Day 7 - PURPLE

The color purple is primarily known as the color of royalty. It is a lucious color that adorns kings, queens, and also the little girl's room who is the "princess" of the family.

How does this relate to Lent? Have you been paying attention to what color the priest has been wearing to mass? If you haven't he has been wearing purple, or more specifically, violet. This color is worn to symbolize penance and is always worn in time of preparation. This means you will see the purple vestments during Advent, leading up to Christmas, and Lent, leading to Easter.

After doing some research I was able to find the reason that purple is used for these times of preparation rather than red, green, or some other color. Mark 15:16-20 explain Jesus being draped with purple linen and adorned with a crown of thorns. Jesus was then mocked by the soldiers who were yelling, "Hail, king of the Jews. Again we have the theme of royalty, but we also encounter the theme of preparation. When Jesus was dressed in the purple linen, the soldiers were preparing him for his death. Jesus was in a time of preparation himself, just as we are in preparation for his resurrection.

During this time of Lent we must remember that we are preparing for the resurrection of Christ our King. When we see the purple vestments and decorations in the church we must use it as a reminder. Preparation, penance, and royalty are all connected to this beautiful color and we must use it to take our adoration that much deeper, especially during mass when it is in plain vew.