Making the case for black vestments

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The EF uses black vestments for funerals. The OF uses white.

“All Souls Day presents us once again with an opportunity to consider the use of black vestments within the Mass.”

Not sure if this idea will catch on, but it’s an interesting proposition.

Making the case for black vestments.
 
Personally I would prefer white.

Death for Christians is the completion of our sojourn on earth. Thus it is a celebration and a victory because of the promise of our Baptism.
 
A related question: Is the “Dies Irae” still used in the EF?
 
Based on posts from Father David over the past couple years, I convinced my pastor to change from wearing white a few years back. Last year he wore violet, but talked about the choices between white, violet and black and the symbolism associated with each and how black reminds us to pray for the Church Penitent. Today both he and the deacon were vested in new black vestments. I also know a couple other priests in my diocese that have recently acquired black vestments. The last time my pastor and I spoke of it he said he would also give people the choice of black or white vestments for funerals.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
A related question: Is the “Dies Irae” still used in the EF?
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Yes. The E.F. liturgical norms don’t change. They’re set as they were in 1964.

It wasn’t (isn’t) necessarily done at every Mass for the Dead.
 
Usige said:
Based on posts from Father David over the past couple years, I convinced my pastor to change from wearing white a few years back. Last year he wore violet, but talked about the choices between white, violet and black and the symbolism associated with each and how black reminds us to pray for the Church Penitent. Today both he and the deacon were vested in new black vestments. I also know a couple other priests in my diocese that have recently acquired black vestments. The last time my pastor and I spoke of it he said he would also give people the choice of black or white vestments for funerals.
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That’s nice to know. Thanks.
 
I really like the black vestments. At my parish, they are used for both the Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo. The Traditional Latin Mass, with the black vestments and chants like the Dies Iræ, really express mourning in a way that I never experienced at any Mass before. I’ve always wondered why things like black vestments were suddenly made optional. I sure hope they make a comeback.
 
Usige said:
Based on posts from Father David over the past couple years, I convinced my pastor to change from wearing white a few years back. Last year he wore violet, but talked about the choices between white, violet and black and the symbolism associated with each and how black reminds us to pray for the Church Penitent. Today both he and the deacon were vested in new black vestments. I also know a couple other priests in my diocese that have recently acquired black vestments. The last time my pastor and I spoke of it he said he would also give people the choice of black or white vestments for funerals.
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Salutations,
I am for celebratory white. WE have gone home and will see those who have gone on before and will wait for those we left behind.
DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY! DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING!
At the Garden Tomb, when Mary saw the angels, they said,WHY DO YOU LOOK FOR THE LIVING AMONGST THE DEAD.,!!
HALLELUJAH
in Christ’s love
Tweedlealice
 
Our choir chanted the “Dies Irae” this evening for a Solemn High Requiem Mass. 👍
 
White is supposed to be for the funerals of babies, or members of Asian cultures where white is a stark mourning color. No celebration about it.

We don’t wear white on Good Friday. Jesus was not resurrected five seconds after the Cross.

It is a scandal to treat funerals as nothing but celebration. Yes, we do not “mourn as the pagans do.” But separation of soul from body is a real deprivation, even if temporary, and the same is true of the separation of loved ones. It is wrong to give no time to sadness or solemnity.

And after all, there is a non-zero chance that the deceased is going to Hell. We don’t want to think about it, but the dead are judged as well as rewarded. That ought to sober us all up and make us think.
 
tweedlealice said:
I am for celebratory white. WE have gone home and will see those who have gone on before and will wait for those we left behind.
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It is better to say we have hope that we are headed home. It is presumption to say the dead are in heaven at their funeral since we simply do not know.

This is part of what helped convinced my pastor to move from white. He said many people get confussed between All Saints and All Souls. Wearing white for both reinforces the false notion that all who die are already in heaven. It puts them on equal footing with the saints as it were. The danger is that people don’t pray for the souls in purgatory. Why should they if they hold a protestant view that dismisses purgatory?

My pastor specifically returned to black to acknowledge that our dead make up two distinct parts of the Church. Too often people think of the Church Penitent as being part of the Church Triumphant and wearing black is one way he is trying to remind people that the souls in purgatory need our prayers.

For me? I pray that black vestments are an option. It is less about mourning as it is a reminder that I have decades of sin that have darkened my soul and it is only through the purgative fires of purgatory that I will be cleansed. I have no illusions that I am headed straight to heaven and want those who love me to pray for my soul.
 
When He arrived at the tomb of His friend Lazarus:

Jesus wept.

Yes…Jesus…wept.

I rather think that Our Savior knew better than any of us the reality of the Resurrection from the dead, even though this event happened before the Easter Resurrection.

When we mourn at the funeral of our loved ones, we do exactly the same as Christ Himself. We mourn, and we do so in the light of the Resurrection.

On the other hand, when we suppress our natural, human need to mourn, we only deceive ourselves. It is human to mourn death. It is less-than-human to lack that emotion. One who feels only joy at a death is lacking a necessary human emotion.

If Christ did not mourn at the death of Lazarus, He would have been less-than-human, and the Incarnation itself would be untrue! Like all human beings, He needed to mourn just as much as He needed to eat, sleep and keep warm when necessary.

Black vestments at a Mass for the dead expresses the reality that we do mourn and we must mourn. We do this in the light of the Resurrection. Our funerals should reflect the entire reality of Christian death rather than artificially suppress a necessary human emotion.

Of course, it also must be said that a Christian funeral is first-and-foremost an opportunity, indeed a solemn duty, to pray for the deceased. When we replace a funeral with a quasi-canonization, we deny the deceased the one thing we can still give them: our prayers.

