What color is the robe for Christmas? The meaning of the colors of church vestments

The deacon's vestment consists of a surplice, an orarion and bridles.

Surplice– long, spacious outerwear made of heavy fabric with wide sleeves and slits on the sides. The surplice symbolizes the garment of salvation.

Orar(from the Latin “to pray” and the Greek “to keep”, “to care for the souls of believers”) - a long narrow ribbon, which the deacon wears during the divine service wears on the left shoulder. Without an orary, a deacon cannot take part in church service. According to the interpretation of the holy fathers, the orarium symbolizes angelic wings, since deacons personify the image of angelic service.

Entrust- short sleeves that tighten the wide sleeves of the cassock. The vestments are an integral part of both deaconal, priestly, and episcopal vestments. Wearing handrails means that you don't human hands, and the Lord Himself through them with His Divine power performs the sacraments.

In addition to the deacon's vestments - the surplice (among priests it is called the vestment) and the vestments, the priest's vestments also include an epitrachelion, a belt, a loincloth, a phelonion and a cross.

Podryznik priests and bishops - this is the lower liturgical clothing. It differs from the deacon's surplice in that it is made of white silk and has narrow sleeves with laces at the ends, which are tightened tightly at the wrist. The white color of the vestment signifies the purity of the soul and corresponds to the heavenly robes of Angels and people, and also recalls the white robes of the Transfigured Christ.

Stole(from Greek “neck”) - a strip of fabric hugging the neck, fastened in front and going down with two ends. Without the epitrachelion, the priest cannot perform a single service. The epitrachelion signifies a double (compared to the deacon), special grace, which gives him the right and obligation to be not only a minister, but also a performer of the Sacraments of the Church.

Belt- a short and wide ribbon that is used to encircle the cassock during worship. The belt symbolizes the girding of the Lord Jesus Christ before the Last Supper and means Divine power, which strengthens the clergy.

Felonion or chasuble– outer priestly clothing: wide, long, sleeveless, with an opening for the head and a large cutout in the front for the arms. On the back in the upper part of the phelonion, just like on the deacon's surplice, the sign of the cross is placed. Below, under the cross, an eight-pointed star is sewn, which means the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven, a new sky and new land. In these symbols -
cross and eight-pointed star - indicate the beginning and end of the salvation of mankind in Christ. The phelonion symbolizes the scarlet robe in which the Roman soldiers dressed Jesus Christ during His trial by Pilate. Feloni are sewn from gold and silver brocade, which symbolizes the radiance of the Glory of the Lord.

Gaiter- a rectangular oblong board on a long ribbon, decorated with a cross. The priest wears it on his right side. The legguard is the first award of a priest, symbolizing the “spiritual sword”, which for clergy is the word of God - the Gospel.

Mace- a quadrangular board hung at one corner on the right hip. A diamond-shaped club is also a symbol of the Gospel.

The gaiter, like the club, being awards, are not among the obligatory items of clothing for clergy.

Some priests wear purple during worship. kamilavka- the third award of a priest after the gaiter and skufiya.

In addition to the priestly vestments - vestment, epitrachelion, bridle and belt - the bishop's vestments also include a sakkos, omophorion, club, panagia, miter and mantle.

Sakkos outwardly resembles a deacon's surplice shortened at the bottom and in the sleeves.

The oldest bishop's vestment is omophorion– a wide, long strip of material with the image of crosses. It is put on the bishop's shoulders in such a way that it goes around both shoulders and with one end descends from the left shoulder in front, and the other from the same shoulder in the back. The ends of the omophorion descend almost to the hem of the sakkos.

The headdress of bishops during divine services is miter– richly decorated with embroidery, precious stones and miniature icons, a high, solid “cap”. Mithra symbolizes the Savior's crown of thorns. The miter also serves as a reward for the most honored archpriests.

During solemn processions and ceremonies, the bishop enters the church in the bishop's chamber mantle purple color. In the church, the bishop takes off his robe and dresses in liturgical attire. The cut of the bishop's mantle is similar to the monastic mantle, but much wider and longer.

Distinctive badge of a bishop - panagia with the image of the Mother of God. From Greek “panagia” is translated as “all-holy.” This is the image Mother of God round or oval in shape with numerous decorations. In everyday settings, bishops wear only a panagia, and during divine services - a panagia and a cross. The bishop's cross and panagia are signs of the highest authority in the Church and remind us that the bishop must have the Lord and the Mother of God in his heart, and therefore he must have pure heart and right spirit. IN Everyday life the bishop wears a panagia as a servant of the Mother of God, a representative of Her power on earth.

During bishop's services, the staff, eagle, ripidae, dikiria and trikiria are also used.

- This is a richly decorated staff that the bishop carries during worship. The rod is a sign of the highest pastoral authority.

Orlets– a round rug with an image of an eagle on which the bishop stands during the service.

Ripidy– metal circles mounted on long handles with images of six-winged Seraphim. Ripidy remind believers that during the liturgy, holy angels are invisibly present in the temple.

Dikiriy– a portable candlestick with two candles that symbolize the two natures of Jesus Christ (divine and human). The bishop blesses the people with dikirie during the service.

Trikirium– a portable candlestick with three candles, which symbolize the three hypostases of the Holy Trinity.

Colors of liturgical vestments and their symbolism

Anyone who has attended at least once Orthodox worship, certainly paid attention to the beauty and solemnity of the vestments of the clergy, as well as various colors liturgical vestments.

The color scheme of the vestments consists of all the colors of the rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet; their totality is white, and the opposite of white is black. Each color symbolizes spiritual meaning an event in honor of which a service is performed and corresponds to a certain group of holidays or fasting days.

White color, which combines all the colors of the rainbow, is a symbol of Divine light. They serve in white vestments on the great holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, and Annunciation. In white vestments, as a rule, they perform the rite of burial of the dead, since for a Christian death is only a transition to another world. Easter Matins also begins in them as a sign of the Divine Light shining from the Tomb of the Risen Savior.

In some churches it is customary to change vestments at Easter Matins for each of the eight songs of the canon, so that the priest appears in vestments of a different color each time. The play of colors is very consistent with this “triumph of triumphs.”

Red color, following the white one, continues the Easter service. They serve in red vestments throughout the subsequent Bright Week. This is a symbol of God's love for the human race. But it is also the color of blood, and therefore services in honor of the holy martyrs are held in red or crimson vestments.

