This is a continuation from Chapter 10. Light in the Liturgy .
Bear in mind that this was composed in 1939, well before the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and some rubrics and requirements may have been modified...Other changes will be noted accordingly. Nevertheless, some may find the history fascinating.
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XI - Liturgical Use of Color
Colors exercise a mysterious influence over the mind and heart of man. Recognizing the fact that bright, vivid colors create a feeling of joy while dark shades depress the spirit, the Church directs that the vestments worn by her ministers when celebrating Mass shall correspond to the colors prescribed for the office of the day. The Church not only employs colors for the beauty and variety which they impart to the vestments, but she also makes use of their symbolism to interpret her liturgy and enrich her ceremonial.
Colors were employed in the Jewish ritual of the Temple and synagogue just as they are used today - to add magnificence to religious ceremonies and to express certain spiritual truths and emotions. The Levitical colors and their meanings in the Old Law were gold, significant of splendor; blue, which referred to the air and to heaven; purple, a symbol of the sea and of the majesty of God; scarlet, the color of fire and blood; and the white of linen, a reminder of the earth and the purity which the soul should strive to attain.
THE LITURGICAL COLORS: White was the only liturgical color in use until the fourth century, because it was the color of the secular dress for festive occasions. By the seventh century white vestments were ornamented with red bands. Red, green, and black were added during the years intervening up to the thirteenth century, but it was a hundred years later before violet was permanently accepted. Blue and yellow, which are forbidden now, were used between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. In some dioceses in Spain, by virtue of a special papal authorization, sky-blue vestments may be worn at all Masses celebrated on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, whether of the feast or votive.
The colors prescribed by the Church in her liturgy to the exclusion of all others are white, red, green, purple, and black. Rose-colored vestments, when they are obtainable, may be used at Mass on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and on Laetare Sunday in Lent, because these days reflect a spirit of joy in the midst of a penitential season, and rose-color is less penitential than violet. Gold-colored vestments are not acceptable, but vestments made entirely of real gold cloth may be tolerated or permitted to take the place of white, red, or green, but not of purple or black. Cloth of silver may be substituted for white.
ORIGIN AND SYMBOLISM: The variety of liturgical colors which the Church employs in her ceremonies arose from the mystical meanings which are attached to them. These meanings, like the choice of the colors themselves, are the result of centuries of association with the celebration of the Mass during the cycles and on certain feasts of the ecclesiastical year. It was quite natural that mystics and sacred writers of the Middle Ages began to feel what Durandus, a liturgical writer of the thirteenth century, called a "divine curiosity." They sought to find a divine ordinance for the things, which, because of their holy associations had became sacred to them. In time the Church gave her official sanction to the adoption of certain mystical interpretations of the liturgical colors.
LITURGICAL COLOR CHART: Christmas and Easter are the two greatest feasts of the ecclesiastical year. The Church keeps the mysteries of the birth and resurrection of our Lord in the minds of the faithful by means of two liturgical cycles which she has built around the feasts themselves. There are three periods in each cycle: preparation, celebration, and prolongation. She prepares for each feast with a season of penance, Advent before Christmas, and Septuagesima and Lent before Easter, during which times the predominant color is purple. She celebrates during Christmastide and Eastertide in white vestments, with the exception of the last week of Eastertide when the official color is red. The celebration is prolonged after Epiphany and after Pentecost in green vestments. The seasons' colors are, however, often displaced by colors prescribed for feasts of the saints, even on Sundays, when red is used for martyrs and white for other saints. There are further exceptions which will be explained in our discussion of the colors themselves. The liturgical colors affect the vestments, the frontlet, the tabernacle canopy, the burse and the chalice veil.
WHITE, THE JOYFUL COLOR: White symbolizes light, heavenly joy, innocence, and purity. Its symbolism is easily determined from Scriptural references. At the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor, the evangelists relate that Christ's garments became white and shining (Matt. XVII, 2; Luke IX, 29). Angels clothed in white and radiant vesture appeared to men (Matt. XXVIII, 3; Luke II.,9). In the Apocalypse we read that he who shall overcome sin "shall thus be clothed in white garments" (III, 5).
White is, therefore, proper for all the joyful and glorious feasts of our Lord such as Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, the Ascension, and Corpus Christi. White is also the color for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and for confessors and virgins who were not martyrs. Furthermore, white as a color of joy is used in the administration of all the sacraments except Penance and Extreme Unction. It is also used at the funerals of infants.
