Back to Black and Mind Your Beeswax: An Annual Call

With the Feast of All Souls just around the corner, it is time to dig out those black vestments and unbleached beeswax candles.

In the extraordinary form, vestment hue is not an issue as black is the only permissible color. In the Novus Ordo black, purple and white are all acceptable. However, it seems that white is the predominant color for in American celebrations of the Feast, so much so that many think black was "left behind" after Vatican II. Representing the virtue of Christian hope, many feel that white is the most suitable for a feast of the souls in Purgatory. After all, the souls in Purgatory will eventually arrive in Heaven, and what better illustration of hope is there than that? I might offer, instead, the following thoughts.

There are aspects of Church doctrine in every time and place that are either more or less accepted by the faithful. For instance, while the Eucharist has both a communal and sacrificial aspect to it (though the Church has been clear that the sacrificial aspect has primacy), the average Catholic in today’s pews is very familiar with the the Eucharist as communion and not nearly so with Eucharist as sacrifice. It seems prudent on the part of the Church (as with any good teacher), to focus on those aspects that are not as well catechized among the faithful. For this reason, it seems more fitting that aspects of the Liturgy (orientation of the priest, choice of the Roman Canon, etc.) should highlight the sacrificial nature of the Liturgy. (This of course is not the only argument for the focus on sacrifice, for as Ratzinger pointed out in The Spirit of the Liturgy, a theology of liturgy that does not place sacrifice at its center is necessarily lacking in essence.) Including such things in the Liturgy provides a two-fold opportunity for catechesis. First, the very inclusion of the action will inevitably influence the way in which people think. This is the basic principle of sacramentality: the external influences the internal. Second, the liturgical actions can then become the source of the homily so the priest can directly catechize the congregation.

Applying this to the color choice for vestments at the All Souls Day Liturgy, consider the following. The laity today have little problem focussing on Christian hope, specifically the hope of salvation of our deceased brothers and sisters. In fact, in many cases the understanding is exaggerated and inappropriate to the point where people all but canonize the dead immediately ("Mom is with Dad in heaven now, looking down on us"). What we seem to have lost is the stark contrast with the "white" hope: the solemnity that accompanies death and (dare I say) the connection between death an sin. While white is not inappropriate, for in death we do hold a Christian hope for the salvation of the deceased, perhaps the priest should chose from among the acceptable colors that vestment which best reflects the aspect of the Feast that is in most need of catechesis: black. From Shawn Tribe,

“On a symbolic and theological level, the sombre and reserved tone of black vestments can be understood as a reminder of the sorrowful reality of sin (personal and original) and the reality of death which entered the world with the Fall. It manifests a kind of holy and prudent reserve. It can emphasize the reality of purgatory and the need for prayers which we should offer for the dead -- one of the seven spiritual works of mercy. By the same token, we, the living, are accordingly reminded of the four last things and the need to care for the state of of our own souls, working out our salvation. On a cultural and pastoral level, in the Western world black has a particularly strong association as symbolic of sorrow and mourning. Accordingly, black pastorally acknowledges and unites itself to the natural and perfectly normal emotional response to the loss of a loved one; of the sorrow which entered the world through sin and death.”

The somber tone of the unbleached candles satisfies the same purpose.  Of course, while not necessary, it is laudable that the candles used at every Mass be made of beeswax.  The significance of the pure wax extracted by virgin bees is the pure flesh of Christ received from the Blessed Mother.  (As a side note, the wick typically signifies the soul of Christ and the flame represents His divinity.)  I cannot find a reference at the moment, though I seem to recall hearing that the bees, being typical “workers” also represent us, the workers in the vineyard.  In Masses other than All Souls, Requiems, and Good Friday, bleached candles would be used.  (Shawn Tribe claims that candles during the funeral of a baptized infant would also use bleached candles to represent the joy we experience over our assurance of their immediate place in heaven.)  On the more somber occasions, the tradition calls for unbleached candles.  Again, from Mr. Tribe:

“The employment on occasions of sorrow (the Tenebrae, funerals, etc.) of unbleached rather than bleached candles is evidently fitting, since the sombre tones of unbleached was harmonize with the mournful ceremony, while bleached wax, being far higher in the tone scale, would intrude a note of joy.”

This symbolic level of which Mr. Tribe speaks is a remedy for the problem observed by Peter Kreeft in Fundamentals of the Faith:

“Our society reduces death, as it reduces sex, from a high and sacred mystery to a mere fact, a natural event, which we are supposed to ‘come to terms with’, ‘cope with’, and ‘accept’ as ‘natural’, contrary to all the myths, all the religions of the world, and all our instincts.  There is nothing so dreary and horrifying as the plethora of books now crowding our shelves that try to level the last vertical spire that remains in a horizontal age, that try to pull the teeth of the great monster, our last connection with the transcendent.  Death is not natural and not acceptable; it is a horror and an obscenity.  Not to admit this is to lose one’s intellectual virginity and honesty ... Honesty, though not the greatest virtue, is the necessary soil for the growth of every other virtue.  Truth must be faced, sooner or later ... Why?  Why remember death?  Why look?  Because it is true ... Christ looked, and conquered ... Christianity is the religion of the conquest of death.” (page 154).

The problem, of course, is that we cannot exclaim with St. Paul, “Oh death, where is thy sting?  Oh grave, where is thy victory?” unless we first recognize the sting and the victory once present in death.  There cannot be a conquering without something to be conquered.  As Peter Kreeft said,

“[Death] must first be enemy before it can be friend.  The no-problem approach is infinitely farther from Christianity than the no-answer despair.  The existential anxiety of the honest atheist confronting eternal nothingness is infinitely more noble than the vapid, bland platitudes of pop psychology about acceptance, coping, and getting your life in order.  Just as modern psychology substitutes ‘no sin’ for the forgiveness of sin, substitutes ‘there’s nothing to forgive’ for ‘you are forgiven’, so it substitutes an aspirin for an operation when dealing with death” (page 155).

In closing, there is a stunning demonstration of an altar transformation for the Feast of All Souls over at the New Liturgical Movement.  Notice not only the unbleached candles and black vestment, but also the close attention to detail: the use of black in the candlesticks and altar crucifix, the veil over the tabernacle, the back veil over the chalice, and even the altar cards are framed in black.

Normal Altar Arrangement

Same Altar - Requiem Arrangement