Green is the symbol of Hope and living vegetation.
What Liturgical Season this color is used?
It is used during Ordinary Time.
Red is the symbol of blood.
When will this liturgical color be used?
It is used1. On the Feasts of our Lord’s Cross and Passion;
2. On the feasts of the Apostles and of all martyrs;
3. On the feast of Pentecost and Masses of the Holy
Spirit.
Violet is the symbol of penance and mourning.
When can this Liturgical Color be used?
It is used during1. Advent Season
2. Season of Lent
3. Funeral Masses
White is the symbol of penance and triumph.
When can this Liturgical color be used?
1. Feasts of our Lord.
2. Feasts Blessed Virgin Mary
3. Feasts of Angels
4. Feasts of all Saints who were not martyrs.
GOLD: The symbol of the kingship of
Christ, it is permitted in special occasions
in place of white, red and green vestments.
ROSE: The symbol of joy and moderation
in penance, it replaces the violet on the
Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and
on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetere).
The Liturgical Year is the 12- months cycle of the celebrations of the
whole mystery of Christ: it starts with the first week of Advent, and ends
on the Solemnity of Christ the King. It is divided into six seasons:
Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, Paschal Triduum, Easter Time, Ordinary
Time
Advent is the season of preparation
for the twofold coming of the Lord:
First coming: refers to the nativity of the Lord in Bethlehem;
Second coming: refers to the return of Christ at the end of times.
When will it start and ends? Advent starts four Sundays before December
25, and ends at the Christmas Vigil Mass.
What is the liturgical color?
The liturgical color during advent is violet , symbolizing
expectation and preparation.
Violet is a color that was reserved for use by royalty, and so it is
used in Advent to symbolize the coming of Christ our King.
However, during the third Sunday the color of
liturgical vestments bay be color rose to symbolize the hope
for the coming of Jesus.
The third Sunday is also known as “Gaudete Sunday.”
“Gaudete” is a Latin word for “rejoice”.
Why is Gloria omitted during Advent Season?
It is omitted not as a sign of repentance but to
create a longing that will inspire people to sing it more
joyfully on Christmas.
Circle of the Wreath- recalls all the years the people waited
for the Messiah.
Four candles on the wreath- remind us that there are four
weeks in Advent. Each week one additional candle is lighted,
so by the end of Advent all four are lit.
The candles- remind us that we are preparing for Jesus, the
Light of the world.
Three of the candles are purple, the liturgical color for
Advent. The candle lit for the third week of Advent is often
rose-colored, to signify the hope for the coming of Jesus.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
What is the liturgical color?
The liturgical color for this season is white or gold to
show our joy.
When will it start? When will it end?
The Christmas Season begins at the Vigil Mass on
Christmas Eve and ends on the Feast of the Baptism of the
Lord.
However, because of the importance of Christmas, the Church
extends the celebration of this solemnity to cover a period of eight days.
This period is known as an Octave, which comes from the Latin word
octavus, meaning “eight.”
During the Octave we celebrate the following feasts:
1. The Holy Family (Sunday after Christmas)
2. St. Stephen, the First Martyr (December 26)
3. St. John the Evangelist (December 27)
4. The Holy Innocents (December 28)
5. Mary Mother of God (January 1). This day also honors the Holy
Name of Jesus.
6. The feast of the Epiphany, is celebrated on the Sunday that falls
between January 2 and January 8.
Lent is the time if preparation for
Easter, the greatest feast of the Church.
What is the liturgical color?
Violet, which symbolizes the efforts for
penance and reflection.
During the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is
called “laetare Sunday”, the vestments are rose and
flowers may adorn the altar.
When does it start? When does it end?
The Lenten Season lasts for 40 days, beginning on Ash
Wednesday and ending at noon of Holy Thursday.
What should the faithful do during Lenten Season?
1. During the Lent, we are asked to focus on changing
our lives through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
2. It is also the time when the catechumens, with the
prayerful support of the parish community,
complete their final preparation for the sacraments
of initiation.
