I was just in conversation with my American correspondent in the Diocese of Argyll about Liturgical Matters. It transpires that there is schism between us. It is my belief that the candles on an Advent Wreath should be red, with the possible addition of a white one in the middle at Midnight Mass. It is her belief that candles should be either all purple or three purple ones and a pink one.
My contention is that this purple and pink business is something which came to us from our colonial brethren not that many decades ago and that it is, like George Bush, something of which they should repent. My correspondent replied with the assertion that red candles on an Advent Wreath could never be, because “…red candles are common”.
This seems to confirm my view that although she may not be personally responsible for changing our candles from red to purple/pink, her co-countrypersons were. Anyone beg to differ?
If we could resolve differences such as this, we might be able to move to some kind of companion link with the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles one day, which would be quite exciting. We could go there for visits and exchanges, and maybe even share communion.
We have always redecorated the wreath on Christmas Eve. The advent wreath has greenery and perhaps pine cones, but no bright colors. On Christmas Eve we alway add holly berries and red bows to make it a Christmas wreath.
The purple color symbolizes royalty and was the color of the advent candles until recently when churches started going with blue. The third candle is traditionally pink to emphasize the joy theme and a slight lifting of the penitential emphasis of the season and also comes from the early church’s tradition of the pope giving out a rose on one sunday during Advent. The colors have historical precedence, but are certainly not necessary. The candles are simply a countdown until x-mas; any color will do.
I am with those who say that the colour scheme does not matter as much as the practice and understanding of what we remember during Advent. Similar controversy arose in the Church of England over the pink candles association with the third or fourth Sunday. What is clearly is that it is linked to Mary so that determines when the pink candle is lit – the fourth Sunday in the current Common Worship format. For the record we have four purple and a white candle and have done to my memory for 40 or so years. What is more interesting and encouraging is to see all sorts of folk of Protestant and evangelical origin getting into this Advent liturgical thing.
http://www.kencollins.com/question-10.htm suggests its Lutheran (like everything else around this time?). Pink for Joy seems to be in RC churches on 3rd Sunday but then tradition is only as old as that person’s memory….. looks prettier anyway 🙂
lol all wrong the pink is because the angel came to visit mary
The color of the Candles tell the tale.
They must be purple in evidence of our melancholy that is involutional and not a direct result of sin. We are dealling here with the final mass called the Christ-mass wherein Christ is born to the individual who recongizes the [third] white candle as his very own Baptism candle that was given to him THEN, and here now is called upon as the glimmer of hope that new life will BE on the other side of this life that WAS.
So it is during Advent that our life-house-boat is set afloat and it is out of the purpleness of purple that the white is reborn with a life of its own.
If [Luther] had known that unstructured space is a deluge
and stocked his life houseboat with all the animals,
. . . even the wolves, he might have floated.
But obstinate he stated: the land is solid and stamped!
. . . watching his foot sink down through stone,
up to the knee.
So please note that Advent is the New Testament version of the Flood wherein we are ‘ark builders’ here now undergoing the controversy that is created by the fading light of common day and the promise we made that we would built a life house boat of our own.
Could it be true that not all water is the same?
And in a colonial take on Sarum, ours has four blue candles. No berries. Too bad – there are some lovely evergreens with blue berries, although I haven’t seen them in Boston.
Until I actually looked last night I couldn’t see what colour we had as i couldnt see over the organ…… 4 red and 1 white… all very trad fluffery too!
Actually it is a mere class thing, as in either U or non-U. My church does white-only candles.
But whilst at another church for Christmas Eve mass, with purple and pink candles, some of the congregation were chewing gum, sporting denim trousers. Oh, and t-shirts of course. And frayed denims under the accolytes’ vestment.
But this is 2007 and anything goes, one is told to believe.
We had purple 3 and pink 1 and white in middle. All was well until a child was encouraged to light a purple one on 3rd Sunday instead of the pink one. Mary seemed to get shifted to 4th Sunday which fitted the readings but as I see it pink is for rose Gaudete Joy!