Is blue okay for Advent?

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I have moved recently and my new parish uses blue, instead of purple for Advent. I know this is a pretty common thing in recent years. Is it okay? Does anyone know the roots of it?

I’m thinking that since our parish uses blue, we may use blue at home in our Advent wreath too. The consistency makes sense to me, but first I want to know it’s okay and what the roots of this are.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
 
Blue is not a liturgical color so it is not appropriate for Advent. My less than orthodox parish has phased out the blue in the the last year or two but it had been blue for years. Violet is the correct liturgical color though I’ve heard it does not need to be as deep as the the violet used at Lent. I’m not sure that is correct so I take it with a grain of salt.

The roots I’m not sure of but I will tell you what I was told: Blue is the color of hope, like the blue in Mary’s mantle, so Mary was a Lady in waiting!!! Um, no. Mary’s mantle is blue because it is the color of the sky. Also, the red dress and blue mantle represent her virginity and motherhood.

I’m anxious to see what color we’ve prgressed to this Advent.
 
Blue hasn’t yet been officially approved as a vestment color for Advent, although I think a lot of churches do use it. I think the origin of the color is something that was adopted from Episcopalianism.

You, at in your home, can have an Advent wreath of any color you like, or no wreath at all. What happens in your home isn’t part of the public prayer of the church.
 
Blue what?

Vestments?
Candles in the advent wreath?
Banners?

To the best of my knowledge, blue is NOT an approved color for vestments in the United States. I can’t speak for other nations. I don’t know if there are any regulations for candles in an Advent wreath.

What you use at home is your choice.

In general you’ll see that the purple used for Advent is a rather bluish violet. (Think lavender, periwinkle, the color used by the Lakers basketball team.) The shade of purple used for Lent tends to have more red.

I know that many protestant churches consider blue to be the advent color and save purple for lent.
 
SMHW said:
Blue what?

Vestments?
Candles in the advent wreath?
Banners?

To the best of my knowledge, blue is NOT an approved color for vestments in the United States. I can’t speak for other nations. I don’t know if there are any regulations for candles in an Advent wreath.

What you use at home is your choice.

In general you’ll see that the purple used for Advent is a rather bluish violet. (Think lavender, periwinkle, the color used by the Lakers basketball team.) The shade of purple used for Lent tends to have more red.

I know that many protestant churches consider blue to be the advent color and save purple for lent.
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Blue is approved in Latin American countries I believe because of their strong devotion to Our Lady.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a terrible thing… blue is Our Lady’s color. However, Advent is a penitential season so violet should be retained. The advent violet is more bluish signifying the Blessed Mother and a sense of hope. The reddish violet of Lent signifies passion and suffering.
 
Usually I’ve seen the purples with a more bluish hue used during Advent and the more violet hues in Lent. I’m sure this is ok, unless of course it’s like baby blue or like a denim blue.
 
Actually pictures of Mary (Guadalupe and the Immaculate Heart for example) often show her with a red robe and a blue mantle outside. In such cases the red stands for her humanity and the blue for the divine (hevenly) graces she received.

PS - I know that for myself I have some trouble telling the difference between certain shades of purple/violet/lavender and blue 😉 Perhaps others have the same trouble.
 
BillyT92679 said:
Blue is approved in Latin American countries I believe because of their strong devotion to Our Lady.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a terrible thing… blue is Our Lady’s color. However, Advent is a penitential season so violet should be retained. The advent violet is more bluish signifying the Blessed Mother and a sense of hope. The reddish violet of Lent signifies passion and suffering.
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I agree that there are far worse abuses, but we should try to be faithful even in the smaller things.
 
cathyt said:
I have moved recently and my new parish uses blue, instead of purple for Advent. I know this is a pretty common thing in recent years. Is it okay? Does anyone know the roots of it?

I’m thinking that since our parish uses blue, we may use blue at home in our Advent wreath too. The consistency makes sense to me, but first I want to know it’s okay and what the roots of this are.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
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If you’re Anglican or Lutheran, yes. If you’re Cahtolic, you can use a shade of violet that is close to blue but it still has to be violet/purple.
 
