What is the color of the vestments. Why is the priest that in yellow, then in white? What symbolize the colors of the clothes of priests

Attending in the temple at Orthodox worship, you certainly pay attention to the beauty and solemnity of pleasures. The color variety is an integral part of the church-liturgical symbolism, and each color is the spiritual meaning of the event, in honor of which worship is performed.

Color range of purposes make up all the colors of the rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, blue, purple, as well as their totality - white color and opposite of the latter - black. Each color is assigned to a certain group of festive or lean days.

White color

It combines all the colors of the rainbow, the symbol of the Divine Light, which delighted the coffin of the resurrected Savior and sanctifying the creation of God.

All great holidays serve in white vessels: Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Transformation; They begin Easter morning in the sign of the world, having delighted the coffin of the resurrected Savior. White rises are relying for baptism and burials (since for a Christian death is a transition to another, the best world).

Red color

In red rises, following the White, continues the worship service of Easter and remains unchanged before the Ascension holiday. It is a symbol of inenectible, the flame love of God to the human and victory of the "Sun of Truth" - the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

But it is also - the color of the blood, and therefore services are held in red or crimsons in honor of the Holy Martyrs as a sign that the blood sheds the blood for faith was evidence of their flame love for the Lord.

Yellow, Golden or Orange Colors

In the canon of liturgical clouds there is no place for orange. However, he is present in the church from ancient times. This color is very thin, and not every eye is perceived correctly. Being a combination of red and yellow colors, an orange color in the tissues almost constantly slides: with a shade in the direction of yellow, it is perceived as yellow, and with the prevail of red - like red. Such an instability of orange color: deprived of its ability to occupy a certain place in a number of generally accepted colors for the purposes. But practically, he is constantly found in church riza, which are considered either yellow or red.

These are royal colors. Are the colors of glory, greatness and dignity. Used on holidays in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ and on Sundays. Christ is the king of fame, and his ministers have the completeness of grace of the highest degree of priesthood in the Church; In addition, in golden clothes, the church celebrates the days of its special anoints - the prophets, apostles and saint.

Green color

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1 Instructions on the color of the closures are set out in taking into account the established church practice, as well as the heads of the 4th volume of the "Desktop Book of the Credittle Service" (M., 1983. P. 148) - "The colors of liturgical purposes. Symbols of colors. "

2 There is a practice of making worships in honor of the Cross of Christ in burgundy vestments or in red rises, but a longer shade than Easter.

3 In antiquity in the Orthodox Church there was no black closure at all, and the great post served in the "crimson rizas", that is, in dark burgundy. Thus, on the weeks of the Great Service of the Service may also be performed in violet vestments, but a more dark shade than on Sundays St. Full agents.

4 There is a practice that in the continuation of the entire Assumption post (except transfiguration) uses blue rises.

5 Verification on weekdays are replaced by rizas corresponding to the saint's facility, in the case of the Saint Polyeleya or service with the Great Slavs. During the periods of beggar, the color of the clues for the sake of the celebration of the Polyel Saints in many temples does not change. With the coincidence of the memory of Saint on Sunday, the color of the vestments does not change and remains golden.

6 In the days of the memory of the blessed princes, who took the monotaway, (for example, St. Blgv. KN. Daniel Moscow), worship is performed in green vestments. The service in honor of the blessed princes-martyrs or passion recorders is performed in martyrdom.

Also there is a pious tradition of the Miryans to have in the laid colors of the holidays, for example: Women dressing handkerchiefs in the color of the holiday. This is nothing reprehensible, but the opposite should be encouraged.

In our temple there are no several types of liturgical closers, so in the photos, the color, laid for the liturgical day and in which the service is committed, may differ.

If for worldly affairs, with important solemn cases, we dress up in the best clothes, then with the service of God you have to do special clothes. Under the sacred clothes implies clothes used in worship. Each rank of clergy and cholesmithmakers are appointed during worship their special clothes. At the same time, the highest rank of priests always has the needs of the lower ranks.

Deacon walks in surplice-The long clothes with wide hand, the stir also dodged altarics and readers, orar.- Dental wide ribbon, which he wears on top of the scene on the left shoulder. On the hands of deacon clothes instructions-Rorotful wrappers covering only wrist.

The priest is climbing in podriznik(Pochor with narrow hand), stole-Connected in two orar, he focuses that the priest is given a double grace, bigger than the deacon, according to the charters of the church, the priest without Epitrohli, as a deacon without oraar, can not make any service. Belt- Looks dressed on top of the epitrophille and centers and marks the willingness to serve the Lord and Divine strength, strengthening clergy in the passage of their ministry. Wardrifier and palice- This clothing wearable on the belt on the hip. The first is a quadruple, somewhat oblong boards, and the second square boards. Felon, or riza- This is a long round clothes without sleeves with a hole for the head, Felon reminds priests about the clothes of the truth, which they must be ridiculed as the ministers of Christ. On the head during the service of the priests wear sucucian-Nebral hats from matter, or kamilavki-Wellic velvet hats, which are given as a reward or difference. Unlike deaconov, priests wear on the clothes, and on their home clothes a fresh cross.

All the priesthoods are served by the bishop's clouds, only instead of Feeloni, the bishop wears sakkos,on top of it omophore. Omophulae means Tu-lost shepherd, which Christ, a good shepherd, took on his shoulders to attribute to his father. Miter"The head decoration of the bishop, it serves as a symbol of pastoral power, the same meaning have Sucucia and Kamilaks given to priests. Panagia- A small round image of the Savior or the Mother of God, wearing bishops on the chest. Wand, or staffUsed by bishops in priesthood indicates their pastoral bump: to send its flock on the path of salvation, not allow it to delusions and reflect the defendants for her spiritual wolves. Orleans- Rural mats with an image of an eagle flying over the city. They rely during the service for the legs of the bishop and remind him that he should seek his thoughts and deeds to heaven. At the chest, the bishop wears a fresh cross.

