I will start with a very brief historical introduction about blue as liturgical colour, then I will show the current situation in some Churches.
BLUE AND SARUM MISSAL
Someone could think that the use of blue is allowed in the British Isles because of the influence of the Sarum Missal on this region: this is not true. It is true that the use of blue is mainly diffused in British Isles, but it is not restricted in this area and it is not the result of the Sarum Missal.
First of all, the Sarum Missal does not prescribe anything of blue as liturgical colour: it prescribes only white, yellow, and red in some seasons or feasts3. Blue is not even mentioned.
Other scholars think in this way. J. Robert Wright writes:
The general and ordinary ferial color was GREEN, but BROWN or GREY or BLUE were also used for this purpose. BLUE was apparently not used for feasts of Our Lady. […] UNBLEACHED CLOTH (OFF-WHITE) or BROWN or GREEN or sometimes VIOLET was used for Lent, from Quadragesima to the Saturday before Passion Sunday, and also apparently in Advent4.J. Barrington Bates writes:
Can we accurately ascribe the color blue in Advent to the use of Sarum? Obviously, no. Taking medieval England as a whole, there is more evidence for veiling and the use of a Lenten array than for use of blue, violet, or any other color particular to any season5.J. Robert Wright and J. Barrington Bates are both Anglican priests and liturgical scholars, so they cannot be accused to say this for denominational thinking!
The use of blue started before the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which is a Council that tried to give a uniformity in liturgical field. Before the Council of Trent, every Diocese and local Church had the possibility to develop its proper liturgical tradition about worship, liturgical vestments, liturgical architecture… even its proper Missal. After the Council of Trent, Roman Catholic Church tried to limit local liturgical tradition (e.g. with a common Missal, the Roman Missal6). Churches that broke with Rome before 1545, like Church of England, had sometimes keep the previous liturgical traditions or had develop a new liturgical tradition completely independent from Rome. Some other Churches that broke with Rome after 1545, like Old-Catholic Churches, had usually feel the effect of the Council of Trent in liturgical uniformity.
Anyway, the use of Sarum Missal was not universal in British Isles in the Middle Ages, even if it was influent out of Salisbury and probably the most important for the development of the Book of Common Prayer for Church of England. Furthermore, other local traditions was surely alive in thirteenth-century: Westminster Abbey used white, Wells Cathedral used blue, Exeter used violet, and Pleshy College used red7.
CURRENT SITUATION IN DIFFERENT CHURCHES
Some Churches allow blue and purple/violet during Advent, some other Churches allow only purple/violet. It could be a consequence of different conception of what Advent is, but I think it is not true because undoubtedly every Church has its proper manner to conceive Advent, but differences are less than similarities.
I will try to show how Churches conceive Advent and their position about blue. I will start with some Churches of the Anglican Communion, follow by some of their partners of the Porvoo Communion and Old-Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, and then Roman Catholic Church.
Church of England
This is what Church of England thinks about Advent:
Advent is a season of expectation and preparation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming (adventus) of Christ in his incarnation, and also looks ahead to his final advent as judge at the end of time. […] The characteristic note of Advent is therefore expectation, rather than penitence, although the character of the season is easily coloured by an analogy with Lent8.In the second sentence Church of England underlines the difference between characters of Advent and Lent and the uniformity in liturgical colour. In my opinion, this is a contradiction or an approximate way to proceed.
Talking about liturgical colours, the Church of England affirms:
Purple (which may vary from ‘Roman purple’ to violet, with blue as an alternative) is the colour for Advent and from Ash Wednesday until the day before Palm Sunday. […] A Lent array of unbleached linen is sometimes used as an alternative to purple, but only from Ash Wednesday until the day before Palm Sunday. Rose-colour is sometimes used as an alternative on the Third Sunday of Advent and the Fourth Sunday of Lent9.Strictly reading this paragraph, blue can be used in Advent, but also in Lent! The use of blue limited in Advent is not specified and we have to remember that liturgical colours “are not mandatory and traditional or local use may be followed”10 in Church of England. Surely it is not simple to prove a “traditional or local use” of blue in Lent, anyway it seems it is not forbidden.
