What rose… isn’t

"I said roseROSE…."

Still… it is good to see Laetare observed in a special way.

And I guess there are roses that color, after all.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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47 Comments

  1. Kevin in Texas says:

    Ha, ha! The priest at today’s Mass (a church in Dallas I decided to visit for a 5pm Mass–won’t make that mistake again with the rock band playing the music there–wore a light pink number that was pretty awful to look at. He even made a joke in mid-homily that someone dare not tell him after Mass that he looks “pretty in pink.”

    Why such ghastly colors for so many priestly vestments?

  2. CB says:

    My priest today wore bubblegum pink. He said, “Today we wear pink vestments. They call it ‘rose’ to make us more secure in our masculinity.” Um, yeah, if you say so.

  3. Tim Ferguson says:

    Our poor Pope looked so overheated today. One almost wished for a couple members of the black nobility with flabella.

  4. MargaretMN says:

    I would guess with so few parishes with rose vestments that the color tends to wander a bit. If you haven’t seen it, it’s open to interpretation.

  5. Vincent says:

    Yeah, that’s about the shade of the vestments I saw used at Mass this morning.

  6. The Holy Father has worn this particular rose chasuble before – when he visited a parish in Rome one Gaudate Sunday. Presumably it met with approval from the former Papal MC – but I didn’t think we would see it again. I can say with authority that it was made by Mancinelli in Rome and cost less than 100 Euros. I know, because they made me a matching rose dalmatic. I note that Fr Tim Finigan didn’t order a High Mass set in this material. I wonder why?

  7. Bob K. says:

    It’s called a pink rose Father.

  8. Fr Ray Blake says:

    Rome has worn, therefore the cause is closed. That therefore is the definitive “rose”.

    Actually the vestment he is wearing is exactly the colour of wild dog roses -Rosa Canina- that grow wild in England. The rose chasuble I wore as of a more dusky hue.

  9. little gal says:

    “The Holy Father has worn this particular rose chasuble before.”

    The shade (of rose) aside, I wonder if this was chosen due to the weight of the fabric? It look to be rather lightweight which would work for the climate he’s in.

  10. Yeah – that’s the same shade of Rose we have. Although, in the Roman chasuble used at my parish, I kind of like it. I don’t care for it in the gothic.

    Here are some pics from last year. Same set was used this year; different priest.

  11. Mitch_WA says:

    Yeah that chasable may not be the best color or design, but it does look light weight which I’m sure its just the right one for a guy in his 80’s especially when the temperature and humidity both are likely surpassing the number that is his age.

  12. Lori Ann says:

    I wish I had a photo to share of the beautiful rose vestments that Fr. Pasley wore at today’s High Mass here at Mater Ecclesiae. They were on loan from a royal chapel in Belgium. They were off-set with the most beautiful genuine silver thread which formed the design. The combination was exquisite! Even though Father was so happy to be wearing them, I now feel that is is a shame that they weren’t available for our Holy Father!

  13. Do we have any info about the chasuble itself? I’m wondering if perhaps it was a gift presented during this visit. What would be really awesome, despite the “off-ness” of the color, is if it was something made from local Angolan fabric by Angolan workers. Just a thought :)

  14. Geometricus says:

    Our pastor is on sabbatical in Rome, and the associate “couldn’t find” any rose vestments, so we got magenta this morning. Oh well.

  15. Antiquarian says:

    At St Matthew’s Cathedral in DC, an anonymous donor provided some lovely dusty rose gothic vestments (including dalmatics for the deacons, chalice veil, and hangings for the ambo) that debuted on Gaudete Sunday and reappeared today. Simple, but beautiful. Not sure what the fabric is but it looked too heavy for the African climate.

  16. John Enright says:

    I hate to say it, but the Priest at Mass today had vestments which sorta, kinda looked orange. Strange, indeed, but I applaud his efforts even though it obviously didn’t work out right.