Part of church-liturgical symbols are the variety of colors of priestly purposes. Their color range make up all the colors of the rainbow: red, yellow, oranju, green, blue, blue, purple; And besides white.
White colorIs a symbol of divine non-light light. In white vestments, priests serve in the Great Holidays: the Nativity of Christ, the Easter, Ascension, Transfiguration, the Easter Morning begins in them. With baptism and burial, the priest is also dressed in white.
Red color Following the White, the worship service of Easter continues and in red riza serve before the Ascension holiday. This color is a symbol of inevitable, the flame love of God to the genus of human. But the red is also the blood color therefore in the red vestments are held in honor of the martyrs.
Yellow, or gold and oranje are symbols of glory, greatness and dignity. In such versions, they serve on Sundays and in the days of the memory of the prophets, apostles and saint.
Green color Adopted in the days of the memory of random and indicates that their monastic feat revitalizes a person with a compound with Christ and builds it to the sky. In green colors serve on the Holy Trinity Day, Palm Sunday, Monday of the Holy Spirit.
Blue or blue Virgin holidays. This is the color of the sky, and it corresponds to the teachings about the Virgin Mary, who worn in his womb of Christ-Christ.
Purpleadopted in the days of the memory of the Cross of the Lord.
In black colorthe priests are dressed in the days of the Great Post. This is a symbol of renunciation from pomp, from the worldly fuss, the color of repentance and crying.

Used colors symbolize spiritual values \u200b\u200bof celebrated events.

Some parishioners of Orthodox temples have a tradition to wear the clothes of the appropriate color (it usually concerns women's headscarves), as well as to cover the houses of a red angle shelf with a handkerchief of the corresponding color.

Symbolism

Liturgical literature does not contain explanations about the symbolism of the colors used, and the icon-painted scripts only indicate which color should be used when writing clothes of a saint, but do not explain why. Symbols of colors can be determined based on a number of instructions of the Old and New Testaments, the interpretations of John Damaskina, the creations of the pseudo-doniania of theraopagitis, as well as the acts of universal and local councils.

The established canon of the colors of liturgical clouds consists of white (symbolizes the divine non-residential light), the seven main colors of the sunlight of the sunlight of which consists of white (in pursuance of the words of John the Theologian - "on the throne was sitting ... and the rainbow around the throne" (Rev. 4: 3-4), as well as black (symbolizes the absence of light, non-existence, death, mourning, or on the contrary, renunciation from the worldly bustle).

Use of flowers

In ancient times, the Orthodox Church did not use black liturgical vestments, although the casualties' casual wear (especially - monasses) had a black color. According to the charter, the great post was dressed in " bugs rzya"That is, in the vestments of dark red. For the first time in Russia, the St. Petersburg clergy was officially proposed to fit if possible in black vestments in 1730 to participate in the funeral of Peter II. So black visits entered the use of funeral and higher services. However, traditionally, the versions of white color, symbolizing the white rhymes of the Divine Light, are used in the burial and clock services.

Orange color, although it is often found in church vestments, but does not have its own place in the canon. If its shade is closer to yellow (gold color can often give orange chip), then it is perceived and used as yellow, and if red gamma prevails in it, then it is believed to red.

It is necessary to emphasize that the above combination of certain holidays and certain colors of the purposes is set out in accordance with the customs of the Russian Orthodox Church. The customs of other local churches may not coincide with the foregoing.

All Saturdays and Sundays of the Great Post are used extremely purple color.

In the modern Russian Orthodox church there is a tendency to reflect the use of black and replacing it with a purple darker shade than those used traditionally for the services of Sabbath and Sundays of the Great Post.

In Syaky, who at least once attended Orthodox worship, certainly paid attention to the beauty and solemnity of purposes. The color variety is an integral part of church-liturgical symbolism, the means of influencing the feelings of praying.

Color range of purposes make up all colors of rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, blue, purple; Their totality is white, and the opposite of the latter is black. Each color is assigned to a certain group of festive or lean days.

White color, Unifying all the colors of the rainbow, the symbol of divine non-light light. In white vestments, serve in the Great Holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Annunciation; The Easter Morning begins in them. White rises are relying for. committing baptism and burials.

Red color, Following the White, continues the worship of Easter and remains unchanged before the Holiday Holiday. This is a symbol of the ineverance, the flame love of God to the genus of human. But it is also - blood color, and therefore services in honor of martyrs are held in red or crushing versions.

Yellow (Golden) and Orange Colors are the colors of glory, greatness and dignity. They are learned by Sundays, as the days of the Lord - the king of Glory; In addition, in golden clothes, the church celebrates the days of its special anoints - the prophets, apostles and saint.

Green color - Merge yellow and blue. It is adopted in the days of Rev. and testify that their monastic feat revounted by a person with a connection with Christ (yellow) and builds it on the sky (blue). In the green colors of all shades along an ancient tradition, they serve in the Palm Resurrection, on the Day of the Holy Trinity and on Monday of the Holy Spirit.

Blue, or blue - The color of the holidays of the Most Holy Theotokos. It is the color of the sky, he corresponds to the teachings about the Mother of God, who is baking in his preching womb. Purple color adopted in the days of the memory of the Lord. It is connected red - the color of the blood of Christ and Resurrection, and blue, which is indicating that the cross opened the way to the sky. Black or dark brown is the closest in spirit of the Day of the Great Post. This is a symbol of renunciation from the worldly fuss, color of crying and repentance.