Who would give his son a snake when he asks for an egg?

Who would give a loved one a pseudo-canonization when he asks for prayers?

It’s a great gift of the Church that we have All Saints Day and the very next day is All Souls. We need both.
 
Reuben_J said:
Personally I would prefer white.

Death for Christians is the completion of our sojourn on earth. Thus it is a celebration and a victory because of the promise of our Baptism.
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That would be a canonization Mass.

The funeral Mass is a reminder that we need to pray for the departed soul.
 
Brendan said:
That would be a canonization Mass.

The funeral Mass is a reminder that we need to pray for the departed soul.
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Yes. The funeral mass is praying for the repose of the deceased’s soul.

By virtue of our Baptism we are accorded the promise that it brings - eternal life. That’s our hope and understanding.

Of course the final judgement is God’s and God’s alone but we also know the outwards grace being conferred to us while still alive. It is normal practice for dying Catholics to be given the Sacraments.

We are people of hope, not because of anything but because of the promise of salvation by the death of Jesus Christ.

Of course we pray for the soul of the deceased because it needs prayers for sin/mistakes/temporal remission,etc, to hasten the journey of the soul to heaven.

Of course it is natural and normal to grieve over the loss of a loved one through death. We respect that and when we come to a funeral mass we show that support in standing together with the bereaved family members.

However our faith tells us that the deceased is going to a place that is even much better than we can ever imagine and it is also eternal.

We celebrate death in the midst of our grief and loss because we know the deceased is going to a much better place in the heavenly Kingdom of the Lord.

As Christians, our hope is in the thing to come and therefore should transcend our personal grief and that we should be comforted by the knowledge that we will be raised up on the last day simply because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the faith that we believe as the Gospel’s Martha said.
 
I’ve attended a lot of funeral liturgies in the ordinary form, but the last time I recall attending a Requiem Mass was many decades ago for my brother’s funeral. He had been killed in an auto accident less than eight months after having been ordained a priest. A number of diocesan priests were present, sitting in the front of the church. Before the Mass started, they began singing the litany of the saints, one chanting the name of the saint, and the rest singing the response “Ora pro nobis.”

Then the Mass procession began, and the choir began singing “Requiem in Aeternam.” I had sung it often enough myself with the elementary school choir which often sang at weekday funerals. But it’s different, hearing it when you’re among the bereaved. The words and music washed over me like a soothing waterfall, and for the first time since my brothers death, I wept quietly.
 
FrDavid96 said:
When He arrived at the tomb of His friend Lazarus:

Jesus wept.

Yes…Jesus…wept.

I rather think that Our Savior knew better than any of us the reality of the Resurrection from the dead, even though this event happened before the Easter Resurrection.

When we mourn at the funeral of our loved ones, we do exactly the same as Christ Himself. We mourn, and we do so in the light of the Resurrection.

On the other hand, when we suppress our natural, human need to mourn, we only deceive ourselves. It is human to mourn death. It is less-than-human to lack that emotion. One who feels only joy at a death is lacking a necessary human emotion.

If Christ did not mourn at the death of Lazarus, He would have been less-than-human, and the Incarnation itself would be untrue! Like all human beings, He needed to mourn just as much as He needed to eat, sleep and keep warm when necessary.
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I would say when Jesus cried, it is more of him feeling the grief of Mary and Martha, his dear friends, but it is not for Lazarus. Jesus could not have mourned for Lazarus because he knew what he was going to do with him.

To paraphrase, he is saying to Martha, “Do you know who you are dealing with now? I am the resurrection and the life. He who believe in me will raise up on the last day. So why are you sad? I am going to bring back Lazarus to life. All you need to do is to believe.”

Which Martha replied, “I believe, master.”

While we are sad because our loved one dies, we are post-Martha. We know what death entails to a believer.

At other time. Jesus was saying to his disciple that death is like a woman who gives birth. It is painful but when the baby comes, she will be filled with joy.
 
Reuben_J said:
I would say when Jesus cried, it is more of him feeling the grief of Mary and Martha, his dear friends, but it is not for Lazarus. Jesus could not have mourned for Lazarus because he knew what he was going to do with him.

To paraphrase, he is saying to Martha, “Do you know who you are dealing with now? I am the resurrection and the life. He who believe in me will raise up on the last day. So why are you sad? I am going to bring back Lazarus to life. All you need to do is to believe.”

Which Martha replied, “I believe, master.”

While we are sad because our loved one dies, we are post-Martha. We know what death entails to a believer.

At other time. Jesus was saying to his disciple that death is like a woman who gives birth. It is painful but when the baby comes, she will be filled with joy.
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I believe that Jesus was not only feeling sorrow for Martha and Mary but seeing them he felt “perturbed”. I believe he actually felt their pain of loss for his good friend, Lazarus. Jesus experienced everything that we have experienced. So it is not difficult to believe that he also experienced mourning for his good friend Lazarus.
 
Black vestments are a rarity for the OF here in the Philippines maybe because it is a tropical country. I passed by a church last November 2 and the priest was wearing Violet vestments. The common color for Masses for the dead here is violet.

In my opinion, I find the usage of white vestments for these Masses out of taste. You cannot simply wear the color of festivity while mourning for the loss of a loved one. But that is my opinion though.
 
Reuben_J said:
However our faith tells us that the deceased is going to a place that is even much better than we can ever imagine and it is also eternal…
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Our Faith tells that that it is a possibility that they are going there, not a certitude. Certitude only happens in a Canonization Mass. For all other instances, we beseech God’s Mercy on the soul of the departed.

Hence, the need for prayers.
 
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