Understanding
What the vestment colors mean
Five colors, each tied to what's actually being celebrated that day — not decoration, a visible answer to "what kind of day is this?" before a word is spoken.
White or gold — joy
Worn for Christmas, Easter, feasts of Our Lord that aren't about His Passion, feasts of Our Lady, feasts of saints who weren't martyred, and weddings.
White
Christmas, Easter, feasts of Our Lord and Our Lady, weddings
Gold may be worn in place of white on the most solemn feasts
Red
Pentecost, martyrs, the Apostles, Palm Sunday, Good Friday
Green
Ordinary Sundays after Epiphany and after Pentecost
Purple
Advent, Lent, vigils, days of penance
Black
Requiem Masses, Good Friday
Red — blood and fire
Worn for Pentecost (the fire of the Holy Ghost), for feasts of martyrs (their own blood), for the Apostles, and on Passion-related days such as Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
Green — the ordinary weeks
Worn on the Sundays that don't belong to a specific season — after Epiphany and after Pentecost, the largest share of the calendar. Green is the color of the weeks with no particular drama attached to them, which is itself the point: most of the liturgical year is not a special occasion, and the color says so plainly.
Purple — waiting and penance
Worn through Advent and Lent, the Church's two great seasons of preparation, and on vigils and days of penance generally.
Black — the dead, and Good Friday
Worn at Requiem Masses (Masses for the dead) and on Good Friday itself — the one day of the year with no Mass offered at all, though black vestments are worn for the day's liturgy.
What next
The Order of Mass
What happens, in order, with a plain explanation of each part.
Today in the traditional calendar
See today's actual color and feast.
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