Yellow(golden) and orange These are the royal colors. In vestments of these colors they serve on holidays in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ and Sundays, since Sunday is dedicated to the Lord - the King of Glory. In golden robes, the Church also celebrates the days of His special anointed ones - prophets, apostles and saints.

Blue or blue– the color of the holidays Holy Mother of God, symbolizing special purity and innocence. This is also the color of the sky, so people wear vestments of these colors on holidays in honor of angelic powers.

Green color- fusion of yellow and blue. It was adopted in the days of saints, ascetics and holy fools and testifies that their monastic feat revived a person through union with Christ ( yellow) and takes him to heaven (blue). In green colors of all shades ancient tradition serve in Palm Sunday, on the day of the Holy Trinity and on Monday of the Holy Spirit.

Violet the color was adopted on the days of remembrance of the Holy Cross. It seems to combine red, the color of the blood of Christ, and blue, indicating that the Cross opened the way to heaven for us.

Black or dark brown the color is closest in spirit to the days of Lent. This is a symbol of renunciation of worldly vanity, the color of crying and repentance.

Embroidered works of church art, including church vestments and temple utensils.

COLORS OF LIVING VESTS OF THE CLERGY

Essentially, in accordance with the established canon color gamma church liturgical vestments consists of two main colors: white and black. At the same time white color contains all seven primary colors of the spectrum into which it is decomposed, and the black color personifies the absence of light, and symbolizes non-existence, death, mourning, renunciation of worldly vanity and wealth, belonging to “ dark forces».

THE ENTIRE RANGE OF COLORS FOR LIVING VESTMENTS

Black color personifies hell, death, spiritual darkness. In icon painting, the image of the cave was painted over in black, in which the born Infant of God rests in white shrouds; images of a tomb from which the resurrected Lazarus emerges in white shrouds; the hole of hell, from where the risen Christ brings out the righteous (also in white shrouds). If you needed to depict something that has ordinary life black color, then this color was replaced by another. For example, black horses were depicted as blue. For the same reason, in ancient times they tried to avoid the color brown, since it is essentially the color of “earth” and dirt.

Yellow in icon painting and liturgical vestments it is predominantly a synonym, an image of gold.

White color- a symbol of the Divine uncreated (uncreated) light. On the great holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Annunciation, they serve in white vestments. White vestments are worn during baptisms and burials. The holiday of Easter (the Resurrection of Christ) begins in white vestments as a sign of the Light that shone from the Tomb of the risen Savior, although the main Easter color is red and gold. On Easter, in some churches, at each of the eight songs of the canon, it is customary to change vestments, so that the priest appears each time in vestments of a different color. In iconography, white means radiance eternal life and cleanliness.

Red color continues the Easter service after the white one and does not change until the Feast of the Ascension. This color is a symbol of the fiery love of God the Father for the human race. Services in honor of the martyrs are held in red or crimson vestments, because... red symbolizes blood. On Maundy Thursday, the color of the vestments is dark red, although all the decoration of the altar remains black, and there is a white shroud on the throne.

Yellow (gold) and orange - colors glory, royal and episcopal greatness and dignity. They wear vestments of this color on Sundays - the days of remembrance of the Lord, the King of Glory. In golden (yellow) colored vestments, the days of God’s special anointed ones are celebrated: prophets, apostles and saints. In icon painting, gold symbolizes Divine light.

Green color is a fusion of yellow and blue. Green robes are adopted on the days of ascetics and saints and remind of their monastic feat, which unites a person with Christ (yellow) and elevates him to heaven (blue). On Palm Sunday, on the day of the Holy Trinity and on Monday of the Holy Spirit, they serve in green colors of all shades.

Blue or blue - colors the sky, ethereal forces, maidens and virgins. The blue color of the sky corresponds to the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit. The immaterial region of heavenly existence - the spiritual sky is a reflection of the material sky. The Holy Spirit is called the King of Heaven. Blue is the color of the feasts of the Most Holy Theotokos because the Ever-Virgin, the chosen vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit, was twice overshadowed by His influx - at the Annunciation and at Pentecost. The blue color symbolizes Her heavenly purity and purity.

However, on icons the Mother of God is often depicted wearing a purple (dark red, cherry) veil. colors , worn over dark blue or green robes. The fact is that in ancient times, along with golden robes, kings and queens also wore purple robes and crimson robes. In this case, in icon painting, the color of the veil indicates that the Mother of God is the Queen of Heaven.

Violet combines red - color the blood of Christ and the Resurrection, and blue, indicating that the Cross opened the way to heaven for us. Adopted on the days of remembrance of the Holy Cross and will be used for the episcopal robe, so Orthodox bishop as if he were fully clothed in the feat of the cross of the Heavenly Bishop, whose image and imitator he is in the Church. The award purple skufiyas and kamilavkas of the clergy have the same meaning. A special rite has been adopted for the Exaltation of the Cross. In the evening (before the removal of the Cross) accepted purple, and in the morning white, as on the twelfth feast of the Lord.

Black or dark brown - color crying and repentance, accepted during the days of Great Lent, symbolizes renunciation of worldly vanity.

COLORS OF EVERYDAY AND HOLIDAY VESTMENTS OF PRIESTS

During the fasting period color vestments- dark blue, purple, dark green, dark red, black. During the first week of Great Lent and weekdays for other weeks the color of the vestments is black; on Sundays and holidays - dark with gold or colored trim.

In ancient times casual clothes clergy Orthodox Church(especially monasticism) were black, but liturgical vestments were not black. In the Greek and Russian Churches, according to the Rule, during Lent they served in vestments of a dark red color (crimson). In 1730, to participate in the funeral of Peter II, the St. Petersburg clergy were first asked to dress in black vestments. Since then, blacks have been accepted into funeral and Lenten services. vestments.

Full liturgical service vestments The priest's vestment consists of six vestments: a vestment, an epitrachelion, a bridle, a belt, a loincloth and a phelonion. The club is essentially the same as the gaiter, so it doesn't count.

During services, some priests wear a purple kamilavka - a cylindrical headdress. Kamilavka is the second award of priests after the legguard.

Anyone who has attended an Orthodox service at least once will certainly pay attention to the beauty and solemnity of the vestments. Color diversity is an integral part of church and liturgical symbolism, a means of influencing the feelings of worshipers.

The color scheme of the vestments consists of all the colors of the rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet; their totality is white, and the opposite of the latter is black. Each color is assigned to a specific group of holidays or fasting days.

White color, combining all the colors of the rainbow, a symbol of Divine uncreated light. They serve in white vestments on the great holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Annunciation; Easter Matins begins in them. White vestments are reserved for. performing baptisms and burials.

