Traditionally the final two weeks of Lent in the Roman Rite are used as immediate preparation for the sorrowful events of the Easter drama. It is a period of time to focus more and more on the Passion and death of Jesus and so accompany him on his way to Calvary.
“Passiontide” refers to the last two weeks of Lent. According to Cyril of Scythopolis, during this time the monks of the East, who had chosen the desert for a severer mode of life, returned to their monasteries.
In certain countries, such as Brazil and Italy, it is seen as the beginning of the Holy Week observances. The Viernes de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows) is a solemn pious remembrance of the sorrowful Blessed Virgin Mary on the Friday before Palm Sunday held in the fifth week of Lent.
In the Orthodox Church, the Fifth Saturday of Great Lent is known as the Saturday of the Akathist, when the “Akathist to the Theotokos” is sung at Compline.
The most obvious example of a more somber mood was the veiling of statues and images, which remains an optional practice in the current Roman Missal: “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”
It was also on the Friday of this initial “Passion Week” that the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated (it is now fixed annually on September 15). The current Roman Missal still provides an alternative prayer for that day (Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent), remembering Mary’s own bitter passion.
Palm Sunday was seen as the “Second Sunday in Passiontide,” and is currently listed in the liturgical calendar as “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.” It is on this day that the Passion narrative is read, the longest Sunday Gospel reading of the entire year. The Church beckons us on Palm Sunday to look toward the cross and see Christ’s immense love for us, sacrificing himself for our sins. It is a preview of what is to come on Good Friday.
After Palm Sunday, Passion Week gives way to Holy Week and the Church follows Jesus during his final days in Jerusalem. The Passion narrative was traditionally proclaimed during Mass on each day of Holy Week leading up to Holy Thursday.