What is the color of Lent?

Do you pay attention to colors? Do they mean anything to you? At some point, we all have considered the question: What is your favorite color? Mine is blue. I love blue shirts. Do not ask me why? I just grew up to like blue. By some coincidence blue is a Marian color. It is not because of this that I fell in love with blue. Just a happy coincidence. We often and I mean very often pay close attention to colors. Hence we have dress codes. Have you ever wondered why red is the color for Valentine's Day? You would point to the red rose and also to the heart. It's a deep symbol of blood which gives life and is ready to die. It is not black the priest wears on Good Friday but red to teach us that true love is in dying for the other. 

The Church celebrates,worships and teaches through colors. Do you know what colors are Catholic? I am not suggesting that some colors are non-Catholic. Green is the most obvious Catholic color used throughout the ordinary season of the Church's liturgical year. It is regular, it is ordinary! Verdant. White, gold are used to symbolize purity. We wear white at Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Women generally use white for weddings. Ordinations too! The Church uses white for Christmas and Easter. What is the color of Lent?

Let me spare you the trouble: it is purple or more liturgically appropriate, violet. This is worn during Advent too! If you are wondering what I mean, I am referring to vestments worn by priests to celebrate mass. They follow the liturgical season and are supposed to carry deep meaning. It is purple, shades of purple during Lent. To understand the symbolism of this it is important to note that purple is first and foremost a color for royalty. What is more, it is worn at funerals and during penitential service. Purple signifies death. Lent is a time we die to ourselves and put on Christ. In Mark 15:16-20, we read about the mockery of Christ by the soldiers as they clothed him in purple v.17 and crowned him with thorns. Purple was reserved for kings and here we find the soldiers mocking at him. 

Let us remember that on Ash Wednesday, the reading from the prophet Joel exhorted us: Rend our hearts not our garments. Purple reminds us of the mockery we make of Christ, our King and thus of our own kingship when we sin. It is a reminder of our kingship in Christ and a call to repent. It is an invitation to penitence. We are called to check our hearts. Does your heart match the garment you are wearing? Our prayer, our fasting and almsgiving are meant to circumcise our heart so that the purple may shine forth as a sign of us putting on Christ. As we journey through this Holy season of Lent, we must strive to let the grace of God penetrate our hearts so that the violet we wear symbolizes the transfiguration of our hearts so that like St Paul we can proclaim: It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me. Let us resemble the purple of Lent as a mark of kingship. The sacrifices we make, the penitential acts we observe help circumcise our hearts so that we do not continue making a mockery of Christ by putting on purple and yet continue living like slaves. Purple is a mixture of blue and red. And so one way of optimizing purple this season could be through praying the rosary (blue) and dedication to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (red). What is your favorite color? Find out how to use that to produce violet and celebrate Lent.