Worshipers will notice that the draped crosses carried in our Processional and Recessional by our Acolytes and placed in the Chancel during worship are a symbolic depiction of the Easter season. They are currently draped in purple, the color of the Lenten Season. This cloth will remain on the Cross from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday to remind us of the Season of preparing for Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. On Good Friday through Saturday (Day of Silence) they will be draped in black. Easter Sunday though Ascension Day, the white cloth will remain on the crosses The crosses will then be rendered barren until the next Lenten Season.
Lent, Passion, and Easter are the only times the cross is draped in the liturgical year. This is to remind us of emotionally charged redemptive purpose of the suffering (purple), crucifixion and death (black), and resurrection (white) of Jesus, which these liturgical seasons commemorate. The rest of the year the cross is empty to assure us that Jesus is risen.