I am, teaching Grade 3 CCD this year. We use the book “Blest Are We” blestarewe.com/litcal/index.cfm

I am beginning to prepare the lessons on Advent and Christmas. This is what I found on the website.
“Advent is the first season of the liturgical year. It is a time of preparation for Jesus’ birth. There are four Sundays in Advent. It ends on Christmas Eve. Mary’s feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadeloupe occur in Advent. On each Sunday except the third, the color purple is used. The color of the third Sunday is rose, which tells us that it is almost time for rejoicing! [Because feasts of Mary are in Advent, some parishes used the color dark blue instead of purple.]”

I have never seen blue used at Advent and as I was preparing my lessons I did not include this bit ablout having blue as I had never seen it.

MAMom
 
Is it fine to use electric candles? I live in a dormroom, and we aren’t allowed to light candles.
 
Blue is not a liturgical color with one exception. Countries with a Spanish heritage have as a matter of long standing tradition been able to use blue on Feasts of Our Lady but not during the Season of Advent (known as the Spanish privilege). However, this privilege is specific to particular regions and is a formal privilege given by the Holy See with some minor extensions.

The proper color for advent is a violet there being no distinction between the color for lent or advent. This is supposed to help us understand the unity between Advent and Lent.
 
Man, oh man. (sigh)

I guess I kind of thought the answers would come something like this, but I was hoping that someone would have a historical explanation that made perfect sense and said it was okay. I was hoping that I was wrong. Just another thing to ruffle feathers over at my parish. (Sigh)

Any suggestions about a way to address this. (I also work at the parish. Leaving isn’t an option and i’d like to be at least a little diplomatic.)

Thanks for the replies.
 
In early medieval times in the countries that were in northern Europe blue is the only naturally available colour that’s close to purple so it became a nothern european thing, and it’s still done by the Anglicans and Lutherans, somewhat to emphasize their “continuity” with the medieval Church.
Today we have no excuse not using purple
 
cathyt said:
I have moved recently and my new parish uses blue, instead of purple for Advent. I know this is a pretty common thing in recent years. Is it okay? Does anyone know the roots of it?

I’m thinking that since our parish uses blue, we may use blue at home in our Advent wreath too. The consistency makes sense to me, but first I want to know it’s okay and what the roots of this are.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
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Blue is not permitted anywhere as a seasonal liturgical color! It is allowed only for certain Marian feasts in Spain and one other small country.
 
Kielbasi said:
Blue hasn’t yet been officially approved as a vestment color for Advent, although I think a lot of churches do use it. I think the origin of the color is something that was adopted from Episcopalianism.

You, at in your home, can have an Advent wreath of any color you like, or no wreath at all. What happens in your home isn’t part of the public prayer of the church.
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But the proper color of the candles are three Violet and one Rose. Any other colors and it’s not an Advent wreath.
 
cathyt said:
I have moved recently and my new parish uses blue, instead of purple for Advent. I know this is a pretty common thing in recent years. Is it okay? Does anyone know the roots of it?

I’m thinking that since our parish uses blue, we may use blue at home in our Advent wreath too. The consistency makes sense to me, but first I want to know it’s okay and what the roots of this are.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
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Straight Answers - The Color of Liturgical Vestments by Fr. Williams Saunders: ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/LITCOLOR.HTM
 
cathyt said:
I have moved recently and my new parish uses blue, instead of purple for Advent. I know this is a pretty common thing in recent years. Is it okay? Does anyone know the roots of it?

I’m thinking that since our parish uses blue, we may use blue at home in our Advent wreath too. The consistency makes sense to me, but first I want to know it’s okay and what the roots of this are.

Anyone know?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Significant of Advent Wreath by Rector of Pontifical Liturgical Institute: ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zadvwreath.HTM
 
cathyt said:
Man, oh man. (sigh)

I guess I kind of thought the answers would come something like this, but I was hoping that someone would have a historical explanation that made perfect sense and said it was okay. I was hoping that I was wrong. Just another thing to ruffle feathers over at my parish. (Sigh)

Any suggestions about a way to address this. (I also work at the parish. Leaving isn’t an option and i’d like to be at least a little diplomatic.)

Thanks for the replies.
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Gather the Documents and address the pastor. Don’t however, go in demanding or direct but rather go by the Socratic Method by asking questions. Such as, “Why do we use Blue?” and “But doesn’t the General Instruction say …?” so “Why don’t we follow the desires of the Church?” or some way of asking questions. This tends to go much better.

Two sources for Advent Documents:

Go to the document library at EWTN and search all documents under the keyword Advent.

Go to Adoremus,org and search Advent.
 
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