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JennGM
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
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Dh and I are watching some of those religious epic movies for Lent, like "The Robe" and "Quo Vadis" and "Ben-Hur".
Last night I started wondering how did the violet and purple significance change in the Church's eyes?
Originally blue and violet were colors of royalty, symbolizing authority and riches. I think this was mainly because the dye to use to make these colors was expensive, brought from the Far East.
But now, violet is the color of penance, the penitential color of vestments during Advent and Lent seasons.
How did this transformation happen?
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 3:51pm | IP Logged
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I always imagine the robe that the Romans dressed Jesus in during his passion as purple because they were mocking him as a king. Perhaps the priest donned this color during lent in order to imitate Christ at this time?
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| I always imagine the robe that the Romans dressed Jesus in during his passion as purple because they were mocking him as a king. Perhaps the priest donned this color during lent in order to imitate Christ at this time? |
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That is what I was thinking. But it's contradictory in the Gospels, as one says red, the other says purple.
John and Mark say purple, Matthew says scarlet.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 4:13pm | IP Logged
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I found this at the NewAdvent Catholic Encyclopedia
Quote:
Benedict XIV (De Sacro Sacrificio Missæ I, VIII, n. 16) says that up to the fourth century white was the only liturgical colour in use. Other colours were introduced soon afterwards. Innocent III (d. 1216) is among the first to emphasize a distinction. He mentions four principal colours, white, red, green, black (De Sac. Alt. Mys., I, lxv) as of general use, and one, viz. violet, as occasionally employed. This latter was regularly used from the thirteenth century. An "Ordo Romanus" of the fourteenth century enumerates five. Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries blue and yellow were common but they may not be used without very special authorization (Cong. of Rites, Sept., 1837).
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
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Liturgical Colour Violet Part One
Part Two
Quote:
| In the twelfth century, Pope Innocent III was the first to specify the colours of the vestments that were to be used for the Roman Rite; almost certainly this reflected prevailing custom in Rome, not an invention on his part. Although a separate subject from this article, it is well to remember that it was only towards the end of the 1st Millenium that the question of vestment colour became a significant one.Black was designated for penitential and funeral liturgies, but violaceus was indicated as a substitute for black. Pope Innocent’s treatise De sacro altaris mysterio (Book I, chapter 65, which was written before his election as pope in 1198) seems to be the first indication that violaceus had come to be regarded as a penitential colour for the Roman Rite. |
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He presents the next year some historical paintings of penitential vestments here and here.
But still, my question of on how imperial or royal purple evokes penitence is still unanswered.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 15 2010 at 4:56pm | IP Logged
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ok haven't found it being penitential yet (though I've always found it somewhat depressing so it's easy to think of it as sad/penitential)
History of Purple
Quote:
Rome, Egypt, and Persia all used purple as the imperial standard. Purple dyes were rare and expensive; only the rich had access to them. The purple colorants used came from different sources, most from the dye extraction from fish or insects.
The imperial purple of Rome was based on mollusk from which purpura comes. Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment, as it cost its weight in gold!
Insect and snail animal-based colors were mentioned in the Bible for use in textile furnishings of the Tabernacle and for the sacred vestments for the High Priest Aaron, and they also were used in King Solomon's and King Herod's temples in Jerusalem.
With the decline of the Roman Empire, the use of “Tyrian Purple” also declined, and large-scale production ceased with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 A.D. It was replaced by cheaper dyes such as lichen purple and madder.
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Topic: Evolution of the Color Violet / Purple
