Liturgical Colors
The priest's vestments change color with the season and feast: white, red, green, violet, and on certain days rose or black.
What the Liturgical Colors means
The color of the vestments expresses the character of the mystery being celebrated and the Christian life's passage through the liturgical year (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 345). The altar hangings and the veil traditionally match the color the priest wears.
White is worn in the Easter and Christmas seasons and on celebrations of the Lord other than his Passion, of Mary, of the angels and of saints who were not martyrs. Red is worn on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Pentecost, on celebrations of the Lord's Passion, and on feasts of apostles, evangelists and martyrs. Green is for Ordinary Time, and violet or purple for Advent and Lent. Rose may be used on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent) and Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent). In the United States, violet, white or black may be worn at funerals and Masses for the dead (GIRM 346).
Traditional meaningsThe 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia explains white as innocence, joy and glory; red as fire and blood, for burning charity and the sacrifice of the martyrs; green as plant life and the hope of eternal life; violet as penance; and black as mourning. Pope Innocent III, who died in 1216, was among the first to stress a distinction of colors, and violet came into regular use in the thirteenth century.