RED AND GREEN: Red, the color of fire and blood, signifies warmth and strength; burning love and fervent charity. It is a reminder of Christ's passion and the blood which He shed on the cross. Red is prescribed for feasts which commemorate Christ's passion - "the festivals of the cross"; and for Pentecost, the day on which the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of divine love, descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. Red is also worn on the feasts of the apostles and of martyrs.
Green is the liturgical symbol of hope. It signifies the perpetual and everlasting youth which the Holy Ghost gives and renews in the Church. The old Italian painters considered green a "juvenile color" and for that reason they painted the Blessed Virgin and the angels with green robes and aureoles. Since green occupies an intermediate place between the light and dark colors, it is used on days that have no particular festive or joyous character. The Church assigns green to the Sundays and ordinary week days after Pentecost until Advent, and to those days which occur between Epiphany and Septuagesima.
VIOLET AND BLACK: Violet is the color of penance. Like the flower from which it takes its name, violet symbolizes humility and retirement. The Israelites clothed themselves in sackcloth and sprinkled their heads with ashes when they performed acts of penance. Since deep purple resembles the grey of ashes, the Church assigns it to days which bear the character of penance. Violet is used during Advent and Lent, on the vigils of certain feasts, on Ember days and on Rogation days. The stole which is worn during the administration of the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction, the first part of the ceremonies of Baptism, and for the blessings of candles and holy water, must be violet.
Black is the color opposite to white and is, therefore, the color of extinct life. On Good Friday the Church mourns the death of her divine Spouse in garments of black. Black is used on Good Friday and in Masses for the dead. The clergy wear black as a constant reminder of their obligation to lead a life that is mortified, retired, and hidden from the world.
CASSOCKS OF THE CLERGY: The cassock worn by priests, except those who are members of some religious orders, is black, which signifies that a priest is set apart from the world. Purple was the color of the robes of the Roman senators in whom was vested the supreme legislative authority; it is also the official color of the cassocks worn by bishops, the rulers of the Church, the successors of the apostles. The cassock worn by cardinals is red, a reminder of their rank as princes of the Church. Red was the color of the robes of the Roman emperors. The white garment of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, finds its prototype in the white robes of Aaron, the high priest of the Old Law.
Thus we observe that the ecclesiastical colors speak the same mystical language whether they appear on the vestments of the liturgy or on the official dress of the priesthood and of the hierarchy. The Church in her wisdom has adopted the language of color to teach her divine and eternal truths.
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Questions_________________________
Why does the Church use color in her liturgy? How did the Jews of the Old Law use it in their ritual? Name the five Levitical colors and give their symbolism.
Name the first liturgical color. When were other colors adopted? Where and when are sky-blue vestments permitted? What are the five liturgical colors? When may rose-colored vestments be worn? Cloth of gold and cloth of silver may be substituted for what colors?
Why is such a variety of colors used in the liturgy? How did their symbolism or meaning originate? What did Durandus mean by the expression a "divine curiosity" ?
How does the Church keep the mysteries of Christ's birth and resurrection in the minds of the faithful? Of what three periods does each cycle consist? What are the official colors of these periods? Mention one way in which the colors of the season may be displaced? Name the objects affected by the liturgical colors.
What symbolism is attributed to white? Give three Scriptural references which seem to indicate that white is the color of heaven. On what feasts of our Lord is white worn? What other feasts are celebrated in white vestments? White is used in the administration of what sacraments?
What is the liturgical significance of red? On what feasts of our Lord is it worn? Why is this color assigned to Pentecost? What color signifies hope and youth? How did the early Italian painters characterize green? How is it used in the liturgy?
What is the symbolism of violet? How did the Israelites perform acts of penance? When are violet vestments worn? In the administration of what sacraments and in the giving of what blessings is a violet stole worn? What is the meaning of black and when is it worn? Why do the clergy dress in black?
What is the color and symbolism of the cassock worn by priests? Bishops? Cardinals? The Pope?
Adapted from Altar and Sanctuary, An Exposition of the Externals of the Mass
by Angela A. Glendenin (© 1939)
Published by the Catholic Action Committee
The Catholic Action Series of Discussion Club Textbooks
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