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Colors of the Church Year
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| Colors | Season | Dates | Alternate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Blue | Advent | Nov 27-Dec 10 | Purple | Blue | |
| Pink* | 3rd Wk of Advent | Dec 11-Dec 17 | Rose* | ||
| Dark Blue | Advent | Dec 18-Dec 23 | Purple | Blue | |
| Dark Blue | Christmas Eve | Dec 24 | Purple | Blue | |
| White | Gold | Christmas | Dec 25-Jan 5 | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Epiphany | Jan 6 | White | Yellow |
| Green | After Epiphany | Jan 7-Feb 18 | Lt. Green | ||
| White | Gold | Transfiguration | Feb 19-25 | White | Yellow |
| Purple | Ash Wednesday | Feb 22 | Gray | ||
| Purple* | Ash Wed/Lent | Feb 22-Apr 11 | Violet* | ||
| Purple | Maundy Thursday | Apr 5 | Red** | ||
| Purple | Black | Good Friday | Apr 6 | Black | |
| Black | Holy Saturday | Apr 7 | No Colors | ||
| White | Gold | Easter | Apr 8-14 | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | Apr 15-May 16 | Red** | |
| White | Gold | Ascension Day | May 17 | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | May 18-May 26 | Red* | |
| Red | Pentecost Sunday | May 27-June 2 | Red | Gold | |
| White | Gold | Trinity Sunday | June 3-June 9 | Red** | |
| Green | Ordinary Time | June 10-Oct 31 | Lt. Green | Bronze | |
| Aqua | Olive | ||||
| Red** | All Saints Day or Sunday | Nov 1 or the next Sunday | White | Gold | |
| Green | Ordinary Time | Nov 2-24 | Lt. Green | Bronze | |
| Aqua | Olive | ||||
| White | Gold | Christ the King | Nov 25-Dec 1 | White | Yellow |
* In some churches, Pink or Rose is used the Fourth Sunday of Advent; in Catholic and Anglican traditions, Pink or Rose is also used the Third Sunday in Lent.
** In some churches, Red is used only on Pentecost Sunday and the following week.
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 Ordinary Time, nor during the Holy Days of Advent-Christmas-Epiphany both because the focus is not yet on the cross, and because the Greens of Advent and the other symbols of the Christmas season carry the visual message of that season.
Click below for information about the various Seasons and Holy Days that comprise The Christian Church Year. Except as noted, the dates are for 2011-2012, Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary, Year 2 of the the Daily Office (daily readings) of the Book of Common Prayer. (For a more complete calendar, see The Church Year, 2012)
Advent Year B , 2011-2012; Nov 27 - Dec 24, 2011
Advent Season (Nov 27 - Dec 24, 2011)
Christmas (Dec 25, 2011 - Jan 5, 2012)
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Dec 25, 2010 - Jan 5, 2012)
Epiphany (and Ordinary Time until Lent) (Jan 6 - Feb 21, 2012)
Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Feb 21, 2012)
Ash Wednesday (Feb 22, 2012)
Lent (Feb 22 - April 7, 2012)
Holy Week (April 1 - April 7 [8], 2012)
Maundy Thursday (April 5 2012)
Good Friday (April 6, 2012)
Easter (April 8, 2012)
Pentecost (May 27, 2012)
Ordinary Time (May 28 - Dec 1, 2012)Advent [Year C] (Dec 2 - Dec 24, 2012)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year A, 2011 (2010-2011)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year B, 2012 (2011-2012)
Dates of the Church Year, RCL Year C, 2010 (2009-2010)
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