Priests wear purple on Easter, but only on the egg hunt.

In fact, that’s a common misconception—that priests wear purple all the time. But they don’t!

Priests wear purple on Easter because it’s a sacred color in Christianity. It represents the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed to save humanity from sin and death. That’s why you’ll see priests wearing purple robes in paintings and statues of Jesus crucified—because it symbolizes his sacrifice for us.

However, priests don’t wear purple all the time—in fact, they don’t wear any color at all!

They dress in black or white so that they can focus on God rather than their own appearance. They want to serve God without worrying about what they look like or whether people like them or not—they just want to be there for you when you need them most!

Vatican - Religion - Advent - Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI wearing purple vestments during Advent. Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images

Catholic churches are normally quite colorful places. From stained-glass windows to statues, from the items that adorn the altars to the Stations of the Cross, every color under the sun can be found somewhere in most Catholic churches. And one place where a whole palette of color can be found throughout the year is in the priest’s vestments, the outer items of the clothing that he wears while celebrating Mass.

To Everything, There Is a Season

There are many different colors of vestments, and each corresponds to a different liturgical season or type of celebration. The most common color for vestments is green, because green, which symbolizes hope, is used during Ordinary Time, the longest season of the liturgical year. White and gold are used during the Easter and Christmas seasons, to symbolize joy and purity; red, on Pentecost and for celebrations of the Holy Spirit, but also for the feasts of martyrs and any commemoration of Christ’s Passion; and purple, during Advent and Lent.

Why Purple During Advent?

Which brings us to a common question: Why does Advent share the color purple with Lent? As a reader once wrote to me:

I noticed our priest started wearing purple vestments on the first Sunday of Advent. Aren’t purple vestments usually worn during Lent? At Christmas time, I would have expected something more festive, like red or green or white.

Beyond the color of the vestments used during the season, Advent shares some other features with Lent: The altar cloth is purple, and if your church normally has flowers or plants near the altar, those are removed. And during Mass, the Gloria (“Glory to God in the highest”) is not sung during Advent, either.

Advent Is a ‘Little Lent’

All of these things are signs of the penitential nature of Advent and a reminder that, during Advent, the Christmas season hasn’t started yet. Purple is the color of penance, preparation, and sacrifice—three things that, alas, too often fall by the wayside during Advent these days, since Advent roughly corresponds to the secular “holiday season” that extends, in the United States, from Thanksgiving Day until Christmas Day.

But historically, Advent was indeed a time of penance, preparation, and sacrifice, and the season was known as a “little Lent.” That’s why the penitential color of purple makes an appearance during Advent, the organ is muted, and the Gloria—one of the most festive hymns of the Mass—isn’t sung. During Advent, our thoughts, even on Sunday, are supposed to be on preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ, both at Christmas and at the Second Coming.

But Wait—There’s More

Just as during Lent, however, the Church allows us some rest as we pass the halfway point of Advent. The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday ​because “Gaudete” (“Rejoice”) is the first word of the entrance antiphon at Mass that Sunday. On Gaudete Sunday, the priest will likely wear rose vestments—a color that still reminds us of the penitential purple but which also has a lightness and joy to it, reminding us that Christmas is drawing near.

se pastel colors that we associate with Easter and spring have more to them than just being pretty. When you’re celebrating Easter’s popular secular traditions, you may not realize the deeper meaning these happy Easter colors have. From those used on church hangings to the vestments Catholic priests wear throughout the liturgical year, these colors serve to highlight meaningful moments.

First established when Pope Innocent III wrote the treatise De sacro altaris mysterio (The Mystery of the Sacred Altar) in 1198, the modern Roman color sequence of the Catholic church is still followed today. In this treatise, the Pope based the colors’ symbolism on interpretations of colors and flowers from the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. Today, other Christian denominations associate similar beliefs to these hues.

Read on to learn the background of these color meanings and how you can incorporate them into your Easter celebrations. The next time you fill Easter baskets with green grass, decorate your mantel with white Easter bunny knick-knacks, or spend an afternoon dyeing Easter eggs in a decidedly Easter color palette, these colors might just bring to light a whole new meaning to this time of year.


White

white easter colors

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White is a symbol of purity, used during all feasts of the Lord and during the season of Easter to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus Christ. White represents light, innocence, purity, joy, triumph, and glory.

This year, incorporate the meaningful hue into your Sunday brunch tablescape with elegant white linens or a fresh Easter lily bouquet. The Bible alludes to these white blooms on numerous occasions, and it’s believed that they originally sprouted in the Garden of Eden with the help of Eve’s tears and supposedly sprouted in the Garden of Gethsemane after Jesus’s crucifixion.


Violet

still life of a bouquet of purple pansies flowers in a glass vase on wood background

As the most prominent color during the Season of Lent, especially on Good Friday, violet purple signifies sorrow, specifically for Jesus’s suffering during his 40 days in the desert. Violet represents penance, humility, and melancholy and is associated with power and royalty.

For a punch of purple around the house, fill vases or mason jars with violets and scatter them throughout your rooms.


Pink

raspberry pink velvet cake

This special color that represents joy and love is only worn two times a year in the church: on the third Sunday of Advent and the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Lucky for us, pink goes hand in hand with spring decorations, so you’ll hardly be pressed for viable Easter options. Hang a pink garland, decorate your dining room table with pink tapered candles, or serve a cake with pink icing. To get really creative, sport a pretty-in-pink manicure with some easy DIY Easter nail designs.


Green

colorful real eggs on artificial green grass in basket for easter background

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After Easter is over, priests begin wearing vestments in green, which represents the hope of Christ’s resurrection and eternal life.

Aside from the (fake) grass in your family’s Easter baskets, hang a cross-shaped wreath covered in moss or other greenery.


Red

red easter colors

GETTY IMAGES

Red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and it is most used during Pentecost, which falls on the 50th day after Easter and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit. Red represents sacrifice, blood, fire, and martyrdom.

Such a vibrant color may seem like a harsh contrast against soft spring pastels, but you can incorporate the bold hue by dyeing Easter eggs red or hanging a red tulip wreath on your front door.

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