Liturgical Colors & Symbolism

[MissyP89]

Some uses of different liturgical colors are obvious, like white, gold, and red. Others, though, have me stumped.

Why is purple a color of penance? It's also the traditional color for funeral liturgies; why is this?
Of all the colors to choose from, why green for Ordinary Time? Is there special symbolism here?
Lastly, why is blue used for Our Lady? Most people grew up associating blue with men/boys and pink for women/girls.

Thanks!

[cappie]

The use of colours to differentiate liturgical seasons became a common practice
in the Western church in about the fourth century. At first usage varied but by the
12th Century Pope Innocent III had systemised the use of five colours.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal § 346

346. As to the color of sacred vestments, the traditional usage is to be retained: namely,

a. White is used in the Offices and Masses during the Easter and Christmas seasons; also on celebrations of the Lord other than of his Passion, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Holy Angels, and of Saints who were not Martyrs; on the Solemnities of All Saints (November 1) and of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24); and on the Feasts of Saint John the Evangelist (December 27), of the Chair of Saint Peter (February 22), and of the Conversion of Saint Paul (January 25).

b. Red is used on Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion and on Good Friday, on Pentecost Sunday, on celebrations of the Lord's Passion, on the feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists, and on celebrations of Martyr Saints.

c. Green is used in the Offices and Masses of Ordinary Time.

d. Violet or purple is used in Advent and in Lent. It may also be worn in Offices and Masses for the Dead (cf. below).

e. Besides violet, white or black vestments may be worn at funeral services and at other Offices and Masses for the Dead in the Dioceses of the United States of America.

f. Rose may be used, where it is the practice, on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent) and on Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent).

g. On more solemn days, sacred vestments may be used that are festive, that is, more precious, even if not of the color of the day.

h. Gold or silver colored vestments may be worn on more solemn occasions in the dioceses of the United States of America.

White or Gold
Clipart of vestments - gold
These are the festival colours and denote happy times. They are used at Christmas
and Easter, on many of the greatest saint's days (except when red is considered more
suitable) and on all occasions of great significance to individual Christian people
such as Baptism, Confirmation, Weddings or Ordination.
Red

Red is used in three main ways. First, to denote a saint who has died for the faith
(the colour of blood spilt in the name of Christ). Second, red is associated with
the Holy Spirit (i.e. Whitsun), the Disciples' description of the flames of
Pentecost must undoubtedly be the origin of this (we still think of fire engines
as red). Third, red is used in association with the spilling of Jesus' own
blood for us and is often now the colour used on Good Friday. In some
churches, like our own, rich red vestments are used for Martyrs and the Holy
Spirit and plain red for Good Friday and Passiontide.

Purple and Black

Purple is used as a sombre colour at times of reflection and preparation for great
festivals. Advent (before Christmas) and Lent (before Easter) are two such times.
Purple is also the colour associated most with funerals and prayer for the departed.
It is often used in preference to black, although we still have black vestments and
do use them on occasions.

Green

It is tempting to say that green is used when no other colour is appropriate. It has a
significance of its own in terms of growth, but it is used on other occasions in the year
when one of the other colours is inappropriate.

Colours and the seasons of the church year

The Season of Advent

Advent is a season of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the birth and reign
of Christ. Expectation rather than personal penitence is the central theme of the season.
Advent is a preparation for, rather than a celebration of, Christmas. Royal Purple
symbolising the sovereignty of Christ is normally the liturgical colour.

Christmas and the Christmas Season

The readings for Christmas and the following twelve days, culminating in Epiphany,
invite the church to reflect on the Incarnation of God as a human being. God enters
human history and identifies fully with the human condition. The traditional colours
of the season are White or Gold, symbolizing joy in the light of day.

The Season after Epiphany

The season following Epiphany continues the theme of the spread of the Good News of Christ to all nations on earth. The scripture readings explore the mission of the church in the world. The theme of this season togetherwith the sequence of readings from the Gospel continues in the season after Pentecost, and so both seasons together can be called the "Time of the Church." The traditional liturgical colour is Green, the colour of growth.

The Season of Lent

The traditions of Lent are derived from the time when the church prepared candidates,
or "catechumens," for their baptism into the Body of Christ. It eventually became a
season of preparation for the whole congregation. Self-examination, study, fasting,
prayer and works of love are disciplines historically associated with Lent.
Conversion - literally, the "turning around" is the theme of Lent. The forty days
of Lent correspond to the forty-day temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and the
forty-year journey of Israel from slavery to a new community.

On Ash Wednesday, ashes are placed on the foreheads of the congregation as a
symbol that we have come from dust and one day will return to dust. With this reminder
of life's fragility begins a spiritual quest that continues until the Easter Vigil, when
the entire congregation joins in a reaffirmation of their baptismal vows. Most of this
time of preparation is symbolized by the colour Violet.
Holy Week

During Holy Week, the congregation follows the footsteps of Jesus from his entry
into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through the Last Supper of Maundy Thursday
to his death on the Cross on Good Friday. Red, the colour of blood and therefore
of martyrs, is the traditional colour for Palm or Passion Sunday and the next
three days of Holy Week. On Maundy Thursday, White or Gold symbolizes the church's
rejoicing in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. But at the end of the Maundy Thursday
celebration, the mood changes abruptly. All decorations are removed and the Holy Table
is stripped bare. The church becomes as empty as a tomb. On Good Friday, either Black
or Red is customary, although the use of no colour at all is also appropriate.
The Red of Holy Week is sometimes a deeper red than the brighter scarlet colour
associated with Pentecost

Easter and Pentecost

Jesus has been raised from the dead. The heavenly messenger invites the mourners to
see the empty tomb and then go and tell the disciples that the Crucified One is
alive! The season from Easter to Pentecost is also called the Great Fifty Days, a tradition
inspired by the Jewish season of fifty days between Passover and Shavuot - the feast
celebrating the giving of the Torah to Moses. The liturgical colour for this season
is celebratory White or Gold. When the season ends on Pentecost Sunday White is
replaced with Red. This colour reminds the congregation of fire - the symbol of the
Holy Spirit. The first Sunday after Pentecost celebrates the Trinity, and the colour
again is White or Gold.

The Season of Ordinary Time

This longest season of the liturgical year is a continuation of the "Time of the
Church" that began on the Sunday after Epiphany. It explores the mission of the
church and uses the colour of Green, symbolizing growth.

Other Holy Days and observances

White or Gold is the colour for All Saints Day on
November 1st and is also an alternative to Green on the last Sunday after Pentecost.
During other observances, the tradition is to use Red on commemorations of martyrs
and other saints. As the colour of the Holy Spirit, it is appropriate for ordinations.
The colours of Christmas, White or Gold, are also customary on other feast days
that celebrate the Incarnation or Resurrection of Christ (Holy Name, Baptism,
Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, Ascension and Transfiguration).
Black for centuries was the traditional colour for funerals, but in the past fifty
years many liturgical churches have preferred to use White or Gold—the colours
of Easter and therefore of the hope of the Resurrection.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Fr. Cappie just rocks your socks, doesn't he?

[StColette]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1746260' date='Jan 8 2009, 03:26 PM']Fr. Cappie just rocks your socks, doesn't he?[/quote]

Yes, he does! You know there should be an smiley on here that is a pair of socks rocking!