Passiontide Red
Most liturgical calendars, rightly and well loved by Altar Guild members, call for red vestments for Palm Sunday and Holy Week. A big city Anglo-Cath parish I know has “passiontide red” vestments -- a deep, dark red, in unadorned lightweight wool. However, here in the rural areas most parishes have, at best, red vestments that are bright with lots of gold on them – “Pentecost red” in my book.
A colleague in my former parish, not wanting to wear the festal red set, takes the purple set, which is lined in deep burgundy satin, and wears it inside out. I admire his desire to be “proper” but it looks downright silly.
My current parish has but one red set, very festal, lined in gold silk. So I have informed the altar Guild I shall wear purple, maintaining the purple frontal as well. They are aghast. Do others here think it will really make the Baby Jesus cry to see purple on Palm Sunday? Or does that color keep us all in self centered contrite mode vs. moving our focus to those might acts we observe?
A colleague in my former parish, not wanting to wear the festal red set, takes the purple set, which is lined in deep burgundy satin, and wears it inside out. I admire his desire to be “proper” but it looks downright silly.
My current parish has but one red set, very festal, lined in gold silk. So I have informed the altar Guild I shall wear purple, maintaining the purple frontal as well. They are aghast. Do others here think it will really make the Baby Jesus cry to see purple on Palm Sunday? Or does that color keep us all in self centered contrite mode vs. moving our focus to those might acts we observe?
Comments
But if your red vestments are not Seemly Enough for Palm Sunday, by all means go with the purple!
My recollection is that the 1979 BCP does not specify proper colors, and that in TEC the “correct” color is determined by traditional usage and by, perhaps, which ceremonial guide is followed rather than by official direction. So it does seem like that gives you some latitude to say, “this is what we’re doing and this is why.”
Good luck with the conversations.
Though I see that Sarum use differed, going to crimson on Passion Sunday.
the former Passion Sunday is called 'the fifth Sunday of Lent'
the former Palm Sunday is called 'Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord'
If you're in England, this can be regarded as an authoritative statement. If you're somewhere else, it isn't.
In the instructions at the beginning of the lectionary it also says that the colours are not mandatory - 'traditional or local use may be followed'. So you can do something else if it's your quirk to do so, but that doesn't make you better, more knowledgeable or correct than the church at large.
Common Worship Daily Prayer changes from Lent provision to Passiontide provision but it is still Lent.
As others have said, it's usually t'other way round.....
Because the narrative of the Passion is read. The Passion —> blood —> red. Similar to red for martyrs.
The two (originally separate) ceremonies of Palm Sunday, each still with their own Gospel, recalled first the joyful entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, followed by the Mass when the long Passion gospel is read. Since Palm Sunday is the only 'obligatory' workfree day of Holy Week it is the day when the Passion is read. The colour was Lenten purple but changed about 1970 to red.
For Good Friday (not a day of obligation and indeed not a workfree day in many traditionally Catholic countries) the liturgical colours were black for the liturgy of the Word and purple for the Communion service. This changed to red throughout the ceremonies round about 1970 which is now almost 50 years ago.. Nick Tamen has told us why.
Anglicans are not obliged to follow the directives of Roman Congregations and so you will find people equally claiming to follow the 'correct' tradition(should that exist).
Ritual Notes (to which all flee when in doubt, no?) refers to purple being used for the first part of the Palm Sunday liturgy, moving to red for the Eucharist proper. This may well have been the custom in mediaeval (Sarum) practice,
This (IMVHO) seems a little over-complicated, and the custom at Our Place ( C of E Anglo-Catholic) is to use red for Palm Sunday, and Good Friday, with white/gold trimmings for the Maundy Thursday Mass.
This year, Father NewPriest is having an evening Mass on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week, so I'll be interested to see what colour he uses. I'll soon find out, as I'm preaching at the Monday service...
When I compare the various service books and ceremonials that I have (I have a bad collection habit), I find that Holy Week is when there tends to be the most variation between different traditions of the Western church, or between different guides within a tradition.
We have a nice red/gold set, but also an older set of darker hue, which might indeed be rather more suitable for Holy Week. I shall have a Quiet Word, if required, with Madam Sacristan....
I understand that purple will be used for the Masses on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week, with white/red* on Maundy Thursday, and back to red on Good Friday. White/gold on Easter Day, of course.
I will report back on this Matter of Vital Importance!
It seems that our old dark red set of vestments requires some repair/conservation work.....
*We have 2 sets of white vestments - one with red trimmings, and one with gold trimmings. A generous gift from a much-missed Churchwarden, who died suddenly 3 years ago at this time.... JML - RIPARIG.
He may well have done - or else Madam Sacristan is instructing him secretly in the Proper Ways of Doing Things.....
Actually, we do have a couple of decent copes (including a festal white/gold one), so it's good to give them an airing. I expect the white/gold will appear at Benediction next Sunday!
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Nah .. it's happy here
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Yes, the weekday Purple Chasuble is being used for Holy Week Mass until this evening.
Alas, it is of a really rather Ghastly Hue, not at all like our darker purple/gold High Mass set.
This isn't exactly it, but the shade is about right:
https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-r75dscg/images/stencil/500x659/products/9791/11108/SOL834P__08975.1376676837.jpg?c=2
YMMV.
But...but....we have a spare red stole......
I think we may be suffering from Local Custom, or something, but I'm not intending to lose much sleep....
She did a Jolly Fine Job™, IMHO.