Red color, following the white one, continues the Easter service and remains unchanged until the Feast of the Ascension. This is a symbol of God's inexpressible, fiery love for the human race. But it is also the color of blood, and therefore services in honor of the martyrs are held in red or scarlet vestments.

Yellow (gold) and orange the colors are the colors of glory, majesty and dignity. They are taught to Sundays, as the days of the Lord - the King of Glory; In addition, in golden robes the Church celebrates the days of His special anointed ones - prophets, apostles and saints.

Green color- fusion of yellow and blue. It was adopted in the days of the monks and testifies that their monastic feat revived a person through union with Christ (yellow) and elevates him to heaven (blue). According to ancient tradition, in green flowers of all shades they serve on Palm Sunday, on the day of the Holy Trinity and on Monday of the Holy Spirit.

Blue, or blue- the color of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the color of the sky, it corresponds to the teaching about the Mother of God, who contained the Celestial Being in Her Most Pure Womb. The color purple is adopted on the days of remembrance of the Holy Cross. It combines red - the color of the blood of Christ and the Resurrection, and blue, indicating that the Cross opened the way to heaven for us. Black or dark brown color is closest in spirit to the days of Lent. This is a symbol of renunciation of worldly vanity, the color of crying and repentance.

Symbolism of flowers

The color scheme of liturgical vestments consists of the following primary colors: white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black. They all symbolize the spiritual meanings of the saints and sacred events being celebrated. On Orthodox icons colors in the depiction of faces, clothes, objects, the background itself, or “light”, as it was accurately called in ancient times, also have a deeply symbolic meaning. The same applies to wall paintings and temple decoration. Based on the established traditional colors of modern liturgical vestments, from the evidence of the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers, from surviving examples of ancient painting, it is possible to give general theological interpretations of the symbolism of color.

Major holidays The Orthodox Church and sacred events to which certain colors of robes are assigned can be combined into six main groups.

A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, prophets, apostles and saints. The color of the vestments is gold (yellow), of all shades;
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ethereal forces, virgins and virgins. The color of the vestments is blue and white;
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Cross of the Lord. The color of the vestments is purple or dark red;
Group of holidays and days of remembrance of martyrs. The color of the vestments is red. (On Maundy Thursday, the color of the vestments is dark red, although all the decoration of the altar remains black, and there is a white shroud on the throne);
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of saints, ascetics, holy fools. The color of the vestments is green. The Day of the Holy Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, the Day of the Holy Spirit are celebrated, as a rule, in green vestments of all shades;
During the fasting period, the color of vestments is dark blue, purple, dark green, dark red, black. The latter color is used mainly during Lent. On the first week of this Lent and on weekdays of other weeks, the color of the vestments is black; on Sundays and holidays - dark with gold or colored trim.

Burials are usually performed in white vestments.

In ancient times, the Orthodox Church did not have black liturgical vestments, although the everyday clothes of the clergy (especially monks) were black. In ancient times, in the Greek and Russian Churches, according to the Charter, during Great Lent they dressed in “crimson vestments” - in vestments of a dark red color. In Russia, for the first time, it was officially proposed that the St. Petersburg clergy should dress in black vestments, if possible, in 1730 to participate in the funeral of Peter II. Since then, black vestments have been used for funeral and Lenten services.

Orange has no “place” in the canon of liturgical vestments. However, it has been present in the Church since ancient times. This color is very subtle, and not every eye perceives it correctly. Being a combination of red and yellow flowers, the orange color in fabrics almost constantly slides: with a tint towards yellow it is perceived as yellow (gold often gives an orange tint), and with a predominance of red - as red. Such instability of the orange color deprived it of the opportunity to occupy a certain place among the generally accepted colors for vestments. But in practice it is often found in church vestments, which are considered either yellow or red.

Considering this remark about orange color, then it is easy to notice that in church vestments there is white color, as a symbol of light, all seven colors of the spectrum sunlight and black color.

Church liturgical literature remains completely silent about the symbolism of flowers. Iconographic “facial scripts” indicate what color of clothing should be painted on the icons of this or that holy person, but do not explain why. In this regard, “deciphering” the symbolic meaning of flowers in the Church is quite difficult. However, some instructions from the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments, interpretations of John of Damascus, Sophronius of Jerusalem, Simeon of Thessalonica, works that are associated with the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, some comments in the acts of the Ecumenical and Local Councils make it possible to establish the key principles of deciphering color symbolism. The works of modern secular scientists also help with this. Many valuable instructions on this subject are contained in the article by our domestic scientist V.V. Bychkov “ Aesthetic value colors in Eastern Christian art" (Questions of history and theory of aesthetics." Publishing house of Moscow State University, 1975, pp. 129–145.). The author bases his conclusions on historical data, archeology and interpretations of the above-mentioned teachers of the Church. N. B. Bakhilina builds her work on other sources (N. B. Bakhilina. History of color terms in the Russian language. M., “Nauka”, 1975). The material for her book is the Russian language in written and folklore monuments from the 11th century. up to modern times. This author’s remarks about the symbolic meaning of flowers do not contradict Bychkov’s judgments, and in a number of cases directly confirm them. Both authors refer to extensive research literature.

The interpretation of the basic meanings of colors in church symbolism proposed below is given taking into account modern scientific research in this area.

In the established canon of church liturgical vestments, we essentially have two phenomena - the white color and all seven primary colors of the spectrum of which it consists (or into which it is decomposed), and the black color as the absence of light, a symbol of non-existence, death, mourning or renunciation worldly vanity and wealth. (N.B. Bakhilina in this book notes that in the minds of Russian people since ancient times, the black color had two different symbolic meanings. It, in contrast to white, meant something belonging to the “dark forces”, “a host of demons”, death in one in its own sense and monastic clothing as a sign of humility and repentance - in another (pp. 29–31).

The spectrum of sunlight is the colors of the rainbow. The seven-color rainbow forms the basis color range ancient icons. The rainbow, this amazingly beautiful phenomenon, was presented by God to Noah as a sign of “the everlasting covenant between God and between the earth and between every living soul of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:16). The rainbow, like an arc or a bridge thrown between certain two shores or edges, means both the connection between the Old and New Testaments and the “bridge” between temporary and eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This connection (in both meanings) is realized by Christ and in Christ as the Intercessor for the entire human race, so that it would no longer be destroyed by the waves of the flood, but would find salvation in the Incarnate Son of God. From this point of view, the rainbow is nothing more than an image of the radiance of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation, the Apostle John the Theologian sees the Lord Almighty sitting on the throne, “and there is a rainbow around the throne” (Rev. 4:3). Elsewhere he sees “a mighty angel descending from heaven clothed with a cloud; there was a rainbow over his head” (Rev. 10:1). Evangelist Mark, describing the Transfiguration of the Lord, says that “His clothes became shining, very white, like snow” (Mark 9:3). And snow, when it shines brightly in the sun, gives, as you know, precisely rainbow tints.

