LITURGICAL COLORS. — According to the character of the day or occasion of the sacred function, various colors are prescribed for sacred vestments, namely white, red, green, violet, and black. Moreover, on the Sundays Gaudete (the 3rd of Lent) and Laetare (the 3rd of Advent),
rose is permitted for major churches. Gold may be used in place of white, red, and green, on account of its preciousness or solemnity (S. Rit. Congr., n. 3646 ad 2); silver only in place of white (ibid., ad 3).
The first Christians did not know of a determinate liturgical color for the garments they wore in worship; soon, however, there is evidence of a white garment, required especially for priests (Constitutiones Apostolorum, VIII, 12; Canones Ps. Athanasii, can. 28; Canones Ps. Basilii, can. 99). Traces of the aforementioned colors are found in the Carolingian age, and even earlier in the Ordines Romani; in the 12th century, however, Rome had a precise canon for the colors of vestments according to the season, as attested and explained by Pope Innocent III (De Sacro altaris mysterio, I, 65: PL 217, 799 ff.; cf. Durando, Rationale, 3, 18). There was not, however, uniformity, and the colors continued to differ according to place and time. Yellow, brown, blue, and gray were also used, and, since there was no specific precept, in many places custom, tradition, or even the celebrant’s taste served as the rule. Uniformity was achieved only after the promulgation of the Missal of St. Pius V, but only among the Latins; the Easterners continued to use different colors; the Ambrosian liturgy retained its own, and Spain obtained the privilege of blue for Marian feasts.
Further complementary norms concerning liturgical colors for the administration of the Sacraments or Sacramentals are found in the Roman Ritual and in the decrees of the S. Congregation of Rites. The choice of a particular color for specific days derives from symbolic considerations, since the character and meaning of a solemnity are also meant to be expressed through II. According to Innocent III, white, on the feasts of virgins and confessors, symbolizes purity and innocence; at Easter and the Ascension, it recalls the white garments of the angels; everywhere it is a symbol of joy. Red, prescribed for the feasts of the Apostles and martyrs, symbolizes the blood they shed; at Pentecost, charity and the ardor of the Holy Spirit. Black is a sign of mourning in the Mass for the dead, and of penance, as formerly on the days of Advent and Lent. Green, according to the same Pope, is an intermediate color between white and red, and is used on Sundays, except those of Advent and Lent. Violet is a moderated form of black; therefore it was formerly used on the Sundays Gaudete and Laetare, on which rose is used today.