The color pink is a liturgical color that we only notice on the altar twice a year, yet it is rich in meaning and essential for understanding the periods in which it is worn, namely Lent and Advent.
Pink, along with red, white, green, and purple, is one of the official liturgical colors mentioned in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (346). The earliest references to vestments in colors other than white can be found in the De Divinis Officiis (early 12th century), which mentions the custom of wearing black vestments during the Candlemas procession and on Good Friday.
It was Innocent III in the 1200s who issued an initial canon based on the liturgical colors in use at the time in Rome, as an attempt to unify the Church under a common use of liturgical colors.
However, it was the 1570 Roman Missal of Pope Pius V that established more binding rules regarding liturgical colors and imposed their use in all Churches: green for ordinary time (the non-festive days), white for the feasts of the Lord and non-martyr saints, red for Pentecost, the feasts of the saints who were martyrs, and the Feast of the Holy Cross, purple for Advent and Lent, and black for funeral services and Good Friday. It was at this point that pink was added to the liturgical colors.
Up until that time, following Innocent III’s guidelines, black was used during Advent and Lent. However, it was already allowed to use purple during the Laetare and Gaudete Sundays. When purple replaced black for the Lenten period, it became necessary to find a new color to reflect the meaning of these two Sundays. Thus, a color similar to purple but lighter—pink—was chosen.
What is the meaning of Sunday laetere and Sunday gaudete?
The Laetare Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, and already the entrance antiphon introduces the faithful to a spirit different from the typical one of the 40 days leading up to Easter:
“Laetare Jerusalem: et Conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: Gaudete cum Lætitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et ab satiemini uberibus consolationis vestrae.
Psalm: Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus.”
Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all you who love her, gather together. Rejoice and be glad, you who were in sorrow: be filled with the abundance of your consolation.
Psalm: How joyful I was when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
The liturgy reminds us that the period between now and the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus is now short; the period of penance is coming to an end, and this is a reason for joy and exultation.
The Advent period also originally began as a time of penance and fasting in anticipation of the birth of the Baby Jesus. It started the day after the feast of Saint Martin and lasted for 40 days until Christmas. In the ninth century, this liturgical period was shortened to four weeks, and fasting was replaced with simple abstinence. Despite this, some characteristics remained those typical of the Lenten period. One of these is the celebration of Gaudete Sunday (the 3rd Sunday of Advent). Joy is once again the focus of the liturgy, and the entrance antiphon reads (short version):
«Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Dominus enim prope est.»
«Rejoice in the Lord always; I say it again, rejoice. The Lord is near.»
Just as during Laetare Sunday, on this day the altar can be decorated with flowers, the singing and music resonate with the joy of this Sunday, and the priest wears rose-colored vestments instead of violet. The faithful rejoice for the soon-to-be-born nativity.
So why the pinkish colour?
As already mentioned, the choice fell on rose to not stray too far from the violet color, which remains the reference color for both Lent and Advent. Violet is lightened with hope and becomes pink. It is interesting to note, however, that in the study of color symbolism, rose/pink is a color that stimulates positivity and brings serenity.
Exactly, this is the role that pink vestments play during these two special Sundays: they remind the faithful that even in moments of sadness, waiting, and penance, there can be joy. This joy comes from the Gospel and the certainty that after the waiting, the Baby Jesus is born, and after Lent, Jesus rises for us.
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Rossi, Pietro (2003): Vesti e insegne liturgiche: Storia, uso e simbolismo nel rito romano, Lampi di Stampa.