Scottish Episcopal Church
Talking about Advent, the Scottish Episcopal Church affirms:
This is a penitential season in which lives are re-examined as we reflect upon the world to come and upon the return of Jesus11.Lent is described as:
a forty day period of penitence and fasting12.The Scottish Episcopal Church allows only purple/violet in both this seasons13.
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales recognizes there are both preparation and penitence in Advent, but preparation is more important.
Advent is a time of preparation and penitence. […] Advent is a season of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the birth and reign of Christ. Expectation rather than personal penitence is the central theme of the season14.During Advent purple/violet is preferred, but blue is also allowed. The Church in Wales links blue of Advent and the blue of Mary15 in an original way:
As the colour of the sky, Blue symbolises Christ the source of day. As the colour honouring Mary, Blue also reminds us that during Advent the church waits with Mary for the birth of Jesus16.
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland does not allow blue in Advent, but only purple/violet17.
Episcopal Church of the USA
For the Episcopal Church of the USA, Advent:
is a time of reflection, waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ18.This definition highlights that Advent and Lent have two different focuses. The colour for Advent and Lent is purple/violet, but the Episcopal Church of USA also allows the use of blue for Advent19. The use of blue in Advent could be appropriate to underline the difference between Advent and Lent according to the previous definition.
Anglican Church of Canada
The thinking of Anglican Church of Canada is very similar to the Church in Wales:
Advent is a season of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ (Christmas) and looks forward to the future reign of Christ. Eschatological expectation rather than personal penitence is the central theme of the season. […] Purple is normally Advent's liturgical color, associated both with the sovereignty of Christ and with penitence. Deep Blue is also sometimes used to distinguish the season from Lent20.
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland affirms that Advent is:
a penitential season of preparation21.This Church uses purple/violet or blue, but not in the First Sunday of Advent when white is used and the Gospel of Christ's entry into Jerusalem is read22.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
For the Lutheran Church in Denmark, Advent is a:
time of expectation and preparation23.Only purple/violet is used in Advent (from the 2nd Sunday to the 4th Sunday)24.
Church of Norway
Only violet is used in Advent.
Catholic Diocese of the Old-Catholic Church in Germany
The Altar Book of the Catholic Diocese of the Old-Catholic Church in Germany does not mention liturgical colours25. Anyway this Church allows only purple/violet during Advent.
Old-Catholic Church of the Netherlands
This Church authorize only the use of purple/violet in Advent.
Old-Catholic Church of Switzerland
As the two previous Old-Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, this Church also allows only the use of purple/violet during Advent.
Roman Catholic Church
In the Catechsm of the Catholic Church, we can read:
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming26.Although this description that makes Advent different from Lent, Roman Catholic Church uses only purple/violet both in Advent and Lent27.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of liturgical colour blue during Advent is not confined in the British Isles. It is used also in the national Churches of the Scandinavian Peninsula and in the Churches born from the Church of England (e.g. Episcopal Church of the USA, and Anglican Church of Canada).
The use of blue during Advent is not allowed in the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, despite their theological closeness with Anglicanism. This is mainly related with the timing of their breaking with the Roman Catholic Church.
A final consideration: Churches which underline differences between Advent and Lent use the same colour in this two seasons. This could be a topic for reflection. Some Anglican liturgists prefer blue to underline the differences between Advent and Lent, although they do not think that the use of blue is due to the Sarum Missal28. Louis Bouyer said:
The colours of the vestments, like colours of the vestments of the altar, should recover all the diversity of the tradition of the Middle Age29.
1 I don’t consider blue as color for the feasts of Mary, mother of Christ. This tradition is mainly alive in some Roman Catholic Dioceses. Back to the text.
2 Some Churches use pink in the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and in the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) to underline the joyous character of this two Sundays. I include pink in purple/violet. Back to the text.
