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Liturgical colours

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Liturgical colours are colours of vestments and hangings within the context of Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, white, green, red, gold, black, rose, and other colours may serve to underline moods appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may highlight a special occasion.

There is a distinction between the color of the vestments worn by the clergy and their choir dress, which with a few exceptions does not change with the liturgical seasons.

Roman Catholicism

Ordinary Form

Generally, in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, as reformed by Pope Paul VI, the following colours are used.[1]

Colour Obligatory Usage Optional Usage
Green *Ordinary Time
Violet
White
Red
Rose
Black

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 colour, 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,[3] 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.

Extraordinary Form

The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, also known as the Latin Mass, was promulgated by Pope St. Pius V and last revised by Pope John XXIII in 1962. It remains in use under the motu proprio entitled, Summorum Pontificum, issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. There are some small differences between the liturgical colour usages of the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form.

The liturgical colour scheme of the Extraordinary From differs from that of the Ordinary Form in the following instances:

*However, under the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, the private masses in the Extraordinary Form are not celebrated during the Easter Triduum.

Roman Rite before 1962

The liturgical colour scheme known in the Roman Rite became universal in Rome by the 12th century, and it is likely that the scheme had been widely used for centuries prior. In 1570, Pope Pius V promulgated the Roman Missal to most of the Latin Church, and the Roman liturgical colour scheme has changed little since that time.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII revised the Roman Missal and the liturgical calendar, abolishing all octaves except for Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.

Before 1962:

Before the Holy Week reforms of Pope Pius XII in 1956, violet was worn on Palm Sunday and black was worn on Good Friday.

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. (Often, a deep or dark blue is used for Advent and a lighter shade of blue for 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) or even common burlap (sackcloth) with accents of crimson or black. Other distinctions of colour exist, such as yellow for Doctors of the Church, but their use is now almost obsolete.

More traditional churches will use black on Good Friday and at requiem masses of adults. More commonly, White or Violet is often used for funerals and memorial services; white is always used at such services where a younger person has died. White is used at baptisms and weddings.

Table of Anglican Liturgical colours

Season or Day Common Worship Traditional Anglican
1st Sunday in Advent Purple Purple
2nd Sunday in Advent Purple Purple
3rd Sunday in Advent Purple 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 Green
2nd Sunday of Epiphany White or Gold Green
3rd Sunday of Epiphany White or Gold Green
4th Sunday of Epiphany White or Gold Green
5th Sunday of Epiphany White or Gold Green
Presentation White or Gold White or Gold
Septuagesima Green Purple
Sexagesima Green Purple
Quinquagesima Green Purple
Ash Wednesday Purple or Unbleached linen Purple
1st Sunday in Lent Purple or Unbleached linen Purple
2nd Sunday in Lent Purple or Unbleached linen Purple
3rd Sunday in Lent Purple or Unbleached linen Purple
4th Sunday in Lent Purple or Unbleached linen Rose
Passion Sunday Purple or Unbleached linen Purple
Palm Sunday Red Purple
Maundy Thursday White White
Good Friday Bare Black
Holy Saturday Bare Purple for Vigil, then White or Gold
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 and pink Green
4th to 1st Sunday before Advent Red or Green Green
All Saints' Day White or Gold White or Gold
All Souls' Day Purple Purple (or Black for Requiem Mass)
Remembrance Sunday Red or Green Purple (or Black for Requiem Mass)

Protestantism

Some Protestant churches, historically especially Lutherans and Methodists, and today many mainline Protestants, use a colour scheme similar to those used by Anglicans and Roman Catholics, although the practice is not universally followed. Some Protestant churches do not use liturgical colours at all.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, uses the same colour 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 may be used for Ash Wednesday and no colour for Good Friday. In addition, the ELW suggests that blue, the traditional colour 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 colour for both Advent and Lent (with blue being the alternate colour 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 WELS, 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 Revelation, 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 early-1990s, 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 publication of the 1992 Book of Worship, 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.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has sanctioned the use of liturgical colours and promoted their use in the 1993 Book of Common Worship (although their use was also promoted in the church's annual Planning Calendars beginning in the 1980s). The scheme follows the general Western pattern common to Roman, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches. Advent and Lent are periods of preparation and repentance and are represented by the color purple. The feasts of Christmas Day and Christmastide, Epiphany Sunday, Baptism of the Lord Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday, Easter Season, Trinity Sunday, and Christ the King Sunday are represented by white. Green is the color for periods of Ordinary Time. Red is for Pentecost Sunday, but may also be used for ordinations, church anniversaries and All Saints Day.

Similarly, the United Church of Christ includes indications of which liturgical colour to use for each Sunday in its annual calendar. The general Western pattern is followed, with either Purple or Blue recommended for Advent.

Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism

The Orthodox and Eastern Catholics do not have a universal system of colours, with the service-books of the Byzantine tradition only specifing "light" or "dark" vestments in the service books. In the Greek tradtion, maroon or burgundy are common for solemn feast days, and a wide variety of colours are used at other times, the most common of which are gold and white.

Slavic-use churches and others influenced by Western traditions have adopted a cycle of liturgical colours. The particulars may change from place to place, but generally:

Previously, under Western influence, black would often be used for funerals in the Slavic churches, as a sign of penance and mourning, but in the second half of the 20th century, the ancient white became more common, as a sign of the hope of the Resurrection.

The Coptic tradition is unusual, in not having any liturgical colours aside from white. While gold and silver are used at times, they remain in theory, variations of white.

References

  1. ^ Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 346
  2. ^ The optional use of blue as a liturgical color for feasts of our Lady is restricted to a limited number of dioceses, as is explained in the text.
  3. ^ 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.
  • Christian Symbols, Crosses, Parament Colors; and their meanings
  • Public Domain Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Liturgical colours". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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