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St.
Michael's Messenger
Signposts for
the Seasons
I wonder if you have ever thought why the priest at the altar wears
different colour
vestments at different times of the year.
Does the sacristan think to herself; “What a nice day it is today
. . . perhaps I’ll lay out red vestments for the Chaplain, they’ll
look nice in the bright light.” No,
the vestments worn by the priest when presiding at the Eucharist and the
matching coloured hangings on pulpit and lectern are not chosen
arbitrarily for their decorative effect but as ecumenically agreed
signposts which point us towards the liturgical season the Church is
celebrating. The cycle of
colours takes us through the Christian Year in a simple but direct way,
reminding us Sunday by Sunday and feast day by feast day of where we have
got to in our annual celebration of the totality of Christ’s redeeming
love. This cycle of “liturgical colours” works in the following way:
- ADVENT is both a season of preparation for Christmas
and a reminder of Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time to be
our Judge: the colour for
this mingling of eager anticipation and sorrow for sin is VIOLET. Some
churches, if they are fortunate enough, have a set of ROSE vestments to wear on the third Sunday of Advent
when, anciently, the severity of the Advent fast was mitigated.
In recent years some communities have worn BLUE
vestments in Advent to distinguish the season from Lent.
- CHRISTMAS and EPIPHANYTIDE
is the time when we rejoice in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It is a time of feasting and celebration for which the
traditional colour is WHITE
or GOLD.
- ORDINARY TIME, between Candlemas
and Ash Wednesday and again between Trinity Sunday and the last Sunday
of the year, Christ the King, is marked by GREEN
vestments and hangings.
- LENT, even more than Advent, is a time of sorrow
for sin, for fasting and penance and for some people it is the special
time for preparing for the sacrament of Holy Baptism. We should all
use this season to prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of
Easter. The appropriate colour is VIOLET.
Once again, if the church possesses a ROSE
PINK set of vestments they are worn on “Refreshment
Sunday”, the fourth in Lent. Some churches follow the ancient
English tradition of using unbleached linen vestments with red and
black stencilling for this season. This variant arrangement is known
as LENTEN ARRAY.
- HOLY WEEK, from Palm Sunday up to and including the Good
Friday but excluding Maundy Thursday, is marked by RED
vestments, the colour of blood from one point of view, but also the
royal colour for Christ entering his holy city and reigning from the
cross as King.
- MAUNDY THURSDAY is observed with WHITE
or GOLD vestments to
celebrate the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion.
- EASTER is the greatest feast of the Church Year and
we use GOLD on the
day, if possible, and WHITE for
the whole fifty days of celebration.
- PENTECOST celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in
tongues of fire so a bright RED
is worn on that day.
- TRINITY SUNDAY is a great
celebration of God’s revelation of himself as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit so the colours of celebration, WHITE
or GOLD, mark this
day. The feast of the
Dedication of the church is also kept in these colours.
- SAINTS’ DAYS are observed with RED
for martyrs and WHITE
for confessors, teachers, virgins, religious, and carers for the poor.
In summary,
then, the Church uses four basic colours to help us find our way through
the feasts and fasts, the celebrations and the times of preparation which
make up the Christian Year: WHITE,
GREEN, RED and VIOLET
(with gold, blue and Lenten array as
alternatives). St Michael’s
is privileged to have some fine old vestments in its collection. When they
are worn, appreciate their beauty and learn the lesson they teach.
The
Revd Canon J M Haselock, Precentor and Vice Dean,
Norwich Cathedral, Member of the
Liturgical Commission of the Church of England 1996–2006
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