The latter is especially important to note, because in church symbolism white is not just one of many other colors, it is a symbol of Divine uncreated light, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, as if containing all these colors.

External, real, earthly light has always been considered by the Church only as an image and sign of the immaterial Divine light. In fact, if there is not and cannot be anything external that would not be a phenomenon in visible matter of the invisible, spiritual, then light and the color gamut that compose it must contain reflections of certain Divine truths and phenomena, be images of those colors that are in areas of heavenly existence are inherent in certain spiritual phenomena and persons. The Revelation of John the Evangelist is replete with an astonishing array of color details. Let's note the main ones. Saints and angels in the realm of heavenly life are dressed in white robes of Divine Light, and the “wife of the Lamb” - the Church - is dressed in the same light clothes. This light, common to Divine holiness, seems to be revealed in the many colors of the rainbow, and in the radiance around the throne of the Almighty, and in the brilliance of various precious stones and gold that make up the “New Jerusalem,” spiritually also meaning the Church - “the wife of the Lamb.” The Lord Jesus Christ appears either in a podir (the Old Testament vestment of the high priest, which was blue for Aaron), or in a robe the color of blood (red), which corresponds to the shedding of the blood of the Son of God for the salvation of the human race and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ constantly feeds the Blood of His Church in the sacrament of Communion. The angels are girded across their chests with golden belts; on the heads of Christ and the elder priests surrounding Him, the Seer sees golden crowns.

Gold, due to its solar luster, is in church symbolism the same sign of Divine light as the color white. It also has a special semantic meaning - royal glory, dignity, wealth. However, this symbolic meaning of gold is spiritually united with its first meaning as the image of “Divine Light”, “Sun of Truth” and “Light of the World”. The Lord Jesus Christ is “Light from Light” (God the Father), so that the concepts of the royal dignity of the Heavenly King and the Divine light inherent in Him are united at the level of the idea of the One God in the Trinity, the Creator and the Almighty.

V.V. Bychkov in the mentioned article writes about it this way: “The light played important role at almost every level of Eastern Christian culture. The entire mystical path of “knowledge” of the root cause in one form or another was associated with the contemplation of the “Divine Light” in oneself. A “transformed” person was thought of as “enlightened.” Light, lighting, lighting of various lamps and candles at certain moments of the service, lighting motifs - all this had great importance in the structure of worship - the liturgical path of communion with higher knowledge. The “Canon of Matins” ended with the exclamation of the primate: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” This meant both the light of the sun (rising) and the light of truth, for Jesus Himself said about Himself: “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). Therefore, gold is a stable symbol of truth.”

The same V.V. Bychkov notices and emphasizes that in icon painting the Divine light was symbolized not only by gold, but also by white, which means the radiance of eternal life and purity (a similar semantic meaning of the word “white” in the Old Russian language is noted by N.B. Bakhilina) in contrast to the black color of hell, death, spiritual darkness. Therefore, in icon painting, only images of the cave were painted over with black, where the Born Child of God rests in white shrouds, the tomb from which the risen Lazarus emerges in white shrouds, the hole of hell, from the depths of which the righteous are tormented by the Risen Christ (also in white shrouds). And when it was necessary to depict something on icons that has the color black in everyday earthly life, they tried to replace this color with some other color. For example, black horses were painted blue;

It should be noted that for a similar reason, in ancient icon painting they tried to avoid the color brown, since it is essentially the color of “earth” and dirt. And when we sometimes see brown color on ancient icons, we can think that the painter still had in mind a dark yellow, ocher color, trying to convey a certain physicality, but not earthly, damaged by sin.

As for the pure yellow color, in icon painting and liturgical vestments it is predominantly a synonym, an image of gold, but in itself, it does not directly replace the white color, as gold can replace it.

In the rainbow of colors there are three independent colors, from which the other four are usually formed. These are red, yellow and cyan (blue). This refers to the dyes that were usually used in the old days for icon painting, as well as the dyes that are most common in the everyday life of modern painters, the “ordinary” ones. For many modern chemical dyes can produce completely different, unexpected effects when combined. In the presence of “antique” or “ordinary” dyes, an artist can, having red, yellow and blue paints, obtain green, violet, orange, and blue by combining them. If he does not have red, yellow and blue paints, he cannot obtain them by mixing paints of other colors. Similar color effects are obtained by mixing radiation of different colors of the spectrum using modern devices - colorimeters.

Thus, the seven primary colors of the rainbow (spectrum) correspond to the mysterious number seven, placed by God in the orders of heavenly and earthly existence - the six days of the creation of the world and the seventh - the day of rest of the Lord; the Trinity and the Four Gospels, the seven sacraments of the Church; seven lamps in the heavenly temple, etc. And the presence of three underived and four derived colors in the colors corresponds to the ideas about the uncreated God in the Trinity and the creation created by Him.

“God is love,” revealed to the world especially in the fact that the Son of God, having become incarnate, suffered and shed His Blood for the salvation of the world, and washed away the sins of mankind with His Blood. God is a consuming fire. The Lord reveals himself to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and guides Israel to the promised land with a pillar of fire. This allows us to attribute red, as the color of fiery love and fire, to a symbol primarily associated with the idea of the Hypostasis of God the Father.

The Son of God is “the radiance of the Father’s glory,” “King of the world,” “Bishop of the good things to come.” These concepts most closely correspond to the color of gold (yellow) - the color of royal and bishop's dignity.

The hypostasis of the Holy Spirit corresponds well with the blue color of the sky, which eternally pours out the gifts of the Holy Spirit and His grace. The material sky is a reflection of the spiritual Sky - the immaterial region of heavenly existence. The Holy Spirit is called the King of Heaven.

