The Catholic Church uses different colors for the various seasons and occasions during the Liturgical year. You will notice these colors on the priests’ vestments, the covers of the books, decorations in the church, etc. All of the colors have different meanings.
GREEN is the default color and represents nature and life. It is used for Ordinary Time, the Sundays between Epiphany and Lent (roughly January to March) and the Sundays after Trinity (roughly May/June to October/November). These two seasons are also called ‘Ordinary Time’ because the Sundays have no names, just ordinal numbers, like The 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
RED is the color of blood, and therefore is used for the feasts of saints who are martyrs (those who have died for the faith). It is also used on Palm Sunday when we remember...and read...the Passion of the Lord. Because it is also the color of fire and, therefore, the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3), red is used for Pentecost Sunday and for priests’ ordinations and installations.
In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and royalty. Therefore PURPLE is the color for the seasons of Advent and Lent, which celebrate the coming of the King. Since, as Christians, we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple also represents penance and humilty. The priest also wears a purple (violet)stole when hearing confessions.
Angels announced Jesus’ birth and His Resurrection, and the New Testament consistently uses white to describe angels and the risen Lord. Therefore, WHITE is the color for the seasons of Easter and Christmas. It represents light, innocence, purity, joy, triumph, and glory. White is used for funerals, since it is the color of the Resurrection, for weddings, regardless of the season, and for secular holidays that are observed in the church. It is also used for feasts of saints who are not martyrs.
GOLD vestments are often worn on solemnities in lieu of white as a sign of joy and great celebration, as at Christmas and Easter.
ROSE represents joy, and is always used on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent), and Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent). This is the Church’s way of further heightening our expectation as we draw ever nearer the Solemnities of Christmas and Easter.
Take notice of the colors used on any given Sunday. As you can see, there is special meaning and significance!