  17. Jayna says:

    We got straight up pink today. Perhaps even pinker than the chasuble the Holy Father is wearing in that photo. If that’s even possible. To be fair, though, Father had rightfully rescued the chasuble he wore from the dumpster (literally, they were spring cleaning in the sacristy a couple of weeks ago, and I think he snagged it). It wasn’t technically rose, but it was actually embellished and didn’t look like a bed sheet.

  18. supertradmom says:

    Our priest wore bright pink with a purple line down the middle and around the collar. The typical NO fabric seems to be polyester.

  19. Chris says:

    Well at least we had Rose at my parish… even if we are using clay vessels. Evidently it is more humble and a sign of penance to do so.

  20. Dino says:

    At least the Holy Father is vested in the color of some roses. Beats flourescent pink that sometimes appears for the two special Sundays.
    At our NO parish, the priest and deacon were in purple vestments with no “overlay” stoles. S’alright.

  21. We had Rose at my parish for the TLM…was a little bit darker than that shade the Holy Father has.

  22. After some of the horror stories I’ve heard and witnessed, sometimes it is easy to be happy that Father is wearing a chausable at all.

    ~cmpt

  23. Jason says:

    At my parish, our parochial vicar wore a purple chasuble with a pink “overlay” stole. Does that count for partial credit? ;)

  24. Geoffrey says:

    “Our poor Pope looked so overheated today.”

    Very much so. Several times during the distribution of Holy Communion he had to stop to wipe is brow, as well as throughout the entire Mass. I hope he had some water near by! :-/

  25. Kenny says:

    I am sure pink vestments were worn on these Sundays long before the modern association with the colour pink.

  26. Tom says:

    One parish I know of has reversible vestments… The Rose (more shocking pink) has black! as the reverse colour!

  27. Andrew, UK and sometimes Canada says:

    Of course, a Roman chausable may have eased the Holy Father’s heating :-)

  28. Tim says:

    Better than the salmon pink chasuble we had to endure yesterday morning. Made of limp polyester, I’m afraid it made me think of a nightdress.

  29. gedsmk says:

    I think it’s a beautiful vestment, and I particularly like the shape of it. The holy Father suits this shape much better than the stiff older stuff.
    As for the colour, it looks exactly the same as the new ones being used at Blackfen.

  30. Marq says:

    It’s not that pink, is it? Sure, it’s pink, but it doesn’t really jump out, saying. “Look at me! I’m pink!” ;)

    Our priest described the colour of his vestments yesterday as a lighter version of the usual harsh purple. I don’t find purple particularly harsh, but fair enough: he wore rose, as far as I could tell.

  31. Athanasius says:

    Perhaps next year he will revive the tradition of the golden rose which is connected with this Sunday and send it to some Catholic nobility or leader, such as the Duke of Luxembourg for his valiant stand against the murder of the elderly.

  32. Dr. Eric says:

    On Father Ray Blake’s blog (see above) there is a deacon in the 4th picture down on the 22 March 2009 post who seems to be wearing rose. He is in the background.

  33. Here is a photo of my pastor wearing his “rose” vestment. This is more like it. You can plainly see that this is not pink as he usually states when wearing it. He says, “I don’t wear PINK”
    http://semperficatholic.com///Gaudete_Sunday2007_FRP.JPG

  34. irishgirl says:

    That chasuble looks as if it were made of silk-no wonder the Holy Father was mopping his brow!

    He should have had a Roman style vestment; that is more ‘open’!

  35. EJ says:

    Athanasius – it was my impression that the Golden Rose was only awarded to Catholic women, typically nobles – or by extension I suppose to female political leaders as well. I don’t suppose Madame Pelosi will be awarded one anytime soon though! In the treasury museum of the Residenz in Munich – you can find several Golden Roses which were awarded by several popes over the years to different women of the Royal House of Wittelsbach. It’s also awarded to shrines of special devotion to Our Lady – and this Pope has already awarded it to the Austrian Shrine at Mariazell, the National Shrine in Washington last year – and this year presented it just a few days ago to the Basilica of Marie Reine des Apotres in Yaounde, Cameroon.

