Forget red and green; white is Christmas' color

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Last in a series on liturgical colors

Red, green, purple, gold and rose are part of the rainbow of colors used throughout the church year. Each color has its own proper time or season. However, in a special way, each of these colors also shares in what was the first - and what remains most important - liturgical color. It is the first color that was used for liturgical celebrations and it is still the main color of all liturgical attire and altar cloths: white.

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White is the liturgical color of Christmas. For the first 1,000 years of the church, it was the only color used at Mass and any other celebrations of the liturgy. And white is still the color of the alb, the liturgical vestment which all Christians are allowed to wear as a symbol of their baptism.

White represents Christ, the light of the world. In the science of light and color, white is the color you get when you mix in all colors. White light contains every color of the rainbow and it reflects back all those colors. Black, the opposite of white, absorbs all colors and gives back none of them. You can also make the color black by mixing all colors together, but what you then see is black because none of those many colors is being reflected back to your eye. Black hangs on to them, just the way a black hole in space draws all matter into it, crushing them in fierce gravity.

The color white figures prominently in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament it is the color of manna - the bread from heaven - in Exodus (16:31); of the hair of God (the Ancient One) in the visions of Daniel (7:9) and of sins that are forgiven (Is 1:18).

In the New Testament, the angels and the souls of the righteous are portrayed as robed in white (Mt 28:3 and Rev 8:9). And most memorable of all are the white garments of the transfigured Christ - "such as no fuller on earth could bleach them" (Mk 9:3).

White has traditionally been a color of victory. It is the color that represents Christ, who is victorious over death and who saves us from our sins. It is the color of Easter and the risen Christ is always shown robed in white. Again, returning to the science of color, the risen Christ reflects all glory (colors), just as white reflects all colors.

Liturgically, white is used for all feasts of Christ - except his Passion - even for the feast of his Cross (Sept. 14), since that cross was the instrument of the Lord's victory and glorification.

White is also the color used the feast of All Saints - those who have triumphed through the power of the Risen Christ - and for the feast days of saints who are not martyrs. It is also the color for the feast days of angels, of the birth of John the Baptist (June 24), the Chair of Peter (Feb. 22), the Conversion of Paul (Jan. 25) and John the Evangelist (traditionally the only apostle who was not a martyr) on Dec. 27. All of these feasts reflect the glory of God in his acts of salvation.

White is the proper color for all candles (except on an Advent wreath) used in the liturgy, for baptismal garments, and for the main altar cloth - since the Body of Christ becomes present upon that altar. It has also become a traditional color for first Communion attire, as well as weddings.

While black is still an acceptable liturgical color for funerals, the color white is more often used, especially for the cloth that covers the casket during the funeral Mass. This is because white symbolizes both our baptism and the victory of Christ over death.

Finally, because white symbolizes purity, it is the proper liturgical color for feasts of Mary, the Virgin Mother, and of all virgins. If the proper color for a season or feast day is not available, it is always acceptable to use white vestments; they represent Christ in whom "we live and move and have our being."