Two simultaneous liturgical colors?! It’s a matter of respect for the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Altar of Sacrifice is not yet ready for the TLM, what with the need to put out the altar-cards and Missale Romanum. And we’re still continuing with the “finishing” of the new altar. The point of this post is about the two liturgical colors: Black and Violet.

• BLACK: The Chalice is decked out in Black on All Souls Day in mourning for the dead and in favor of the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
• VIOLET: Don’t think that this is some sort of mixing of rites with the Novus Ordo Missae, where one extremely rarely sees Black, say, at a funeral, but rather Violet amongst the more conservative (it’s said) or simply White. The rule is that one may never use Black for the Blessed Sacrament, such as the Tabernacle. So, Violet it is, even on days calling for Black. I was given a priest and chalice set of Roman Vestments and I noticed that there was no pall, the small square of stiffened material that is placed over the chalice during the Holy Sacrifice and over the paten when the veil is over the chalice. It’s not that it was a mistake that a Black Pall was not included, but rather one would use, say, Violet, if available.

That’s be playing liturgical terrorist as I have little idea of the veracity of the statements I’ve made above, other than that I trust another priest who is very well read-up in these matters. But if anyone has a different take on how this is to work out, by all means, leave a comment in the comments box.