Christian Liturgical Colours

Chart outling the colours of the Roman Catholic liturgical year, and four liturgical vestments. Chart outling the colours of the Roman Catholic liturgical year, and four liturgical vestments.

There are specific colours for vestments and hangings in the Christian (Western and Eastern) liturgy. The colours are said to reflect the ‘mood’ of the season. The main colours in the Western Churches are black, green, red, rose, violet and white; while those in many Eastern Churches are black, gold, green, light blue, purple or dark red, red and white. These colours are used for the cloth, and sometimes for the embroidery.

It should be stressed that the various Christian Churches do not agree to the use of certain colours at particular times during the liturgical year and there are significant variations. There may also be a distinction between the colours worn by the clergy at different services. Important colours are the purple of Advent and Lent; red of the Passion (and Pentecote),  and the festive white and gold of Easter and Christmas. Green is generally accepted as the colour for Trinity time (outside Christmas and Easter). Blue is often used in the West for Maria (in the East it is more often red).

Source: OWEN-CROCKER, Gale, Elizabeth COATSWORTH and Maria HAYWARD (eds., 2012). Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles, c. 450-1450, Brill: Leiden, pp. 140-141.

Wikipedia

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 18 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 12 March 2017 11:48
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