoise pool of water: