Liturgical colours
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Liturgical colours are colours of vestments and paraments within a Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, white, green, red, gold, black, and rose may serve to underline moods appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may highlight a special occasion.
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[edit] Roman Catholicism
Generally, in the Roman Rite reformed by Pope Paul VI, the following colours are used.[1]
- Green, symbolizing life, growth and hope, is worn during Ordinary Time.
- Violet, informally called purple, symbolizing penance and expiation, is worn during the seasons of Advent and Lent, as well as on Holy Saturday. It or black is used on All Souls' Day and at other Masses for the Dead. It is also worn by the confessor during the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
- White symbolizing purity, holiness, joy, innocence and triumph, is worn during the Christmas and Easter seasons, Holy Thursday, on feasts of The Lord, on feasts of Our Lady, on feasts of the Angels, on the feast of John the Apostle and on feasts of other non-martyred saints, and at weddings.
- Red, symbolizing fire and blood, is worn at Pentecost (to remind the faithful of the tongues of fire which descended on the apostles), on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, on feasts of the Holy Cross, on feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists except for St. John, on the feasts of martyrs, and on feasts consecrated to the Holy Spirit.
- Rose, informally called pink, expressive of joy that half a penitential season is over, is authorised only on the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) and on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) as an alternative to violet. It is, however, not compulsory.
- Black, symbolizing mourning, though still included as one of the church's liturgical colours, has fallen out of fashion in some places. It may be worn instead of violet on All Souls Day and in Masses for the Dead.
- Vestments made from cloth of silver or cloth of gold may be used on days of special solemnity. Historically, silver was permitted as a substitute for white, and gold as a substitute for white, red, or green.
In addition to the general rules, there are some exceptions.
- White, in the United States, may be worn instead of violet or black at Funeral Masses expressing the hope of the Resurrection, especially in the funerals of children. This is also appropriate if white is traditionally the colour of mourning in a country, such as some Asian nations.
- Blue, a colour associated with the Virgin Mary, is allowed for the feast of the Immaculate Conception in some dioceses in Spain, Mexico and South America. In some places there is an unauthorized use of blue for all feasts of the Virgin Mary. In the Philippines because of the persistence of local priests in using this color, the Vatican has granted it special usage in all Marian feasts, replacing white. Blue has also become an unauthorized but common colour in some places for the season of Advent,[2] and in this case symbolizes expectation and hope - the blue of a new dawning day.
- White or cloth of gold may be worn from the 16th to the 24th December, when celebrating a traditional novena. This Spanish custom was abolished in the 1950s, but through an error, it was only abolished in Spain, and therefore remains licit and common in the Philippines. Further, if not enough vestments of the proper colour are available (particularly in concelebrations), white may always be substituted.
The Roman Rite promulgated by Pope St. Pius V, which is still used by some priests, varies from the above uses in some minor aspects. Violet is worn on days of fasting (such as Ember days and Rogation days), on the Sundays preceding Lent, and on vigils. Black is used on Good Friday and is the only colour proper at Masses for the Dead.
[edit] Anglicanism
Many Anglican churches use the colours appointed in the Roman Rite. Others use the traditional colours associated with the Use of Sarum. In these churches, blue, rather than violet, is used during Advent and, especially among Anglo-Catholics, on Marian feasts. Crimson is used during Holy Week, or throughout Passiontide (Passion Week and Holy Week). Some churches replace violet during Lent (except the week or weeks during which crimson is used) with a Lenten array consisting of unbleached muslin cloth (varying in colour but usually ranging from off-white to beige) with accents of crimson or black.
Churches also often use black on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. White is often used for funerals and memorial services, as well as baptisms and weddings.
[edit] Table of Anglican liturgical colours
| Season | Common Worship | Traditional Anglican | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Sunday in Advent | Purple | Purple | |
| 2nd Sunday in Advent | Purple | Purple | |
| 3rd Sunday in Advent | Purple | Purple or Rose | |
| 4th Sunday in Advent | Purple | Purple | |
| Christmas Day | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 1st Sunday of Christmas | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 1st Sunday of Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 2nd Sunday of Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 3rd Sunday of Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 4th Sunday of Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 5th Sunday of Epiphany | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| Purification | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| Septuagesima | Green | Purple | |
| Sexagesima | Green | Purple | |
| Quinquagesima | Green | Purple | |
| Ash Wednesday | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| 1st Sunday in Lent | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| 2nd Sunday in Lent | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| 3rd Sunday in Lent | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| 4th Sunday in Lent | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| Passion Sunday | Purple or Unbleached linen | Purple or Unbleached linen | |
| Palm Sunday | Red | Red | |
| Maundy Thursday | White | White | |
| Good Friday | Bare | Bare | |
| Holy Saturday | Bare | Bare | |
| Easter Day | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| 1st Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| 2nd Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| 3rd Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| 4th Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| 5th Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| 6th Sunday in Easter | White | White or Gold | |
| Ascension Day | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| Whitsunday | Red | Red | |
| Trinity Sunday | White | White or Gold | |
| Sundays of Trinity | Green | Green | |
| 4th to 1st Sunday before Advent | Red or Green | Green | |
| All Saints' Day | White or Gold | White or Gold | |
| All Souls' Day | Red or Green | Purple | |
| Remembrance Sunday | Red or Green | Purple (or Black for Requiem Mass) |
[edit] Protestantism
Some Protestant churches, especially Lutherans and Methodists use a colour scheme similar to those used by Anglicans and Roman Catholics, although the practice is not universally followed. Many Protestant churches reject the idea of liturgical colours entirely.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, uses the same color scheme as that of the Anglicans and their Scandinavian Lutheran counterparts, but with the use of gold only for the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday services, with Holy Week using scarlet in place of crimson – congregations lacking scarlet vestments use purple from Palm Sunday through Holy Wednesday and white for Maundy Thursday. Black, traditionally use by the Anglican Communion for Good Friday and funerals, was used by the ELCA only for Ash Wednesday, but effective with the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) book, which replaces the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW), black is no longer suggested for Ash Wednesday or Good Friday – purple my be used for Ash Wednesday and no color for Good Friday. In addition, the ELW suggests that blue, the traditional color for Advent (with purple being the alternate), be used for the Advent season, reflecting the traditional use of blue in the Scandinavian Lutheran churches.
Both the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), along with the United Methodist Church use a similar system, but with purple being the primary color for both Advent and Lent (with blue being the alternate color for Advent only), and the use of gold in place of white for both Christmas and Easter (in similar practice to the Roman Catholic Church). In the LCMS, the use of red is also done during the Period of End Times, a period of the Church in regards to the teachings of the Book of Revalation, culminating in the creation of the New Jerusalem (corresponding to Christ the King in the ELCA). In all three churches, including the ELCA, red is also worn on the last Sunday of October, in celebration of the Reformation on October 31st, when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses onto the door of Whittenburg Cathedral.
The United Methodist Church, prior to the mid-1990's, used red solely for Pentecost, even including the Sundays after Pentecost Sunday, with the use of green being reserved for the season of Kingdomtide, which usually lasted from late August/early September until Christ the King (the last Sunday in Kingdomtide). Since the early 21st Century, the UMC has followed the ELCA practice of wearing red only for Pentecost and Reformation Sundays and green for the rest of the Pentecost season.
[edit] Orthodoxy
The Orthodox churches do not have a universal system of colours, but only specify "light" or "dark" vestments in the service books. However, Slavic-use churches and others influenced by Latin Catholicism have adopted a cycle of liturgical colours: white is used for Pascha, Christmas, and Theophany (in some areas bright red is used for Pascha); purple for weekends and black for weekdays in Lent; green for Pentecost and feasts of the Holy Cross (but not, as may be expected, ever on St. Patrick's Day) ; blue for feasts of the Theotokos; red for feasts of martyrs and for the Nativity fast; and gold as the default.
[edit] References
- ^ Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 346
- ^ Cantica Nova Puplications, Advent Blues, an editorial by Gary D. Penkala bemoaning the use of blue in the liturgy, December 2000
- Ordo missae celebrandae et divini officii persolvendi secundum calendarium romanum generale pro anno liturgico 2005-2006, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2005.
