The Chasuble

[Meßgewand].
This is the priestly garment used when reading the Mass before the altar. It is of different colors according to the time. There are five colors: The white color signifies a feast of high joy, and is used from Christmas Eve to the octave of Epiphany, as also at the Masses of the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary, etc. w.; red is used from Pentecost Eve to the following Saturday, as also at the feasts of the holy apostles and martyrs who shed their blood for the sake of the Gospel, the feast of St. John excepted; purple signifies a feast of penitence, from the first of Advent to the eve of St. Christopher, also during Lent; green indicates a feast of hopes, from the Octave of Epiphany to Sunday Septuagesimä, and on the Sundays after Pentecost; the yellow color applies to the white and any other above; black a sign of mourning, is used on the sixth day of the week, on Good Friday, and at the Masses for souls.