The Persons of the Holy Trinity are one in Their Essence, so that, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the Son is in the Father and the Spirit, the Father is in the Son and the Spirit, the Spirit is in the Father and the Son. Therefore, if we accept colors as symbols of the Trinity, then any of the colors can symbolically reflect ideas about any of the Persons of the Triune Divinity. All providential actions of God contain the participation of all the Persons of the Trinity. But there are Divine acts in which either God the Father, or God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit is predominantly glorified. So, in Old Testament Most noticeable of all is the glory of God the Father - the Creator and Provider of the world. In the earthly life and feat of the cross of Jesus Christ, God the Son was glorified. At Pentecost and the subsequent outpouring of grace in the Church, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, is glorified.

Accordingly, the red color can primarily express ideas about God the Father, gold (yellow) - about God the Son, blue (blue) - about God the Holy Spirit. These colors, of course, can and do also have special, other semantic symbolic meanings depending on the spiritual context of the icon, wall painting, or ornament. But even in these cases, when studying the meaning of a work, one should not completely neglect the main meanings of these three primary, non-derivative colors. This makes it possible to interpret the meaning of church vestments.

The Feast of Feasts - Easter of Christ begins in white vestments as a sign of the Divine light shining from the Tomb of the Risen Savior. But already the Easter liturgy, and then the entire week, are served in red vestments, marking the triumph of God’s inexpressible fiery love for the human race, revealed in the Redemptive Feat of the Son of God. In some churches it is customary to change vestments at Easter Matins for each of the eight songs of the canon, so that the priest appears each time in vestments of a different color. It makes sense. The play of rainbow colors is very appropriate for this celebration of celebrations.

Sundays, the memory of the apostles, prophets, and saints are celebrated in golden (yellow) colored vestments, since this is directly related to the idea of Christ as the King of Glory and the Eternal Bishop and of those His servants who in the Church signified His presence and had the fullness of grace highest degree priesthood.

The feasts of Our Lady are celebrated blue vestments because the Ever-Virgin, the chosen vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit, was twice overshadowed by His influx - both at the Annunciation and at Pentecost. Denoting the intense spirituality of the Most Holy Theotokos, the blue color at the same time symbolizes Her heavenly purity and innocence. Blue is also a high energy color, which represents the power of the Holy Spirit and His action.

But on icons, the Mother of God, as a rule, is depicted in a veil of purple (dark red, cherry) color, worn over a robe of dark blue or green colors. The fact is that purple robes, crimson robes, along with gold ones, were the clothing of kings and queens in ancient times. In this case, the iconography indicates by the color of the veil that the Mother of God is the Queen of Heaven.

The holidays where the action of the Holy Spirit is directly glorified - Trinity Day and the Day of the Holy Spirit - are not given blue, as one might expect, but green color. This color is formed by a combination of blue and yellow colors, signifying the Holy Spirit and God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which exactly corresponds in meaning to how the Lord fulfilled His promise to send from the Father to the Church united with Christ and in Christ the Holy Spirit, “the life-giving Lord " Everything that has life is created by the will of the Father through the Son and is quickened by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the tree is a symbol of eternal life and Holy Scripture, and in the church consciousness. So the ordinary earthly greenery of trees, forests and fields has always been perceived with religious feeling, as a symbol of life, spring, renewal, revitalization.

If the spectrum of sunlight is represented in the form of a circle so that its ends are connected, then it turns out that the violet color is the mediastinum of two opposite ends of the spectrum - red and cyan (blue). In paints, the color violet is formed by combining these two opposite colors. Thus, violet color combines the beginning and end of the light spectrum. This color is appropriated to the memories of the Cross and Lenten services, where the suffering and Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of people are remembered. The Lord Jesus said about Himself: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the First and the Last” (Rev. 22:13).

death on the cross The Savior was revealed by the repose of the Lord Jesus Christ from His works of saving man in earthly human nature. This corresponds to the repose of God from the works of creating the world on the seventh day, after the creation of man. Violet is the seventh color from red, from which the spectral range begins. The purple color inherent in the memory of the Cross and Crucifixion, containing red and blue colors, also denotes a certain special presence of all the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity in the feat of the cross of Christ. And at the same time, the color violet can express the idea that by His death on the Cross Christ conquered death, since combining the two extreme colors of the spectrum together does not leave any place for blackness in the vicious circle of colors thus formed, as a symbol of death.

The color violet is striking in its deepest spirituality. As a sign of higher spirituality, combined with the idea of the Savior’s feat on the cross, this color is used for the bishop’s mantle, so that the Orthodox bishop, as it were, is fully clothed in the feat of the cross of the Heavenly Bishop, whose image and imitator the bishop is in the Church. The award purple skufiyas and kamilavkas of the clergy have similar semantic meanings.

The feasts of martyrs adopted the red color of liturgical vestments as a sign that the blood shed by them for their faith in Christ was evidence of their fiery love for the Lord “with all their heart and with all their soul” (Mark 12:30). Thus, the red color in church symbolism is the color of the boundless mutual love of God and man.

The green color of vestments for the days of remembrance of ascetics and saints means that spiritual feat, while killing the sinful principles of the lower human will, does not kill the person himself, but revives him by combining him with the King of Glory (yellow color) and the grace of the Holy Spirit (blue color) to eternal life and renewal of all human nature.

The white color of liturgical vestments is adopted on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, and Annunciation because, as noted, it signifies the uncreated Divine Light coming into the world and sanctifying God’s creation, transforming it. For this reason, they also serve in white vestments on the feasts of the Transfiguration and Ascension of the Lord.

White color is also adopted for commemorating the dead, because it very clearly expresses the meaning and content funeral prayers, in which repose is asked for those who have departed from earthly life with the saints, in the villages of the righteous, clothed, according to Revelation, in the Kingdom of Heaven in the white vestments of Divine light.

To participate in the Divine service, deacons put on the following clothes: surplice, orarion and bridles.
The surplice is a long garment without a slit in the front and back, with a hole for the head and wide sleeves. The surplice signifies the purity of the soul. The right to wear the surplice can be given to both psalm-readers and laymen serving in the church.
Orarion is a long wide ribbon made of the same material as the surplice. Signifies the grace of God that the deacon received in the sacrament of the Priesthood. Worn by the deacon, protodeacon, hierodeacon and archdeacon on the left shoulder, over the surplice.
Handrails are narrow sleeves, fastened with laces. They tighten the sleeves of the deacon's surplice and the sacristan of priests and bishops. They are wide stripes of dense material with the image of a cross. The guards resemble the bonds (ropes) on the hands of the Savior during His suffering.

Priest's Robe.

To correct the Divine service, the priest puts on such garments as a cassock, epitrachelion, belt, armbands, phelonion (or chasuble), and a loincloth.

