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Colors of the Church Year
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Colors |
Season |
Dates |
Alternate |
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Dark Blue |
Advent |
Dec 2-Dec 15 |
Purple |
Blue |
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Pink |
3rd Wk of Advent |
Dec 16-Dec 22 |
Rose |
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Dark Blue |
Advent |
Dec 23 |
Purple |
Blue |
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Dark Blue |
Christmas Eve |
Dec 24 |
Purple |
Blue |
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White |
Gold |
Christmas |
Dec 25-Jan 5 |
White |
Yellow |
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White |
Gold |
Epiphany |
Jan 6 |
White |
Yellow |
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Green |
After Epiphany |
Jan 7-Feb 2 |
Lt. Green |
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White |
Gold |
Transfiguration |
Feb 3-5 |
White |
Yellow |
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Purple |
Ash Wednesday |
Feb 6 |
Gray |
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Purple |
Ash Wed/Lent |
Feb 6-Mar 22 |
Violet |
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Purple |
Maundy Thursday |
Mar 20 |
Red* |
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Purple |
Black |
Good Friday |
Mar 21 |
Black |
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Black |
Holy Saturday |
Mar 22 |
No Colors |
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White |
Gold |
Easter |
Mar 23 |
White |
Yellow |
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White |
Gold |
Eastertide |
Mar 24-Apr 30 |
Red* |
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White |
Gold |
Ascension Day |
May 1 |
White |
Yellow |
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White |
Gold |
Eastertide |
May 2-May 10 |
Red* |
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Red |
Pentecost Sunday* |
May 11--17 |
Red |
Gold |
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White |
Gold |
Trinity Sunday |
May 18-24 |
Red* |
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Green |
Ordinary Time |
May 25-Oct 31 |
Lt. Green |
Bronze |
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Aqua |
Olive |
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Red* |
All Saints Day or Sunday |
Nov 1 or next Sunday |
White |
Gold |
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Green |
Ordinary Time |
Nov 2-22 |
Lt. Green |
Bronze |
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Aqua |
Olive |
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White |
Gold |
Christ the King |
Nov 23-29 |
White |
Yellow |
* In some churches, red is used only on Pentecost Sunday.
Metallic Silver is sometimes used for or with white, especially at Easter and Christmas. Likewise Metallic Gold can be used for gold or yellow. While some traditions (Catholic, for example) still use for purple for Advent, there is a trend to use a bluish violet for Advent and deep red violet for Lent.
In most traditions, the sanctuary cross is draped in color only during Lent (purple), Good Friday (black), and Easter (white). Some churches leave white on the cross through Eastertide, drape the cross in red for Pentecost Sunday, and then leave the cross undraped until the beginning of Lent the next year. Usually the cross is not decorated during Advent, Christmas, or Epiphany both because the focus is not yet on the cross, and since the Greens of Advent and the other symbols of the Christmas season carry the visual message.
Click below for information about the various Seasons and Holy Days that comprise The Christian Church Year. Except as noted, the dates are for 2007-2008, Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary, Year 2 of the Daily Office (daily readings) of the Book of Common Prayer.
Advent (Dec 2 - Dec 24, 2007) Year A
Advent Season (Dec 2 - Dec 24, 2007)
Christmas (Dec 25, 2007 - Jan 5, 2008)
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Dec 25, 2007 - Jan 5, 2008)
Epiphany (and Ordinary Time until Lent) (Jan 6 - Feb 5, 2008)
Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Feb 5, 2008)
Ash Wednesday (Feb 6, 2008)
Lent (Feb 6 - Mar 22, 2008)
Holy Week (March 16-22 (23), 2008)
Maundy Thursday (March 20, 2008)
Good Friday (March 21, 2008)
Easter (March 23, 2008)
Pentecost (May 11, 2008)
Ordinary Time (May 12-Nov 29
Advent [Year B], 2008-2009; Nov 30 - Dec 24, 2008)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year A, 2008 (2007-2008)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year B, 2006 (2005-2006)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year C, 2007 (2006-2007)
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