The liturgical colours

The spirit of the various seasons and festivals is expressed by the use of different colours for the vestments and altar frontals. 

Purple is used in Advent because it is a solemn time of prayer and preparation, but as soon as Advent is over and Christmas Day comes, we have white or gold to show our joy.  So white or gold is the colour for Feasts of Our Lord, like Christmas and Easter and Ascension; for Feasts of Our Lady; and also for those Saints who were not martyrs.

The colour of the season of Epiphany is green.  Green is the colour of growth, and represents the growth of Jesus to boyhood and manhood in Nazareth.  For the solemn season of Lent we go back to purple again, and then we have white or gold from Easter to Pentecost.  Pentecost is red, representing the tongues of fire which were the sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Red, being also the colour of blood, is used on the Feasts of Martyrs, like St Peter and St Paul, who shed their blood for the Christian Faith. 

Black, being the colour of mourning, is used for Requiems when the Eucharist is offered for the repose of the souls of the Faithful Departed.  It is also used as a sign of mourning on Good Friday.  Purple may be used instead of black of these occasions, as it is also a solemn colour.

The colour for the long season of Trinity is green, representing this time the growth of the Catholic Church throughout the world from the first Pentecost until today.

SUMMARY

Advent: preparing for Jesus to come.

Christmas: Birthday of Jesus.

Epiphany: Jesus revealed as God and King to the Wise Men.

Lent: we think of Jesus fasting for 40 days in the desert.
Good Friday: Jesus died to save us.

Easter: God raised Jesus from the dead.

Ascension: Jesus returned to Heaven.

Pentecost: God the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles – the Birthday of the Church.

Trinity: remembering the truth of the Holy Trinity, three Persons in One God.

Corpus Christi: thanksgiving for Holy Communion.

Michaelmas: St Michael and All Angels.

All Saints' Day: honouring all those now in Heaven.

All Souls' Day: praying for the souls in Purgatory.

Christ the King: celebrating the Kingship of Jesus.