Went to the carol service tonight at the local Anglican cathedral and noticed that the altar cloth was blue. I’m always used to it being purple for Advent. Is this just a different rite, or [cue ominous oboe music] A Major Shift in Theology?
Some Anglican churches here have moved to using blue as the liturgical colour for Advent in order to distinguish it from the purple used at Lent. I think the argument is that Advent, as preparation for Christmas, is a less penitential time than the corresponding period of Lent for Easter.
Blue as a liturgical colour has tended to rear its head in a few Catholic churches too, particularly for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December. Apparently there is a tradition of doing this in some of the European countries (Spain?). I can’t see how relevant that is to Australia of course.
Purple/violet is, liturgically, the color for penitence, and appropriate during Lent. For a long time, Advent was regarded as also a penitential season (and still is in the more conservative Anglican churches).
However, there’s a shift in focus (not theology) from the penitential element to the “coming of the king” aspect, with the First Sunday being the sole liturgical-calendar reference to the Second Coming and the rest of the season being preparation for Christmas and the celebration of the Incarnation. For that reason, there’s a trend towards using a deep royal blue during Advent. (And, of course, the Third Sunday in Advent, along with the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is marked in some places by pink or rose vestments and hangings.)
The deep royal blue of Advent needs to be distinguished from the pale sky blue used in the highest of High Church parishes for feasts of Mary. (Cunctator: Anglicans as a rule don’t celebrate the Immaculate Conception; it’s not an Anglican doctrine, though some High Churchmen do believe in it.)
Just to add a little to what Polycarp said, the blue is called Sarum Blue. I tried to find an example but all I could find using google were descriptions of the Sarum Rite. As he said it’s a deep royal blue and is sometimes also called “Marian Blue” because blue is the color most associated with Mary.
Thanks for the replies, everyone.
Now, a follow-up question: why is purple/violet the penitential colour? Purple was the colour of the Emperors, in both the Western and Eastern Empires, and was associated with wealth, since very few natural dyes would produce purple.
So how did the traditional colour of power and wealth become the symbolic colour for penitence and reflection?
I’m not sure whether there’s a definitive answer to the question since perceptions of colour differ so markedly from one culture to another. This article from the Catholic Encyclopaedia discusses the five traditional liturgical colours for the Roman Rite. It suggests that violet (purple) is used during penitential seasons because “violet, the gloomy cast of the mortified, denotes affliction and melancholy”.