Symbolics flowers

The color gamut of liturgical closings consists of the following main colors: white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, purple, black. All of them symbolize the spiritual meanings of the celebrated holy and sacred events. On the Orthodox icons of color in the image of faces, robes, objects, the background itself, or "light", as it was precisely called in antiquity, also have a deeply symbolic meaning. The same applies to the wall paintings, the decoration of the temples. Based on the established traditional colors of modern liturgical purposes, from the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the creations of the Holy Fathers, from the preserved samples of ancient painting, you can give general theological interpretations of color symbols.

The most important holidays of the Orthodox Church and the sacred events that certain colors of robes are learned can be combined into six main groups.

1. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prophets, Apostles and St.. Color of closures - gold (yellow), all shades;
2. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, disembodied forces, virgins and virgins. Target color - blue and white;
3. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Cross of the Lord. Truck color - purple or dark red;
4. Group of holidays and days of memory of martyrs. Cloud color - red. (In the great Thursday, the color of the closures is dark red, although all the decoration of the altar remains black, on the throne - white peel);
5. A group of holidays and days of memory of the reverend, devotees, whores. Target color - green. The Day of the Holy Trinity, the entrance of the Lord in Jerusalem, the day of the Holy Spirit is celebrated, as a rule, in the green vestments of all shades;
6. In the period of posts, the color of the clouds is dark blue, purple, dark green, dark red, black. The last color is used mainly in the days of the Great Post. On the first week of this post and on weekdays, other weeks, the color of the clouds is black; Sundays and holidays are dark with gold or colored trim.

The burials are usually performed in white vestments.

In antiquity in the Orthodox Church there were no black liturgical closers, although the casualties' casual clothes (especially - monasses) had a black color. In antiquity in the Greek and Russian churches, according to the charter, the Great Post was dressed in the "Bagry of Riza" - in the vestments of dark red. In Russia, for the first time, it was officially proposed to fit whenever possible in black rhins by the St. Petersburg clergy in 1730 to participate in Peter II funeral. Since then, black visits are in the use of funeral and higher services.

In the canon of liturgical clouds there is no "his place" at orange. However, he is present in the church from ancient times. This color is very thin, and not every eye perceives it correctly. Being a combination of red and yellow colors, an orange color in the tissues almost constantly slides: with a shade in the direction of yellow, it is perceived as yellow (gold often gives orange tint), and with a predominance of red - like red. Such an instability of orange color: deprived of its ability to occupy a certain place in a number of generally accepted colors for the purposes. But practically he is often found in church riza, which are considered either yellow or red.

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

Church liturgical literature keeps full silence about flowers symbolism. The iconographic "facial scripts" indicate what color of the robe should write on the icons of the ILC of another holy face, but do not explain why. In this regard, the "decoding" of the symbolic value of colors in the church is quite predicted. However, some instructions of the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments, the interpretation of John Damaskina, Sofronia of Jerusalem, Simeon Solunsky, Creations, who are associated with the name of the Dionysius of Areopagitis, some comments in the Acts of Universal and Local Cathedrals make it possible to establish key principles for deciphering color symbols. Help this and works of modern secular scientists. Many valuable guidance on this subject is contained in the article of our domestic scientist V. V. Bychkov "The aesthetic value of color in Eastern Christian art" (Questions of the history and theory of aesthetics. "Ed. MSU, 1975, p. 129-145.).The author is based on his conclusions on these history, archeology and interpretations of the above teachers of the Church. N. Bakhilin builds its work on other sources. (N. B. Bakhin. The history of color values \u200b\u200bin Russian. M., "Science", 1975.). The material for her book serves as Russian in monuments of writing and folklore from the XI century. Up to modern times. The comments on the symbolic meaning of colors of this author do not contradict the judgments of Bychkov, and in some cases directly confirm them. Both author refer to extensive research literature.

The interpretation of the main values \u200b\u200bof the colors in church symbols proposed below is given with modern scientific research in this area.

In the current canon of church overseas services, we essentially have two phenomena - white color and all seven main spectrum colors from which it consists (or to which it decomposes), and black as a lack of light, a symbol of non-existence, death, mourning or renunciation Moorish bustle and wealth. (N. B. Bakhinina in the specified book notes that in the minds of Russian people with deep antiquity, the black color had two different symbolic meanings. He, in contrast to the white, meant something belonging to the "dark forces", "Sonmind demons", death in one its sense and monastic clothes as a sign of humility and repentance - in another (p. 29-31).

The spectrum of sunlight is the colors of the rainbow. Seven-color rainbow makes up the basis of the color gamut of ancient icons. Rainbow, this is striking on the beauty of his phenomenon, was represented by God by God as a sign "The Testament of the Eternal Between God and between the Earth and between all the souls in any flesh that on Earth" (Gen. 9, 16). The rainbow, like an arc or a bridge, defended between some two shores or edges, means the connection between the Old and the New Testaments and the "Bridge" between the life of the temporary and eternal in the kingdom of heaven.

This relationship (in both semoley values) is carried out by Christ and in Christ as a guy for the entire human genus, so that he was no longer exterminated by the Flood Waves, but would make salvation in the embodied Son God. From this point of view, the rainbow is nothing but the image of the shine of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation, the apostle John the Bologosov sees the Lord of the Almighty, sitting on the throne, "And around the throne of the Rainbow" (Rev. 4, 3). In another place he sees "Angel of a strong, converging from the sky, clothed with the cloud; His head was a rainbow " (Rev. 10, 1). Evangelist Mark, describing the Transfiguration of the Lord, says that "His clothes got shine, very white, like snow" (MK. 9, 3). And the snow with bright brilliance gives the sun, as is known, it is the rainbow overflows.