The surplice is a type of surplice intended for vestments of priests and bishops. The cassock is a long toe-length garment with narrow sleeves of a light (white, yellow) color. The bishop's cassock has gammata, or springs - ribbons that tighten the sleeves at the wrist, which are considered as a symbolic image of the flow of blood from the pierced hands of Jesus Christ. The cassock resembles the tunic (underwear) in which Jesus Christ walked the earth.
The epitrachelion is a long ribbon that goes around the neck and goes down with both ends. Signifies the double grace, compared to the deacon, given to the priest to perform the sacraments. The epitrachelion is worn over a cassock or cassock. Without an epitrachelion, a priest or bishop cannot officiate. Seven crosses are sewn onto the stole. Six in front (three on each half), indicating that the priest can perform six sacraments. Another cross, the seventh, is on the neck and symbolizes that the priest has accepted his priesthood from the bishop and is subject to him, and bears the burden of serving Jesus Christ.
The belt is worn over the epitrachelion and cassock. The belt resembles the towel that Jesus Christ wore when he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.

Robe (Phelon) - the outer garment of a priest, worn over other clothes. The clothing is long, wide, sleeveless, with an opening for the head and a large cutout in the front, reaching to the waist, for free movement of the arms. The upper shoulders of the phelonion are firm and high. The rear, upper edge of the phelonion has the shape of a truncated triangle or trapezoid and rises above the shoulders of the clergyman.
In its appearance, the phelonion resembles the scarlet robe in which the suffering Jesus Christ was clothed and is interpreted as the robe of truth. On top of the chasuble on the priest’s chest is a pectoral cross.
Gaiter - a quadrangular plate, hung on a ribbon over the shoulder at two corners on the right thigh. Issued to priests of the Russian Orthodox Church as a reward for diligent, long-term service. Symbolizes the spiritual sword.

Vestments of the Bishop (Bishop).

The bishop (bishop) puts on all the clothes of a priest: cassock, epitrachelion, belt, armbands. Only the robe is replaced by a sakkos, and the legguard by a club. In addition, an omophorion, miter, and panagia are worn.

Sakkos is the outer robe of a bishop, replacing the robe and having the same symbolic meaning - the scarlet robe of the Savior. The cut is a long, loose garment (usually not sewn at the sides) with short, wide sleeves and a neckline for the head. Both the cassock and the stole are visible from under the sakkos.
The club is a quadrangular board hung at one corner, above the sakkos on the left thigh. In its symbolic meaning, the club, like the legguard, has the same meaning of a spiritual sword, that is, the Word of God, with which the shepherd must always be armed. But compared to the legguard, the club belongs to more high level, since it also symbolizes the edge of the towel with which Jesus Christ wiped the feet of his disciples.

An omophorion is a long, wide, ribbon-shaped cloth, decorated with crosses. It is placed on the bishop’s shoulders in such a way that, encircling the neck, one end descends in front and the other behind (the great omophorion). Without the omophorion, the bishop cannot perform any service. The omophorion is worn over the sakkos and symbolizes a sheep that has gone astray and was brought into the house on the shoulders of the good shepherd ( Luke 15:4-7), that is, the salvation of the human race by Jesus Christ. And the bishop dressed in it depicts Christ the Good Shepherd, who took the lost sheep on his shoulders and carried it to the unlost (that is, the angels) in the house of the Heavenly Father.
Panagia is a small round image of the Savior or the Mother of God, decorated with colored stones. Worn on the chest, over the sakkos.

Orlets is a small round rug with an image of an eagle, placed under the feet of the bishop during services. It means that the bishop must, like an eagle, ascend from the earthly to the heavenly. Spiritual meaning An eagle with an image of a city and an eagle soaring above it indicates, first of all, the heavenly origin and dignity of the episcopal rank. Standing on the eagle everywhere, the bishop seems to rest on the eagle all the time, that is, the eagle seems to constantly carry the bishop on itself.

The vestments of the clergy (Video).

Signs of Pastoral Authority.

During divine services, bishops use a rod or crozier as a sign of supreme pastoral authority. The staff is also given to archimandrites and abbots, as heads of monasteries.

Hats.

During services, the heads of clergy are decorated with a miter, or kamilavka. For more everyday needs, skufja is used.

Miter is a bishop's headdress, decorated with small images and colored stones. It commemorates the crown of thorns that was placed on the head of Jesus Christ. The miter adorns the clergyman, since during the service he depicts King Christ, and at the same time reminds of the crown of thorns with which the Savior was crowned. In the Orthodox Church, when putting the miter on the bishop, the prayer is read: “ Place, O Lord, a crown on your head and from other stones..."as in the celebration of the sacrament of marriage. For this reason, the miter is also understood as an image of the golden crowns with which the righteous are crowned in the Kingdom of Heaven at the wedding feast of the union of Jesus Christ with the Church.
In the Russian Orthodox Church, until 1987, not all bishops wore a miter with a cross, but only archbishops, metropolitans and patriarchs. According to the proposal of Patriarch Pimen, the Holy Synod at its meeting on December 27, 1987 determined that all bishops have the right to wear a miter with a cross. It should be noted that in some pre-Chalcedonian churches (in particular, Armenian and Coptic), a miter with a cross was worn by subdeacons.
A type of Orthodox miter is the crown miter, which has a toothed crown (usually 12 petals) above the lower belt. The crown miter was the main type of miter until the 18th century.

Kamilavka is a tall cylindrical headdress of purple color with an extension towards the top, honorary award Orthodox priests.
Skufya is an everyday headdress of Orthodox clergy of all degrees and ranks. It is a small round black, softly folding cap; the folds of the worn skufia form the sign of the cross around the head.

IN ancient Russian church Skufia was worn, according to the ancient custom of the Greek Church, not only by priests, but also by deacons to cover their heads, on the top of which a small circle (humentse) was cut.
The purple velvet skufia is given to representatives of the white clergy as a reward - second only to the legguard. The skufja award has received significance since 1797.

Casual Attire.

The main everyday attire of the clergy and monasticism of all degrees is the cassock and cassock.

The cassock is an undergarment that is a long robe, reaching to the toes, with a tightly buttoned collar and narrow sleeves. For monastics, the cassock should be black. The colors of the cassocks of the white clergy are black, dark blue, brown, gray and white for summer. Material: cloth, wool, satin, linen, comb, less often silk fabrics.
Cassock is an outer garment with long, wide sleeves below the palms. The most common color of the cassock is black, but there can be cassocks in dark blue, brown, white, and less often cream and gray. The materials for cassocks are the same as for cassocks. Both cassocks and cassocks can be lined. For everyday use, there are cassocks, which are demi-season and winter coats. These are cassocks of the first type, with a turn-down collar, trimmed with black velvet or fur. Winter cassocks-coats are made with a warm lining.

