Which liturgical season emphasizes the Paschal Mystery and uses violet (purple) as its color for penance and humility?

Which liturgical season emphasizes the Paschal Mystery and uses violet (purple) as its color for penance and humility?

• A. Lent
• B. Ordinary Time
• C. Advent
• D. Easter

Answer: (A)

Violet signals penance and humility, and Lent is the season that centers on preparing for the Paschal Mystery—the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Lent lasts about forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday, and invites repentance, fasting, and charitable acts in anticipation of Easter. Easter themselves celebrates the Paschal Mystery with white or gold colors, while Advent looks forward to Christ’s coming (often with violet or blue) and Ordinary Time focuses on Jesus’s teaching with green. So Lent best fits both the violet color for penance and the emphasis on entering more deeply into the Paschal Mystery.

Violet signals penance and humility, and Lent is the season that centers on preparing for the Paschal Mystery—the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Lent lasts about forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday, and invites repentance, fasting, and charitable acts in anticipation of Easter. Easter themselves celebrates the Paschal Mystery with white or gold colors, while Advent looks forward to Christ’s coming (often with violet or blue) and Ordinary Time focuses on Jesus’s teaching with green. So Lent best fits both the violet color for penance and the emphasis on entering more deeply into the Paschal Mystery.