The latter is especially important to note, because in church symbolism white color is not just one of many other colors, it is a symbol of divine non-light light that transfuses 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 the image and the sign of the uniform Divine Light. In fact, if not and can not be anything external, which would not be a phenomenon in the visible substance of an invisible, spiritual, the light and the component of its color scheme should contain the display of certain divine truths and phenomena, to be the images of those colors that in The areas of heavenly existence are inherent in certain spiritual phenomena and persons. The revelation of John the Theologian is replete with an amazing multitude of color details. We note the main. The Saints and Angels in the field of heavenly life are closed in the white rises of the Divine Light, in the same bright clothes, the "wife of the Lamb" - the church. This common Light for Divine Holiness is revealed to the Multi-Flowings of the Rainbow, and in the radiance around the throne of the Almighty, and in the brilliance of various gems and gold, of which the "new Jerusalem" consists of the church - "wife of the Lamb". Lord Jesus Christ is in the podire (the Old Testament Hard Priest, which Aaron had blue), then in the color of the blood color (red), which corresponds to the blood sheds of the Son of God for the salvation of the human race and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ constantly nourishes his church In the sacrament of communion. The angels of Okiasani on frenses with gold belts, on the chapters of Christ and those around him the priests, the Tyintrier sees the Golden Crowns.

Gold thanks to its sunshine is in church symbolism the same sign of divine light as white. It has a special semantic meaning - royal glory, dignity, wealth. However, this symbolic value of gold is spiritually combined with its first meaning as the image of the "Divine Light", the "sun of the truth" and "light of the world." The Lord Jesus Christ is "light from the light" (God of Father), so that the concepts of the royal dignity of the Heavenly Tsar and the Divine Light inherent to him are united at the level of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe one in the Trinity, Creator and Almighty.

V. V. Bychkov in this article writes about this as: "The light played an important role in almost any level of Eastern East-Staean culture. The entire mystical path of "knowledge" root causes in one form or another was associated with contemplation in itself "Divine Light". "Pre-convertible" man thought as "enlightened". Light, lighting, ignition of various lamps and candles in certain moments of service, luminaires - all this was of great importance in the structure of worship - the liturgical path of attachment to the highest knowledge. "Canon of the uterine" ended the exclamation of the Primate: "Glory to you, who seemed to us the light!". There was a light of the sun (sunrise), and the light of truth, because Jesus said himself: "I am the light of the world" (in. 9, 5). Therefore, gold is a steady symbol of truth. "

The same V. V. Bobkov stresses and emphasizes that in the icon painting the divine light was symbolized not only by gold, but also white, which means the radiance of eternal life and purity (similar meaningful meaning of the word "white" in ancient Russian language notes N. B. Bakhin) as opposed to black color of hell, death, spiritual darkness. Therefore, in the icon painting, only the images of the cave, where the birth of the Gogobyman, the coffin, from which the risen Lazar came out in white pellets, of Hell, from the depths of which are raised by the righteous with the righteous depths (also in white pellets). And when on the icons it was necessary to portray something having a black color in everyday life, then they tried this color to replace some other. For example, black horses painted blue;

It should be noted that for a similar reason in ancient iconopus, they tried to avoid both brown, for it is essentially the color of "land" and dirt. And when we meet in ancient icons sometimes brown color, then you can think that the painter still had in mind the dark yellow, sick color, sought to convey some physicity, but not earthly, damaged sin.

As for pure yellow color, it is predominantly synonymous with the liturgical vestments, but in itself, does not directly replace the white color, as its gold can replace.

There are three independent colors in the rainbow of the paints, from which the other four are usually formed. It is red, yellow and blue (blue). There are in mind the dyes that usually enjoyed in ancient with iconography, as well as dyes, the most common in everyday life of modern painters, "ordinary". For many modern chemical dyes can give absolutely different, unexpected effects. If there are "vintage" or "ordinary" dyes, an artist can, having red, yellow and blue paint, get a green, purple, orange, blue, blue. If he does not have red, yellow and blue paints, he cannot get them by mixing the paints of other colors. Similar color effects are obtained when mixing emissions of different colors of the spectrum using modern devices - colorimeters.

Thus, the seven main colors of the rainbow (spectrum) correspond to the mysterious number of seven, laid by God in the orders of Heaven and Earth Being, - six days of the creation of the world and the seventh - the day of the rest of the Lord; Trinity and four-day, seven sacraments of the church; Seven lamps in the Heavenly Temple, etc. And the presence of three non-derivatives and four derivative colors in the colors corresponds to the ideas about uncooked God in the Trinity and the creation created by him.

"God is love", the revealed world, especially in the fact that the Son of God, embodied, suffered and shed her blood for the salvation of the world, the sins of mankind was mischievous. God is the fire that is. Moses, the Lord opens in the fire of the Nealalist bunk, is a fiery pillar in Israel in the promised land. This allows you to attribute a red color as the color of fiery love and fire, to the symbol, mainly related to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Ipostasi of God Father.

The Son of God is the "radiance of the Glory of the Otchi", "King of the World", "the bishops of the coming benefits." These concepts most of all correspond to the color of gold (yellow) - the color of the royal and bishop dignity.

The Holy Spirit Hipostasis is well corresponds to the blue color of the sky, the writhing gifts of the Holy Spirit and His grace. The sky is disturbed is the mapping of the sky of the spiritual - an innumerable region of heavenly being. The Holy Spirit is called the king of heaven.