All services, except for the liturgy, are performed by the priest in a cassock and cassock, over which special liturgical vestments (robes) are worn. When serving the liturgy, as well as in special cases When, according to the Rules, the priest must be in full liturgical vestments, the cassock is removed and the cassock and other vestments are put on over the cassock. The deacon serves in a cassock, over which is worn a surplice. The bishop performs all divine services in a cassock, on which special priestly vestments are put on. The only exceptions are some prayer services, litias, cell services and other sacred services of the bishop, when he can serve in a cassock or cassock and mantle, over which an epitrachelion is worn.
Thus, the everyday attire of the clergy is an obligatory basis for liturgical vestments.

The color of liturgical robes symbolizes holidays, events, and days of remembrance on which the service is performed. Let's list these colors:
- Golden (yellow) of all shades (Royal color).
Days of remembrance of prophets, apostles, saints, equal to the apostles, and other ministers of the Church, as well as blessed kings and princes, and on Lazarus Saturday (sometimes they also serve in white).
Golden vestments are used at Sunday services, as well as on most days of the year, unless someone is being commemorated.
- White (Divine color).
Holidays: Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Presentation, Transfiguration and Ascension, Lazarus Saturday (sometimes also served in yellow), ethereal heavenly powers, and also at the beginning of the Easter service. White vestments symbolize the light that shone from the tomb of Jesus Christ at His Resurrection.
White vestments are used during the sacrament of baptism, weddings and funeral services, as well as when vesting a newly ordained person in the priesthood.
- Blue (the color of the highest purity and purity).
Theotokos holidays: Annunciation, Placing of the Robe, Dormition, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Intercession, Introduction, days of remembrance of the Theotokos icons.
The robes of metropolitans are of various shades of blue, even blue.

Purple or dark red.
Cross Worship Week of Lent; Origin (deterioration) of honest trees Life-giving Cross Lord's Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Episcopal and archbishop's robes, as well as award skufiyas and kamilavkas, are purple.
- Red, Dark Red, Burgundy, Crimson.
The color of holidays and days of remembrance of martyrs. Maundy Thursday.
At Easter - the joy of the Resurrection of Christ. On the days of remembrance of martyrs - the color of the blood of martyrs.
- Green (the color of life-giving and eternal life).Disqus

White color, combining all the colors of the rainbow, a symbol of Divine uncreated light. They serve in white vestments on the great holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Annunciation; Easter Matins begins in them. White vestments are reserved for. performing baptisms and burials.

Red color, following the white one, continues the Easter service and remains unchanged until the Feast of the Ascension. This is a symbol of God's inexpressible, fiery love for the human race. But it is also the color of blood, and therefore services in honor of the martyrs are held in red or scarlet vestments.

Symbolism of flowers

The color scheme of liturgical vestments consists of the following primary colors: white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black. They all symbolize the spiritual meanings of the saints and sacred events being celebrated. On Orthodox icons, the colors in the depiction of faces, robes, objects, the background itself, or “light”, as it was accurately called in ancient times, also have a deeply symbolic meaning. The same applies to wall paintings and temple decoration. Based on the established traditional colors of modern liturgical vestments, from the evidence of the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers, from surviving examples of ancient painting, it is possible to give general theological interpretations of the symbolism of color.

The most important holidays of the Orthodox Church and sacred events, which are associated with certain colors of robes, can be combined into six main groups.

A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, prophets, apostles and saints. The color of the vestments is gold (yellow), of all shades;
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ethereal forces, virgins and virgins. The color of the vestments is blue and white;
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of the Cross of the Lord. The color of the vestments is purple or dark red;
Group of holidays and days of remembrance of martyrs. The color of the vestments is red. (On Maundy Thursday, the color of the vestments is dark red, although all the decoration of the altar remains black, and there is a white shroud on the throne);
A group of holidays and days of remembrance of saints, ascetics, holy fools. The color of the vestments is green. The Day of the Holy Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, the Day of the Holy Spirit are celebrated, as a rule, in green vestments of all shades;
During the fasting period, the color of vestments is dark blue, purple, dark green, dark red, black. The latter color is used mainly during Lent. On the first week of this Lent and on weekdays of other weeks, the color of the vestments is black; on Sundays and holidays - dark with gold or colored trim.

Burials are usually performed in white vestments.

Orange has no “place” in the canon of liturgical vestments. However, it has been present in the Church since ancient times. This color is very subtle, and not every eye perceives it correctly. Being a combination of red and yellow colors, the color orange in fabrics almost constantly slides: with a tint towards yellow it is perceived as yellow (gold often gives an orange tint), and with a predominance of red it is perceived as red. Such instability of the orange color deprived it of the opportunity to occupy a certain place among the generally accepted colors for vestments. But in practice it is often found in church vestments, which are considered either yellow or red.

If we take into account this remark about the color orange, then it is not difficult to notice that in church vestments there is white as a symbol of light, all seven colors of the spectrum of sunlight and black.

Church liturgical literature remains completely silent about the symbolism of flowers. Iconographic “facial scripts” indicate what color of clothing should be painted on the icons of this or that holy person, but do not explain why. In this regard, “deciphering” the symbolic meaning of flowers in the Church is quite difficult. However, some instructions from the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments, interpretations of John of Damascus, Sophronius of Jerusalem, Simeon of Thessalonica, works that are associated with the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, some comments in the acts of the Ecumenical and Local Councils make it possible to establish the key principles of deciphering color symbolism. The works of modern secular scientists also help with this. Many valuable instructions on this subject are contained in the article by our domestic scientist V.V. Bychkov “The aesthetic meaning of color in Eastern Christian art” (Issues of history and theory of aesthetics.” Publishing house of Moscow State University, 1975, pp. 129–145.). The author bases his conclusions on historical data, archeology and interpretations of the above-mentioned teachers of the Church. N. B. Bakhilina builds her work on other sources (N.B. Bakhilina. History of color terms in the Russian language. M., “Nauka”, 1975.). The material for her book is the Russian language in written and folklore monuments from the 11th century. up to modern times. This author’s remarks about the symbolic meaning of flowers do not contradict Bychkov’s judgments, and in a number of cases directly confirm them. Both authors refer to extensive research literature.

