Name That Color
Used during Ordinary Time, this color represents growth and hope.
What is Green?
Green represents our spiritual growth and hope as we learn about Jesus' teachings. This season and color make up a large portion of the overall church year.
Lent is a penitential season filled with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving lasting this many days before Easter.
What is 40 days?
Lent is a six-week, or 40-day, period leading directly up to Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday.
This specific season is divided into two sections and is focused on growing and learning about Jesus' teachings.
What is Ordinary Time?
Ordinary Time occurs for 4-8 weeks after the Christmas season and for about six months following the Easter season. It is focused on learning about Jesus' teachings.
Celebrated on December 8th, this holy day of obligation honors the belief that Mary was conceived without original sin.
What is the Immaculate Conception?
Often confused with the conception of Jesus, this feast celebrates that Mary was preserved from original sin from the very first moment of her existence.
I don't need confetti, neon lights, or a January start,
I begin late in autumn to look inward at the heart.
Before the shopping rushes and the carols start to play,
This season kicks off the Church’s year on a quiet Sunday.
What is Advent?
During Advent, we prepare for both the historical birth of Jesus and his promised second coming. It is a season focused on waiting and spiritual readiness.
This color represents blood, fire, Jesus' Passion, and the Holy Spirit.
What is Red?
Red is specifically used to represent the blood of the Passion and the fire of the Holy Spirit. It is worn on Good Friday and Pentecost.
This is the total number of seasons in the Liturgical Year.
What is six?
The six seasons are Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Triduum, and Easter.
Advent prepares us for both the historical birth of Jesus and this future event.
What is Jesus' second coming?
During Advent, we prepare for both the historical birth of Jesus and his promised second coming. It is a season focused on anticipation for Jesus and spiritual readiness.
On November 1st, we celebrate this holy day of obligation to honor all the holy men and women who have reached heaven.
What is All Saints' Day?
This day recognizes the countless known and unknown saints who live in the presence of God. It serves as encouragement for us to strive for holiness and follow their examples.
Though my title sounds generic, like I'm boring or routine,
My "ordered" weeks trace Jesus’ life across a sea of green.
I’m not a fast, I’m not a feast, I’m where the daily work is done,
Spanning from the Holy Spirit's fire until the year is run.
What is Ordinary Time?
Ordinary Time is divided into two sections and is focused on growing and learning about Jesus' teachings. It occurs for 4-8 weeks after the Christmas season and for about six months following the Easter season. The word comes from the Latin "ordinalis," meaning ordered time, rather than meaning boring.
These two colors each represent celebration, victory, and joy.
What are White and Gold?
White and gold are used during the Christmas and Easter seasons.
The liturgical calendar organizes the Liturgy of the Word so we hear the entire Bible over the course of this many years.
What is three years?
Attendees of daily Mass will hear the entire Bible over a three-year cycle.
This feast day occurs exactly on the 50th day after Easter and celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit.
What is Pentecost?
Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit descending on the first Apostles and filling them with power to spread the Gospel. It marks the end of the Easter season and return to ordinary time.
This first day of Lent includes the distribution of ashes to remind us of our death.
What is Ash Wednesday?
On Ash Wednesday, ashes are distributed with the sobering reminder "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". It marks the official beginning of the Lenten fasting and prayer.
I am a color rarely worn, reserved for intense things:
The violent price of sacrifice, or wind with rushing wings.
I speak of blood, I speak of fire, I speak of courage bold,
Disrupting seasons usually dressed in white or green or gold.
What is Red?
This color represents the blood of martyrs, fire of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus' Passion. It's worn on Good Friday and Pentecost.
On the third Sunday in Advent, the clergy wear this color to represent joy.
What is Rose (or Pink)?
Rose vestments are worn to represent the joy of what lies ahead in the manger in Bethlehem.
The third Sunday of Advent, representing the joy of the midpoint of the season, is known by this name.
What is Gaudete Sunday?
Gaudete Sunday is celebrated on the third week of the Advent season. A pink candle is lit to represent the joy of Jesus' upcoming birth.
This holiest Three Days of the Church's year recalls the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
What is the Triduum?
The Triduum starts with Holy Thursday (the Last Supper) and lasts until the Easter Vigil.
This holy day of obligation on August 15th celebrates the Virgin Mary being taken up into heaven, body and soul, at the end of her earthly life.
What is the Assumption?
Because Mary was free from original sin, the Church teaches that she did not suffer the bodily decay of death, but was instead assumed directly into heavenly glory by God's power.
I am the season of the ash, of dust, and pulling back,
Where fasting and a prayerful heart replace the things we lack.
For forty days of penance, I wait in sorrow deep,
Preparing for the Friday when the holy women weep.
What is Lent?
Lent is the 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving leading up to Easter. Both seasons use purple to emphasize preparation, penance, and self-reflection.
Advent shares its primary purple color with this 40-day season of fasting and prayer.
What is Lent?
Lent is the 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving leading up to Easter. Both seasons use purple to emphasize preparation, penance, and self-reflection.
This term describes our participation in the saving work of Jesus Christ.
What is "liturgical"?
The term "liturgical" formally refers to the Church's, or our, participation in Jesus' saving work.
The Christmas season begins on December 25th and lasts until this specific feast in January.
What is the Baptism of Jesus?
Christmas Day is the beginning of the Christmas season, not the end. The season continues all the way until the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus in January. It falls on the first Sunday after Epiphany, which celebrates the visit of the Magi. (ie: Jan 10, 2027)
On January 1st we celebrating this holy day of obligation dedicated to Jesus' mother.
What is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God?
Starting the calendar year by honoring Mary as the mother of God, reminds us of her perfect obedience and faith.
I am the shade of empty tombs, of weddings, and of light,
Spreading over Christmas day and Easter’s massive night.
When gladness reigns and gloria rings, the sanctuary glows,
Dressed up in the grandest robes that victory bestows.
What is White or Gold?
White and gold are reserved for the most joyous seasons of the liturgical calendar. Priests also wear white vestments to visually signify the purity of Christ during these times of celebration.