St Joseph and red

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I believe the liturgical color for the Solemnity of St Joseph is white. However I’ve heard St Joseph’s color is traditionally red. At my childhood church the candles at the St Joseph altar were red (then later changed to yellow).

Was red formerly the liturgical color for this day? Is there some other reason St Joseph is associated with red?
 
you have red candles?
other than the pillar candles in colored glass we provide for parishioners, I have never seen anything other than the white or beeswax color

I never heard that red was connected to St Joseph and the liturgical color is white so I wait for more instruction
 
I have a list of colors associted with saints that was posted in the sacristy of my church by the La Salette preists; I am almost positive St Joseph is white, but some of the colors change to gold/yellow during Advent and Lent; this list was posted some 80 years ago, so it is an interesting bit of information. I will try and post this tonight.
 
St. Joseph is often depicted wearing red and I believe that in some countries it is considered ‘his’ colour (in the same way that blue is for Mary), but this is different from the liturgical colour of vestments etc.

I don’t think St. Joseph has ever had red as his liturgical colour, I would be interested to hear otherwise if it is the case. The only saints who get red are martyrs who are not apostles.

You can get red candles, I have seen them (also green). They stain a lot worse than beeswax so I don’t like them! I don’t suppose it would be inappropriate to use them on a side altar.
 
The liturgical color of the day is decidedly white.

It was not until I lived in a largely Italian parish that I ever heard of wearing red for St Joseph’s Day – Not for liturgical reasons, but similar to wearing green on St Patrick’s Day (which is also liturgically white when celebrated more solemnly than a Commemoration).

tee
 
Red is for martyrs and the Holy Spirit (Pentecost and the Octave) The liturgical color for confessors (like St Joseph) also for Christmas, Easter and the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin is white.
 
puzzleannie said:
you have red candles?
other than the pillar candles in colored glass we provide for parishioners, I have never seen anything other than the white or beeswax color
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I believe he means the glass of the votive candles (and on the Mary side they were blue, right?). You’re slipping, Annie; you always know more than I do on a given subject. 😉

I recently found out that historically there was a great deal more variation in liturgical colors than is encompassed by the current official scheme, which is not to say that the latter should not in all cases prevail.
 
jbuck919 said:
I believe he means the glass of the votive candles (and on the Mary side they were blue, right?).
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Exactly. I’m pretty sure the wax itself was white, but the light flickering through the colored glass (especially the higher rows of candles where you couldn’t see the flame directly) made for candles that were effectively red.
 
Here is the list of candle colors I promised:
St Joseph White
St Therese Red change to Gold during Advent and Lent
St Anthony Green change to Gold during Advent and Lent
Sacred Heart Red
Virgin Mary Blue
St Martha Green
St Jude Green
St Expedite Red
St Benedict White
Lady of Guadalupe Pink
Lady of Mt Carmel White
St Anne White
St Barbara Red
St Clare White
St Dymphna Blue
St Lucy White
St Martha Green
St Rita White
St Francis Assisi Gold
St Cipriano Purple
St Ignatius White
St John the Baptist Green
St Lazarus Gold
Guardian Angel White
St Michael Purple
St Rapheal Gold
 
rp00005 said:
Here is the list of candle colors I promised:
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Interesting. A couple questions:
Are the colors for the candles to be used on the particular saints’ days, or is there another purpose for the colored candles?
How do you know the list is from 80 years ago? I don’t doubt you, but I have a feeling your answer to that question will be interesting as well.
 
These are the colors to be used throughout the year, unless noted otherwise; I have a feeling the change in color during Advent and Lent applies to more than two saints, but that was the only two that were listed; the note on the bottom says “no other color is to be placed in the holders”; it is signed by the pastor who was in charge at that time, although other saints have been written in from time to time.
 
We have the traditional side altars with the Blessed Mother on the left and St Joseph on the right; thus, blue candles in the devotional stand on the left and white in the devotional stand on the right; we also have eight other statues throughout the church with devotional candle stands; the appropriate colors would be used in these stands for each saint. An example is St Anthony would get green during the ordinary time. Hope this helps.
 
rp00005 said:
we also have eight other statues throughout the church with devotional candle stands
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That makes sense. Your list has more than eight other saints - was it a pre-printed list with extra saints, or are there temporary altars from time to time, or were there previously other altars at your church?
 
puzzleannie said:
you have red candles?
other than the pillar candles in colored glass we provide for parishioners, I have never seen anything other than the white or beeswax color

I never heard that red was connected to St Joseph and the liturgical color is white so I wait for more instruction
Click to expand...
How about the pink and purple advent candles?

In the creche scenes, traditionally Mary is shown in blue and Joseph wears red.
 
tee_eff_em said:
The liturgical color of the day is decidedly white.

It was not until I lived in a largely Italian parish that I ever heard of wearing red for St Joseph’s Day – Not for liturgical reasons, but similar to wearing green on St Patrick’s Day (which is also liturgically white when celebrated more solemnly than a Commemoration).

tee
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How about wearing red for Pentecost? Lots of people do that. And pink for Gaudete Sunday.
 
tee_eff_em said:
The liturgical color of the day is decidedly white.

It was not until I lived in a largely Italian parish that I ever heard of wearing red for St Joseph’s Day – Not for liturgical reasons, but similar to wearing green on St Patrick’s Day (which is also liturgically white when celebrated more solemnly than a Commemoration).

tee
Click to expand...
Perfect example. Yes. In Chicago where many ethnic groups took root,
St. Joseph’s day celebrations were linked to red. St. Patrick’s to green.

As for the celebration of Mass, the liturgical color worn is white - for both.
 
Digitonomy said:
That makes sense. Your list has more than eight other saints - was it a pre-printed list with extra saints, or are there temporary altars from time to time, or were there previously other altars at your church?
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the original list was hand written, and over time filled in with different saints; not sure why, but if you know La Sallettes, they could have had different days of devotion and prayer where they would have used this.
 
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