The interpretation proposed below of the basic meanings of colors in church symbolism is given taking into account modern scientific research in this area.

The spectrum of sunlight is the colors of the rainbow. The seven-color rainbow also forms the basis of the color scheme of ancient icons. The rainbow, this amazingly beautiful phenomenon, was presented by God to Noah as a sign "an everlasting covenant between God and the earth and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth" (Genesis 9:16). The rainbow, like an arc or a bridge thrown between certain two shores or edges, means both the connection between the Old and New Testaments and the “bridge” between temporary and eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This connection (in both meanings) is realized by Christ and in Christ as the Intercessor for the entire human race, so that it would no longer be destroyed by the waves of the flood, but would find salvation in the Incarnate Son of God. From this point of view, the rainbow is nothing more than an image of the radiance of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation, the Apostle John the Theologian sees the Lord Almighty sitting on the throne, "and there is a rainbow around the throne" (Rev. 4:3). Elsewhere he sees “A mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud; there was a rainbow over his head" (Rev. 10, 1). Evangelist Mark, describing the Transfiguration of the Lord, says that “His garments became shining, very white as snow.” (Mark 9:3). And snow, when it shines brightly in the sun, gives, as you know, precisely rainbow tints.

External, material, earthly light has always been considered by the Church only as an image and sign of the immaterial Divine light. In fact, if there is not and cannot be anything external that would not be a phenomenon in visible matter of the invisible, spiritual, then light and the color gamut that compose it must contain reflections of certain Divine truths and phenomena, be images of those colors that are in areas of heavenly existence are inherent in certain spiritual phenomena and persons. The Revelation of John the Evangelist is replete with an astonishing array of color details. Let's note the main ones. Saints and angels in the realm of heavenly life are dressed in white robes of Divine Light, and the “wife of the Lamb” - the Church - is dressed in the same light clothes. This light, common to Divine holiness, seems to be revealed in the many colors of the rainbow, and in the radiance around the throne of the Almighty, and in the brilliance of various precious stones and gold that make up the “New Jerusalem,” spiritually also meaning the Church - “the wife of the Lamb.” The Lord Jesus Christ appears either in a podir (the Old Testament vestment of the high priest, which was blue for Aaron), or in a robe the color of blood (red), which corresponds to the shedding of the blood of the Son of God for the salvation of the human race and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ constantly feeds the Blood of His Church in the sacrament of Communion. The angels are girded across their chests with golden belts; on the heads of Christ and the elder priests surrounding Him, the Seer sees golden crowns.

V.V. Bychkov in the above article writes about it this way: “Light played an important role at almost any level of Eastern Christian culture. The entire mystical path of “knowledge” of the root cause in one form or another was associated with the contemplation of the “Divine Light” in oneself. A “transformed” person was thought of as “enlightened.” Light, illumination, lighting of various lamps and candles at certain moments of the service, lighting motifs - all this was of great importance in the structure of the service - the liturgical path of initiation into higher knowledge. The “Canon of Matins” ended with the exclamation of the primate: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” This meant both the light of the sun (rising) and the light of truth, for Jesus Himself said about Himself: “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). Therefore, gold is a stable symbol of truth.”

The Persons of the Holy Trinity are one in Their Essence, so that, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the Son is in the Father and the Spirit, the Father is in the Son and the Spirit, the Spirit is in the Father and the Son. Therefore, if we accept colors as symbols of the Trinity, then any of the colors can symbolically reflect ideas about any of the Persons of the Triune Divinity. All providential actions of God contain the participation of all the Persons of the Trinity. But there are Divine acts in which either God the Father, or God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit is predominantly glorified. Thus, in the Old Testament, the most noticeable thing is the glory of God the Father - the Creator and Provider of the world. In the earthly life and feat of the cross of Jesus Christ, God the Son was glorified. At Pentecost and the subsequent outpouring of grace in the Church, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, is glorified.

The feasts of the Mother of God are marked by the blue color of vestments because the Ever-Virgin, the chosen vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit, is twice overshadowed by His influx - both at the Annunciation and at Pentecost. Denoting the intense spirituality of the Most Holy Theotokos, the blue color at the same time symbolizes Her heavenly purity and innocence. Blue is also a high energy color, which represents the power of the Holy Spirit and His action.

The holidays where the direct action of the Holy Spirit is glorified - the Day of the Holy Trinity and the Day of the Holy Spirit - are given not blue, as one might expect, but green. This color is formed by a combination of blue and yellow colors, signifying the Holy Spirit and God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which exactly corresponds in meaning to how the Lord fulfilled His promise to send from the Father to the Church united with Christ and in Christ the Holy Spirit, “the life-giving Lord " Everything that has life is created by the will of the Father through the Son and is quickened by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the tree is shown as a symbol of eternal life both in the Holy Scriptures and in the church consciousness. So the ordinary earthly greenery of trees, forests and fields has always been perceived with religious feeling, as a symbol of life, spring, renewal, revitalization.

If the spectrum of sunlight is represented in the form of a circle so that its ends are connected, then it turns out that the violet color is the mediastinum of two opposite ends of the spectrum - red and cyan (blue). In paints, the color violet is formed by combining these two opposite colors. Thus, violet color combines the beginning and end of the light spectrum. This color is appropriated to the memories of the Cross and Lenten services, where the suffering and Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of people are remembered. The Lord Jesus said about Himself: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the First and the Last" (Rev. 22:13).

The Savior's death on the cross was the repose of the Lord Jesus Christ from His works of saving man in earthly human nature. This corresponds to the repose of God from the works of creating the world on the seventh day, after the creation of man. Violet is the seventh color from red, from which the spectral range begins. The purple color inherent in the memory of the Cross and Crucifixion, containing red and blue colors, also denotes a certain special presence of all the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity in the feat of the cross of Christ. And at the same time, the color violet can express the idea that by His death on the Cross Christ conquered death, since combining the two extreme colors of the spectrum together does not leave any place for blackness in the vicious circle of colors thus formed, as a symbol of death.

The feasts of martyrs adopted the red color of liturgical vestments as a sign that the blood shed by them for their faith in Christ was evidence of their fiery love for the Lord "with all my heart and with all my soul" (Mark 12:30). Thus, red in church symbolism is the color of the boundless mutual love of God and man.

White color is also adopted for commemorating the dead, because it very clearly expresses the meaning and content of funeral prayers, which ask for repose with the saints for those who have departed from earthly life, in the villages of the righteous, clothed, according to Revelation, in the Kingdom of Heaven in the white vestments of Divine Light.