3 The Sarum Missal in English Part I, The De La More Press, London, 1911, pp. 24-25; this is the translation in English by Frederick E. Warren from the edition of 1526. Back to the text.
4 The Sarum Use, an unpublished address given at the Miller Theatre, Columbia University, on January 26, 2002. You can find this quote at http://anglicanhistory.org/essays/wright/sarum.pdf, p. 6. Back to the text.
5 J. Barrington Bates, Sarum Blue: The Great Untruth (http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2013/11/25/sarum-blue-the-great-untruth/); this post is adapted from J. Barrington Bates, Am I Blue? Some Historical Evidence for Liturgical Colors in Studia Liturgica (33:1, 2003). Back to the text.
6 The Roman Rite didn’t abolish all the local Missals. The most important case is the Ambrosian Rite of the powerful Archdiocese of Milan that was never abolished. Back to the text.
7 J. Barrington Bates, Sarum Blue: The Great Untruth (http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2013/11/25/sarum-blue-the-great-untruth/). Back to the text.
8 Common Worship: Times and Seasons: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, Church House Publishing, London, 2006, p. 33 (https://www.churchofengland.org/media/41152/tandsadvent.pdf). Back to the text.
9 Ibid., p. 29. Back to the text.
10 Ibid., p. 29. Back to the text.
11 http://www.scotland.anglican.org/spirituality/worship/celebrating-the-year/. Back to the text.
12 Ibid. Back to the text.
13 Calendar and Lectionary, 1991, p. 95 (http://www.scotland.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/CalendarLectionary1.pdf). Back to the text.
14 http://stasaph.churchinwales.org.uk/life/steering-groups/developing/churchyear/; this is not the official website of the Church, this is the website of a Diocese. Back to the text.
15 See note 1. Back to the text.
16 http://stasaph.churchinwales.org.uk/life/steering-groups/developing/churchyear/; this is not the official website of the Church, this is the website of a Diocese. Back to the text.
17 Cf. e.g. Sunday and Weekday Readings. Advent Sunday 2014 to eve of Advent Sunday 2015, Church of Ireland Publishing, Dublin, 2015, pp. 4-7 (http://ireland.anglican.org/worship/65). Back to the text.
18 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/advent-resources-2014. Back to the text.
19 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/liturgical-colors. Back to the text.
20 http://www.churchofsaintjude.ca/our-story/liturgical-colours-and-the-season.html; this is not the official website of the Church, this is the website of a parish church. Back to the text.
21 http://evl.fi/EVLen.nsf/Documents/479C178E03840B0FC2257C2900498E08?OpenDocument&lang=EN. Back to the text.
22 Ibid. Back to the text.
23 http://www.lutheranchurch.dk/liturgy-and-worship/festivals-and-traditions/advent/. Back to the text.
24 http://www.lutheranchurch.dk/liturgy-and-worship/symbols-and-art/liturgical-colours/. Back to the text.
25 The Celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, Bremberger Brothers Publishing House, Munich, 19972 (http://www.alt-katholisch.de/information/liturgie/altar-book.html). Back to the text.
26 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 1993, n. 524 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a3p3.htm). Back to the text.
27 Cf. e.g. United States Conference of Catholic Bishop, Liturgical calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America, Washington DC, 2013 (http://www.usccb.org/about/divine-worship/liturgical-calendar/upload/2015cal.pdf). Back to the text.
28 E.g. Bosco Peters on his blog (http://www.liturgy.co.nz/celebratingeucharist/20churchyear.html) and J. Barrington Bates, Sarum Blue: The Great Untruth (http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2013/11/25/sarum-blue-the-great-untruth/). Back to the text.
29 Louis Bouyer, Architecture et liturgie, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 19912 (I have translated this quote from the Italian edition, Louis Bouyer, Architettura e liturgia, Qiqajon, Magnano, 20072, p. 97). Back to the text.
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