Holy Week, which extends from Passion Sunday
(Palm Sunday) until Holy Saturday, includes the last days
of Lent and the first days of Easter Triduum.
The week begins with Palm Sunday, which recalls
the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.
At the Chrism mass, on the morning of Holy
Thursday, the bishop of each diocese, concelebrating with
his priests, blesses the sacred oils that will be used for the
celebration of the sacraments during the coming year.
The Easter Triduum is the celebration
of the passion, death, and resurrection
of our Lord.
When will it begin and end?
It begins on Holy Thursday with the evening Mass of
the Lord’s Supper, continues through Good Friday with the
celebration of the Passion of the Lord, reaches its highest
point on Saturday night in the Easter Vigil, and concludes
with the Easter Mass on Sunday.
HOLY THURSDAY- we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist and
that of the Ordained Priesthood.
Following the example of Jesus, the priest washes the feet of 12
members of the congregation.
During the singing of the Gloria, the church bells are rung and
then remain silent until the Easter Vigil.
Because Holy Thursday is a feast day of the Blessed Sacrament,
there is a procession of the Eucharist after the Mass to the altar of
Reposition.
What is the liturgical color?
White, to signify joy for the gift of the Eucharist and of the
priesthood.
GOOD FRIDAY- we remember the death of Jesus.
Mass is not celebrated on this day till the Easter
Vigil. The celebration of the Lord’s passion and death
takes place in the afternoon.
What is the liturgical color?
Red to signify the passion and death of Jesus.
HOLY SATURDAY night we celebrate the Easter Vigil
The vigil starts, with the Liturgy of Light, when all the lights in the
church are turned off ad a fire is prepared outside the church. Then the fire is
blessed and the Paschal Candle is lighted.
The Paschal Candle, sign of Christ as the light of the world, will remain
beside the altar till Pentecost
After the liturgy of the Word, where the whole story of salvation is
being recalled, there is the liturgy of baptism, where the catechumens are
baptized.
What is the liturgical color?
White (Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday) signifying the joy of Christ's
resurrection. Gold may also be used since this is the most important and
joyous celebration of the liturgical year.
The Easter Season is the celebration of the
resurrection and ascension of the Lord, as
well as the coming of the Holy Spirit and the
beginning of the Church.
Liturgical color: White, signifying the joy of Christ’s resurrection. However on
Pentecost Sunday the color is red, representing the fire of the Holy Spirit.
The season lasts for 50 days, from Easter Sunday till Pentecost.
This season is a time of rejoicing, when Alleluia and Gloria should be
sung with heartfelt emotion.
The celebration of the Lord’s resurrection is continued for eight days
after Easter [Octave Easter].
The Solemnity of the Ascension is celebrated on the 40th
day after Easter, which is Thursday. In those dioceses
where this is not a holy day ob obligation, the solemnity
is transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
Pentecost Sunday, the last day of the Easter season,
celebrates the coming of the holy Spirit and the
beginning of the Church.
The Ordinary Time is the part of the
Liturgical Year that lies outside the seasons
of Lent- Easter and Advent- Christmas.
The Ordinary Time begins with the baptism of the Lord and ends
with the feast of Christ the King, which is also the end of the
liturgical year.
It is composed of 34 weeks divided into two sections: the first
between Christmas Season and Lent; the second, between the
Easter Season and Advent.
Liturgical color: Green, a sign of hope which every Christian should
posses in order to grow in faith.
The Ordinary Time celebrates the basic truths of our faith. The Sunday
readings are organized into three-year system:
 “Year A” is centered on the gospel of St. Matthew.
“Year B” is centered in the gospel of St. Mark
“Year C” on the gospel of St. Luke
The weekday readings are organized into a two-year system:
 Year 1- when the number is odd [i.e., 2013].
 Year 2- when the number of the year is even [i.e., 2014]