The saint of the Holy Trinity is one of the essence, so that, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, the Son - in the father and spirit, the Father - in the Son and Spirit, the Spirit - in the Father and Son. Therefore, if you take colors as trinity symbols, then any of the colors can symbolically reflect the ideas about any of the persons of the Trice Divine. All the commercial activities of God contains the participation of all persons of the Trinity. But there are divine acts in which the Father's God is predominantly glorified, or the god Son, or the God of the Holy Spirit. So, in the Old Testament, the fame of the god of the Father is noticeable, the Creator and Springtale of the world. In the earthly life and the leader of Jesus Christ, the God of the Son is glorified. In the Pentecost and the subsequent exaggeration of grace in the church, the comforter is glorified, the spirit of truth.

Accordingly, this red color can express predominantly ideas about God Father, Golden (Yellow) - about God Son, Blue (Blue) - about God's spirit of Holy. The specified colors, of course, may have and also possess special, other semantic symbolic values \u200b\u200bdepending on the spiritual context of the icon, wall painting, ornament. But in these cases, it is not necessary when studying the meaning of the work, to completely neglected the main values \u200b\u200bof these three main, non-derivative colors. This makes it possible to interpret the meaning of church closures.

Holiday holidays - Easter Christ is beginning in white vestments in the sign of the Divine Light, delighted from the coffin of the resurrection of the Savior. But the Easter liturgy is already, and then the whole week serve in red rises, marking the celebration of the ineveral flame love of God to the genus of the human, manifested in the sponuniary feat of the Son of God. In some temples, it is customary on Easter morning on each of the eight canon's songs to change the vestments, so the priest appears every time in the riza of another color. It makes sense. The game of rainbow colors is very consistent with this celebration of celebrations.

Sundays, the memory of the apostles, the prophets, the saint are celebrated in the riza of gold (yellow) color, as it is directly related to the idea of \u200b\u200bChrist as the Tsar of Fame and the bishop and about those servants who in the church marked his presence and had full grace The highest degree of priesthood.

The holidays of Our Lady are banned by the blue color of the closures because the elected vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit is chosen, twice is autonomed with his nate - both in the Annunciation and in Pentecost. Denoticing the daughty chunnormality of the Blessed Virgin, the blue color at the same time symbolizes its celestial purity and impossibility. Blue color is also a high energy color, which corresponds to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe power of the Holy Spirit and its action.

But on the icons, the Mother of God, as a rule, is depicted in the coat of purple (dark red, cherry) color, put on top of the rize of dark blue or green colors. The fact is that purple robes, the bugs, along with the gold, were in antiquity of the clothes of the kings and the king. The iconist in this case indicates the color of the bedspread that the Mother of God is a queen of heavenly.

Holidays, where the Action of the Holy Spirit is glorified, - the Day of the Holy Trinity and the Day of the Holy Spirit is absorbed not Blue, as it would be expected, but a green color. This color is formed by a combination of blue and yellow colors, meaning the spirit of the Holy and God of the Son, the Lord of our Jesus Christ, which exactly corresponds in meaning how the Lord fulfilled his promise to send from his father to the Church of the Holy Spirit, "Lord Lental " Everything with life is going on by the will of the Father through the Son and revives the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the symbol of eternal life is revealed by the tree and in the Holy Scripture, and in the church consciousness. So the usual earthly greenery of trees, forests and fields has always been perceived by a religious feeling as a symbol of life, spring, updates, liveliness.

If the spectrum of sunlight is present in the form of a circle, that the ends connect it, it turns out that the purple color is the mediastum of the two opposite ends of the spectrum - red and blue (blue). In the paints purple color and is formed by the connection of these two opposite colors. Thus, purple color combines the beginning and end of the light spectrum. This color is assimilated by the memories of the cross and a great service, where the suffering and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ are remembered for the rescue of people. Lord Jesus said about himself: "I am alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and last" (Rev. 22, 13).

The godfather death of the Savior was the rest of the Lord Jesus Christ from His Affairs of the Salvation of Man in the Earth Human Nature. It corresponds to the rest of God from the work of the world's creation in the seventh day, after the creation of a person. Purple color - the seventh in a row from the red, from which the spectral gamma begins. Inherent in the memory of the cross and crucifixion purple color, containing red and blue color, indicates, in addition, a particular presence of all the Holy Trinity's Ipostasses in the gloor of Christ. And at the same time, the purple color can express the idea that death defeated Christ's death on the cross, since the connection together two extreme colors does not leave any place in the resulting color of the column, as a symbol of death.

Purple color affects the deepest spirituality. As a sign of the highest spirituality, in combination with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe godniegency of the Savior, this color is used for the bishop mantle, so the Orthodox bishop as it were to have the whole to the gloor feat of the heavenly bishop, and the imitator of which the bishop is in the church. Such semantic values \u200b\u200balso have premium purple skuffi and clergy clergy.

The holidays of martyrs are absorbed by the red color of liturgical closers as a sign that the blood spilled by them for faith in Christ was evidence of their flame love to the Lord "With all my heart and everything soul" (MK. 12, 30). Thus, the red color in church symbolism is the color of the infinite mutual love of God and man.

The green color of the clouds on the days of the memory of devotees and the pretext means that a spiritual feat, killing the sinful beginnings of the lower human will, does not kill the person himself, and comes to his combination with the king of glory (yellow color) and the grace of the Holy Spirit (blue) to life eternal and updating all human nature.

The white color of the liturgical closings is accepted on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, the Epiphany, the Annunciation because he, as noted, marks the unoccupied divine light, coming into the world and sanctifying the creation of God, transforming him. For this reason, in white riza serve on the holidays of transformation and ascension of the Lord.