  36. tertullian says:

    Kudos to the Holy Father for his strong, in-your-face condemnation of the dictator dos Santos, a truly brave act, given his past behavior toward those who oppose him.

  37. Cel says:

    I can just see the Holy Father walking into the sacristy and upon seeing the vestments exclaims with mild sarcasm, “Oh how wonderful, someone had a baby girl?”

  38. An interesting topic. Undoubtably bright pink dyes are a modern invention and so cannot have been the intended rose color of the Trent liturgy.

    From what I can tell, the most common traditional dye used in the pink/rose range is Rose Madder, which grows in Europe. You can produce several tons of dye per acre grown.

    Brazilwood can dye in the rosy pink range, and was imported since antiquity in low quantities and high cost from Asia, and in much greater quantities from Brazil itself, until it was over-harvested.

    Cochineal dye comes from insects in Latin America and was always expensive, and made in small quantities, but it can produce a rose/pink color.

    Woad, known mainly as a source of indigo, can also do a rosy pink if processed properly. This was a very common crop in Europe until its massive production depleted European soils in the late Middle Ages: they neglected crop rotation! This was later replaced by Indigo production elsewhere in the world.

    Dyes can produce different shades on when used on silk versus European textiles.

  39. Elizabeth says:

    The local parish here used Pepto Bismol-colored vestments.

  40. Mark R says:

    A nice ancient rose-colored gothic chasuble with a very nice purple orphey with various colors embroidered where I worshiped.

  41. Caeremoniarius says:

    @ EJ: The recipient of the Golden Rose (if human–sometimes it has been sent to a shrine) need not be a lady; Alexander VI gave one to his son Cesare Borgia.

  42. Variations on pink seem to have been the norm in the pre-Vatioan II 1950’s and I have even seen a picture of the rose pontifical sandals worn by Pius XII. They looked pretty p;ink to me.

  43. Dell says:

    Even Papa Pacelli wore pink as did his predecessors on these two days.

    When I was at school in former times our nickname for Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday was pink Sunday. Yes it was not a novelty to see priests in pink vestments on these two Sundays. God, how innocent we were. And then came – the great rupture… …

    I wore my lovely (and expensive) pink tie last Sunday as I do on the third Sunday of Advent — every year, twice a year’ for most of my years.

  44. Larry says:

    Our Pastor wore “rose” vestments this Sunday for the OF. I also had finally purchased a “rose” tie for the occasion. Rose and Pink can be just as normal as Red and Rose. Roses come in all shades. I admire almost any priest who has the courage to and is secure enough in his manhood to wear these vestments. When I was a kid I really liked seeing them twice a year. They were bright and alive and very different.

  45. Gloria says:

    According to Dom Guaranger’s “Liturgical Year,” the rose vestments stem from at least the 11th century and Laetare Sunday was also called Rose Sunday. The Pope blessed the golden rose originally in the Holy Cross in Jerusalem basilica in Rome. The idea of the rose was that soon we will have a spiritual spring. St. Leo IX observed it and Pope Innocent III. When the Pope later resided in the Lateran, he blessed the rose and took it to the Holy Cross in Jerusalem church. He talked about the myseries symbolized by the beauty, color and fragrance of the rose (I’m almost quoting here). The rose was not originally given to women, but to a prince, later a prince or princess as a mark of honor, and sometimes to a city or a Church. There’s a beautiful prayer in vol. 5 of “Liturgical Year,” for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which the Pope would say for the blessing of the rose.

  46. Dominican says:

    Thanks, Gloria for that post from Guarenger’s book. I think most people have no idea of why rose(no matter what shade!) is worn on the 4th Sunday of Lent and 3rd of Advent.
    I’m a bit perplexed on why this preoccupation of the shade. Is the EXACT shade of what one person things is correct (and another things is wrong) is so important?

  47. Mary says:

    I kind of like the color actually… We had ones that color at our chapel too but the Holy Father’s look finer to me.

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