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Colors of the Church Year
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| Colors | Season | Dates | Alternate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Blue | Blue | Advent | December 2-Dec 15 | Blue Violet | Purple |
| Pink* | 3rd Wk of Advent | Dec 16-Dec 22 | Rose* | ||
| Dark Blue | Blue | Advent | Dec 23 | Blue Violet | Purple |
| Dark Blue | Blue | Christmas Eve | Dec 24 | Blue Violet | Purple |
| White | Gold | Christmas | Dec 25-Jan 5 | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Epiphany | Jan 6-12 | White | Yellow |
| Green | After Epiphany | Jan 13-Feb 9 | Lt. Green | ||
| White | Gold | Transfiguration | Feb 10-12 | White | Yellow |
| Purple | Ash Wednesday | Feb 13 | Gray | ||
| Purple* | Ash Wed/Lent | Feb 13-Mar 28 | Red Violet* | ||
| Purple | Maundy Thursday | Mar 28 | Red** | ||
| Purple | Black | Good Friday | Mar 29 | Black | |
| Black | Holy Saturday | Mar 30 | No Colors | ||
| White | Gold | Easter | Mar 31-Apr 6 | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | Apr 7-May 8 | Red** | |
| White | Gold | Ascension Day | May 9 [Sunday May 12] | White | Yellow |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | May 10 [13]-May 18 | Red* | |
| Red | Pentecost Sunday | May 19-25 | Red | Gold | |
| White | Gold | Trinity Sunday | May 26-June 1 | Red** | |
| Green | Ordinary Time | June 2-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 [3]-24 | Lt. Green | Bronze | |
| Aqua | Olive | ||||
| White | Gold | Christ the King | Nov 24-30 | 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 (Roman 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 2012-2013, Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary, Year 1 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 C , 2012-2013; December 2 - Dec 24, 2012
Christmas (Dec 25, 2012 - Jan 5, 2013)
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Dec 25, 2010 - Jan 5, 2013)
Epiphany (and Ordinary Time until Lent) (Jan 6 - Feb 13, 2012)
Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Feb 12, 2013)
Ash Wednesday (Feb 13, 2013)
Lent (Feb 14 - March 30, 2013)
Holy Week (March 24 - 30 [31], 2013)
Maundy Thursday (March 28 2013)
Good Friday (March 29, 2013)
Easter (March 31, 2013)
Pentecost (May 19, 2013)
Ordinary Time (May 26 - Nov 24, 2013)Advent [Year A] (Dec 2 - Dec 24, 2013)
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, 2013 (2012-2013)
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