White color is also accepted to commemorate the deceased, because it is very clear expresses the meaning and content of the funeral prayers, which are requested to rescue from earthly life with the saints, in the villages of the righteous, clothed, according to Revelation, in the kingdom of heaven in the White Rhea of \u200b\u200bDivine Light.

Anyone who at least once was present at Orthodox worship, necessarily paid attention to the beauty and solemnity of purposes. The color variety is an integral part of church-liturgical symbolism, the means of influencing the feelings of praying.

Color range of purposes make up all colors of rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, blue, purple; Their totality is white, and the opposite of the latter is black. Each color is assigned to a certain group of festive or lean days.

White color, uniting all the colors of the rainbow, the symbol of divine non-light light. In white vestments, serve in the Great Holidays of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Annunciation; The Easter Morning begins in them. White rises are relying for. committing baptism and burials.

Red color, Following the White, continues the worship of Easter and remains unchanged before the Holiday Holiday. This is a symbol of the ineverance, the flame love of God to the genus of human. But it is also - blood color, and therefore services in honor of martyrs are held in red or crushing versions.

Yellow (Golden) and Orangecolors are the colors of glory, greatness and dignity. They are learned by Sundays, as the days of the Lord - the king of Glory; In addition, in golden clothes, the church celebrates the days of its special anoints - the prophets, apostles and saint.

Green color- Merge yellow and blue. It is adopted in the days of Rev. and testify that their monastic feat revounted by a person with a connection with Christ (yellow) and builds it on the sky (blue). In the green colors of all shades along an ancient tradition, they serve in the Palm Resurrection, on the Day of the Holy Trinity and on Monday of the Holy Spirit.

Blue, or blue - The color of the holidays of the Most Holy Theotokos. It is the color of the sky, he corresponds to the teachings about the Mother of God, who is baking in his preching womb. Purple color adopted in the days of the memory of the Lord. It is connected red - the color of the blood of Christ and Resurrection, and blue, which is indicating that the cross opened the way to the sky. Black or dark brown is the closest in spirit of the Day of the Great Post. This is a symbol of renunciation from the worldly fuss, color of crying and repentance.

Symbolics flowers

The color gamut of liturgical closings consists of the following main colors: white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, purple, black. All of them symbolize the spiritual meanings of the celebrated holy and sacred events. On the Orthodox icons of color in the image of faces, robes, objects, the background itself, or "light", as it was precisely called in antiquity, also have a deeply symbolic meaning. The same applies to the wall paintings, the decoration of the temples. Based on the established traditional colors of modern liturgical purposes, from the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the creations of the Holy Fathers, from the preserved samples of ancient painting, you can give general theological interpretations of color symbols.

The most important holidays of the Orthodox Church and the sacred events that certain colors of robes are learned can be combined into six main groups.

1. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prophets, Apostles and St.. Color of closures - gold (yellow), all shades;
2. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, disembodied forces, virgins and virgins. Target color - blue and white;
3. A group of holidays and days of memory of the Cross of the Lord. Truck color - purple or dark red;
4. Group of holidays and days of memory of martyrs. Cloud color - red. (In the great Thursday, the color of the closures is dark red, although all the decoration of the altar remains black, on the throne - white peel);
5. A group of holidays and days of memory of the reverend, devotees, whores. Target color - green. The Day of the Holy Trinity, the entrance of the Lord in Jerusalem, the day of the Holy Spirit is celebrated, as a rule, in the green vestments of all shades;
6. In the period of posts, the color of the clouds is dark blue, purple, dark green, dark red, black. The last color is used mainly in the days of the Great Post. On the first week of this post and on weekdays, other weeks, the color of the clouds is black; Sundays and holidays are dark with gold or colored trim.

The burials are usually performed in white vestments.

In antiquity in the Orthodox Church there were no black liturgical closers, although the casualties' casual clothes (especially - monasses) had a black color. In antiquity in the Greek and Russian churches, according to the charter, the Great Post was dressed in the "Bagry of Riza" - in the vestments of dark red. In Russia, for the first time, it was officially proposed to fit whenever possible in black rhins by the St. Petersburg clergy in 1730 to participate in Peter II funeral. Since then, black visits are in the use of funeral and higher services.

In the canon of liturgical clouds there is no "his place" at orange. However, he is present in the church from ancient times. This color is very thin, and not every eye perceives it correctly. Being a combination of red and yellow colors, an orange color in the tissues almost constantly slides: with a shade in the direction of yellow, it is perceived as yellow (gold often gives orange tint), and with a predominance of red - like red. Such an instability of orange color: deprived of its ability to occupy a certain place in a number of generally accepted colors for the purposes. But practically he is often found in church riza, which are considered either yellow or red.

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

Church liturgical literature keeps full silence about flowers symbolism. The iconographic "facial scripts" indicate what color of the robe should write on the icons of the ILC of another holy face, but do not explain why. In this regard, the "decoding" of the symbolic value of colors in the church is quite predicted. However, some instructions of the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments, the interpretation of John Damaskina, Sofronia of Jerusalem, Simeon Solunsky, Creations, who are associated with the name of the Dionysius of Areopagitis, some comments in the Acts of Universal and Local Cathedrals make it possible to establish key principles for deciphering color symbols. Help this and works of modern secular scientists. A lot of valuable guidance on this subject is contained in the article of our domestic scientist V. V. Bychkov "The aesthetic value of color in Eastern Christian art" (questions of the history and theory of aesthetics. "Ed. MSU, 1975, p. 129-145.). The author is based on his conclusions on these history, archeology and interpretations of the above teachers of the Church. On other sources, N. B. Bakhchin is building its work (N. B. Bakhin. The history of color matters in Russian. M., "Science", 1975.). The material for her book serves as Russian in monuments of writing and folklore from the XI century. Up to modern times. The comments on the symbolic meaning of colors of this author do not contradict the judgments of Bychkov, and in some cases directly confirm them. Both author refer to extensive research literature.

