Liturgical colors in the Roman rite

Examples of the connection between color and Christian concepts are found already in the early Church. St. Ambrose of Mediolansky in his "Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke" wrote that purple characterizes the confessors, red - the martyrs, and white - the virgin. ^[1] . However, the use of vestments of various colors for worship, depending on the current liturgical period or holiday, arose, according to researchers, no earlier than the 9th century ^[2] .

Numerous monastic charters, created in the X-XII centuries, already contain indications of the liturgical color, mainly white or black. However, the charter of the Cluny monastery already in the XI century prescribes the gold and silver color of vestments for the holidays of Christmas and Pentecost . ^[3]

At the beginning of the 13th century, the pontificate of Pope Innocent III in Rome established rules governing the color of the vestments used. Innocent III in his treatise "On the holy sacrament of the altar", written even before his election to the papal throne, speaks of the use of white for the holidays, red - during the days of the martyrs, the Holy Cross and Pentecost, black - during periods of fasting and for requiem masses and green on ordinary days. Along with the main colors, purple, scarlet and saffron yellow were used. However, these rules were local in nature and many monasteries and dioceses had their own traditions regarding color in liturgical vestments.

The rules common to the entire Roman Catholic Church based on the use of the five primary colors were established by Pope Pius V in the second half of the 16th century. The colors of the liturgical robes prescribed by Miss Pius V were used until the reform of Pope Paul VI in the mid-20th century, during which several changes were made to the rules. Thus, the color of the procession of the feast of the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem changed from purple to red and the black color of Good Friday service also to red.

The use of robes of different colors in the liturgy is deeply symbolic. White color is traditionally perceived in Europe as the color of purity, innocence; as well as joy and triumph. Red is the color of blood; since ancient times, the Church considered red to be the color of martyrs. The violet color in the Latin rite symbolizes repentance. Black color symbolizes mourning and sorrow; green is the color of life and hope.

The complementary colors used in the Roman rite are pink and blue.

• Pink may optionally be used for the liturgical vestments of the third Sunday of Advent and the fourth Sunday of Lent .

• Blue color , as an exception, is allowed for the dioceses of Spain and Latin America on holidays dedicated to the Virgin Mary (instead of white).

White vestments may be replaced with vestments with gold and silver embroidery on a white background.

In some dioceses, small exceptions to the general rules are allowed. So in the USA at masses for the departed, white color can be used, and not black or purple. In this case, the white robe symbolizes the hope of the resurrection of the dead .

1960 form

The Roman missal , revised by Pope John XXIII in 1962 , was authorized for use as an extraordinary form of the Roman rite by the 2007 motu proprio of Pope Benedict XVI entitled Summorum Pontificum . The Missal revision by Pope John XXIII included the changes he made to his motu proprio Rubricarum instructum of July 29, 1960 . ^[four]

The following are slight differences between his rules for liturgical flowers and the later rules:

• Violet is worn in the following cases, of which the first four listed are not included in later editions of the Roman Missal:
  • Ember days;
  • Litigation of days;
  • Three Sundays before Lent , Septuagesima , Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima ;
  • Vigil of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary , Christmas , Epiphany and Assumption of the Virgin ;
  • The Vigil of Easter and the Vigil of Pentecost , until, but not including Mass;
  • Eucharistic service on Good Friday ;
  • Mass on the Day of the Remembrance of the Dead , if sent, while the Holy Gifts are exhibited.
• Red is worn for the blessing of palm trees and the procession, but not for Mass, on Palm Sunday .
• Black are:
  • At all memorial services, including Memorial Day ;
  • At Good Friday Liturgy before, but not including, the Eucharistic service.
• Pink color is allowed for two days, as mentioned above, even if this color was not normal.

Until 1960

• Purple color worn:
  • At the Mass of the Passion of the Lord ;
  • On the feast of the holy babies , if it fell on Sunday, when red was used;
  • On the blessing of candles on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord .
• Red was worn for the following additional occasions:
  • On the octave of the Day of the Holy Babies and on the holiday itself, if it fell on Sunday
  • To celebrate the days during the Octave Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

In 1955, Pope Pius XII revised the liturgical calendar , canceling all octaves, with the exception of Christmas , Easter, and Pentecost.

• White was worn to celebrate the days in the octave period: Christmas , Epiphany , Easter , St. Joseph , the Ascension , the Body and Blood of Christ , the Sacred Heart of Jesus , the Nativity of John the Baptist , the Transfiguration , the Assumption , All Saints , the Immaculate Conception and the Initiation of the church.

He also revised Holy Week liturgy, introducing the use of red on Palm Sunday to bless palm trees and the procession (for which the color was previously purple ), but not for the Mass, and the use of purple in the Eucharistic service on Good Friday (for which the color was previously black )

Pope Pius X raised the rank of Sunday to normal time , so for those that did not go beyond the octave, green was used instead of the color of the octave, as was the case with the early rules. ^[five]

The rules of liturgical flowers until the time of Pope Pius X are essentially indicated in the edition of the Roman Missal, which Pope Pius V published in 1570, except for those holidays that are not included in his Missal. The color scheme in his Missal reflected the use of colors that became fixed in Rome in the 12th century .

• Legg, JW Notes on History of Liturgical Colors (London, 1882)
• Tkachenko A. A. The emblem of liturgical flowers in the treatise of Giovanni Lothario (Pope Innocent III) “On the holy sacrament of the altar” // SIGNUM. M., 2005. No. 3.

• Catholic vestments and liturgical vestments
• Liturgical year in the Roman rite
• Colors of liturgical vestments
• Liturgical colors

• A. Crumley. Liturgical colors (Russian)
• Morrisroe, Patrick. Liturgical Colors. // The Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.

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  Ornate is black.

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  Ornate red.

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  Ornate is green.

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  White ornate with gold embroidery.

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  Ornate purple.