Most Catholics are familiar with the colors of green, violet and white whenever they attend Mass on Sundays. Occasionally the priest will wear red, but that only happens a few times during the year.
Even rarer are the colors of rose, black and blue. Here is a brief rundown of these three colors and why they are used.
- Rose (aka “pink”) – This color, which is only used twice in the whole liturgical year, is traditionally associated with a sense of joy amidst a season of penance.
- Black – More commonly seen before the reforms of Vatican II, black is still a valid option for funerals and is worn by some priests. Black has been associated with mourning since ancient Rome and traditionally symbolizes death.
- Blue – A fully blue vestment is only allowed in certain places, but can also be seen as an accent color for white vestments. Blue is a very important color in the artistic traditions of Christianity and has deep spiritual meanings that bring out different attributes of the Blessed Mother.
Read more:
Why do priests wear different color vestments?
And today we celebrate...