The interpretation of the main values \u200b\u200bof the colors in church symbols proposed below is given with modern scientific research in this area.

In the current canon of church overseas services, we essentially have two phenomena - white color and all seven main spectrum colors from which it consists (or to which it decomposes), and black as a lack of light, a symbol of non-existence, death, mourning or renunciation Moorish bustle and wealth. (N. B. Bakhinina in the specified book notes that in the minds of Russian people with deep antiquity, the black color had two different symbolic meanings. He, in contrast to the white, meant something belonging to the "dark forces", "Sonmind demons", death in one His sense and monastic clothing as a sign of humility and repentance - in another (p. 29-31).

The spectrum of sunlight is the colors of the rainbow. Seven-color rainbow makes up the basis of the color gamut of ancient icons. Rainbow, this is a striking on the beauty of his phenomenon, was represented by God by God as the sign of the "Testament of the Eternal Between God and between the Earth and between all the souls in any flesh that on Earth" (Gen. 9, 16). The rainbow, like an arc or a bridge, defended between some two shores or edges, means the connection between the Old and the New Testaments and the "Bridge" between the life of the temporary and eternal in the kingdom of heaven.

This relationship (in both semoley values) is carried out by Christ and in Christ as a guy for the entire human genus, so that he was no longer exterminated by the Flood Waves, but would make salvation in the embodied Son God. From this point of view, the rainbow is nothing but the image of the shine of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation, the apostle John the Bologosov sees the Lord of the Almighty, sitting on the throne, "and around the throne of the Rainbow" (Rev. 4, 3). In another place he sees the "Angel of a strong, converging from the sky, clothed with the cloud; His head was a rainbow "(Rev. 10, 1). Evangelist Mark, describing the Transfiguration of the Lord, says that "his clothes became gliding, very white, like snow" (MK. 9, 3). And the snow with bright brilliance gives the sun, as is known, it is the rainbow overflows.

The latter is especially important to note, because in church symbolism white color is not just one of many other colors, it is a symbol of divine non-light light that transfuses 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 the image and the sign of the uniform Divine Light. In fact, if not and can not be anything external, which would not be a phenomenon in the visible substance of an invisible, spiritual, the light and the component of its color scheme should contain the display of certain divine truths and phenomena, to be the images of those colors that in The areas of heavenly existence are inherent in certain spiritual phenomena and persons. The revelation of John the Theologian is replete with an amazing multitude of color details. We note the main. The Saints and Angels in the field of heavenly life are closed in the white rises of the Divine Light, in the same bright clothes, the "wife of the Lamb" - the church. This common Light for Divine Holiness is revealed to the Multi-Flowings of the Rainbow, and in the radiance around the throne of the Almighty, and in the brilliance of various gems and gold, of which the "new Jerusalem" consists of the church - "wife of the Lamb". Lord Jesus Christ is in the podire (the Old Testament Hard Priest, which Aaron had blue), then in the color of the blood color (red), which corresponds to the blood sheds of the Son of God for the salvation of the human race and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ constantly nourishes his church In the sacrament of communion. The angels of Okiasani on frenses with gold belts, on the chapters of Christ and those around him the priests, the Tyintrier sees the Golden Crowns.

Gold thanks to its sunshine is in church symbolism the same sign of divine light as white. It has a special semantic meaning - royal glory, dignity, wealth. However, this symbolic value of gold is spiritually combined with its first meaning as the image of the "Divine Light", the "sun of the truth" and "light of the world." The Lord Jesus Christ is "light from the light" (God of Father), so that the concepts of the royal dignity of the Heavenly Tsar and the Divine Light inherent to him are united at the level of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe one in the Trinity, Creator and Almighty.

V. V. Bychkov in this article writes about this as: "The light played an important role in almost any level of Eastern Christian culture. The entire mystical path of "knowledge" root causes in one form or another was associated with contemplation in itself "Divine Light". "Pre-convertible" man thought as "enlightened". Light, lighting, ignition of various lamps and candles at certain points in service, luminous motifs - all this was of great importance in the structure of worship - the liturgical path of admission to the highest knowledge. "Canon of the uterine" ended the exclamation of the Primate: "Glory to you, who seemed to us the light!". There was a light of the sun (sunrise), and the light of truth, because Jesus said himself: "I am the light of the world" (in. 9, 5). Therefore, gold is a steady symbol of truth. "

The same V. V. Bobkov stresses and emphasizes that in the icon painting the divine light was symbolized not only by gold, but also white, which means the radiance of eternal life and purity (similar meaningful meaning of the word "white" in ancient Russian language notes N. B. Bakhin) as opposed to black color of hell, death, spiritual darkness. Therefore, in the icon painting, only the images of the cave, where the birth of the Gogobyman, the coffin, from which the risen Lazar came out in white pellets, of Hell, from the depths of which are raised by the righteous with the righteous depths (also in white pellets). And when on the icons it was necessary to portray something having a black color in everyday life, then they tried this color to replace some other. For example, black horses painted blue;

It should be noted that for a similar reason in ancient iconopus, they tried to avoid both brown, for it is essentially the color of "land" and dirt. And when we meet in ancient icons sometimes brown color, then you can think that the painter still had in mind the dark yellow, sick color, sought to convey some physicity, but not earthly, damaged sin.

As for pure yellow color, it is predominantly synonymous with the liturgical vestments, but in itself, does not directly replace the white color, as its gold can replace.

There are three independent colors in the rainbow of the paints, from which the other four are usually formed. It is red, yellow and blue (blue). There are in mind the dyes that usually enjoyed in ancient with iconography, as well as dyes, the most common in everyday life of modern painters, "ordinary". For many modern chemical dyes can give absolutely different, unexpected effects. If there are "vintage" or "ordinary" dyes, an artist can, having red, yellow and blue paint, get a green, purple, orange, blue, blue. If he does not have red, yellow and blue paints, he cannot get them by mixing the paints of other colors. Similar color effects are obtained when mixing emissions of different colors of the spectrum using modern devices - colorimeters.

Thus, the seven main colors of the rainbow (spectrum) correspond to the mysterious number of seven, laid by God in the orders of Heaven and Earth Being, - six days of the creation of the world and the seventh - the day of the rest of the Lord; Trinity and four-day, seven sacraments of the church; Seven lamps in the Heavenly Temple, etc. And the presence of three non-derivatives and four derivative colors in the colors corresponds to the ideas about uncooked God in the Trinity and the creation created by him.

"God is love", the revealed world, especially in the fact that the Son of God, embodied, suffered and shed her blood for the salvation of the world, the sins of mankind was mischievous. God is the fire that is. Moses, the Lord opens in the fire of the Nealalist bunk, is a fiery pillar in Israel in the promised land. This allows you to attribute a red color as the color of fiery love and fire, to the symbol, mainly related to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Ipostasi of God Father.

The Son of God is the "radiance of the Glory of the Otchi", "King of the World", "the bishops of the coming benefits." These concepts most of all correspond to the color of gold (yellow) - the color of the royal and bishop dignity.

The Holy Spirit Hipostasis is well corresponds to the blue color of the sky, the writhing gifts of the Holy Spirit and His grace. The sky is disturbed is the mapping of the sky of the spiritual - an innumerable region of heavenly being. The Holy Spirit is called the king of heaven.

The saint of the Holy Trinity is one of the essence, so that, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, the Son - in the father and spirit, the Father - in the Son and Spirit, the Spirit - in the Father and Son. Therefore, if you take colors as trinity symbols, then any of the colors can symbolically reflect the ideas about any of the persons of the Trice Divine. All the commercial activities of God contains the participation of all persons of the Trinity. But there are divine acts in which the Father's God is predominantly glorified, or the god Son, or the God of the Holy Spirit. So, in the Old Testament, the fame of the god of the Father is noticeable, the Creator and Springtale of the world. In the earthly life and the leader of Jesus Christ, the God of the Son is glorified. In the Pentecost and the subsequent exaggeration of grace in the church, the comforter is glorified, the spirit of truth.

Accordingly, this red color can express predominantly ideas about God Father, Golden (Yellow) - about God Son, Blue (Blue) - about God's spirit of Holy. The specified colors, of course, may have and also possess special, other semantic symbolic values \u200b\u200bdepending on the spiritual context of the icon, wall painting, ornament. But in these cases, it is not necessary when studying the meaning of the work, to completely neglected the main values \u200b\u200bof these three main, non-derivative colors. This makes it possible to interpret the meaning of church closures.

Holiday holidays - Easter Christ is beginning in white vestments in the sign of the Divine Light, delighted from the coffin of the resurrection of the Savior. But the Easter liturgy is already, and then the whole week serve in red rises, marking the celebration of the ineveral flame love of God to the genus of the human, manifested in the sponuniary feat of the Son of God. In some temples, it is customary on Easter morning on each of the eight canon's songs to change the vestments, so the priest appears every time in the riza of another color. It makes sense. The game of rainbow colors is very consistent with this celebration of celebrations.

Sundays, the memory of the apostles, the prophets, the saint are celebrated in the riza of gold (yellow) color, as it is directly related to the idea of \u200b\u200bChrist as the Tsar of Fame and the bishop and about those servants who in the church marked his presence and had full grace The highest degree of priesthood.

The holidays of Our Lady are banned by the blue color of the closures because the elected vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit is chosen, twice is autonomed with his nate - both in the Annunciation and in Pentecost. Denoticing the daughty chunnormality of the Blessed Virgin, the blue color at the same time symbolizes its celestial purity and impossibility. Blue color is also a high energy color, which corresponds to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe power of the Holy Spirit and its action.

But on the icons, the Mother of God, as a rule, is depicted in the coat of purple (dark red, cherry) color, put on top of the rize of dark blue or green colors. The fact is that purple robes, the bugs, along with the gold, were in antiquity of the clothes of the kings and the king. The iconist in this case indicates the color of the bedspread that the Mother of God is a queen of heavenly.

Holidays, where the Action of the Holy Spirit is glorified, - the Day of the Holy Trinity and the Day of the Holy Spirit is absorbed not Blue, as it would be expected, but a green color. This color is formed by a combination of blue and yellow colors, meaning the spirit of the Holy and God of the Son, the Lord of our Jesus Christ, which exactly corresponds in meaning how the Lord fulfilled his promise to send from his father to the Church of the Holy Spirit, "Lord Lental " Everything with life is going on by the will of the Father through the Son and revives the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the symbol of eternal life is revealed by the tree and in the Holy Scripture, and in the church consciousness. So the usual earthly greenery of trees, forests and fields has always been perceived by a religious feeling as a symbol of life, spring, updates, liveliness.

If the spectrum of sunlight is present in the form of a circle, that the ends connect it, it turns out that the purple color is the mediastum of the two opposite ends of the spectrum - red and blue (blue). In the paints purple color and is formed by the connection of these two opposite colors. Thus, purple color combines the beginning and end of the light spectrum. This color is assimilated by the memories of the cross and a great service, where the suffering and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ are remembered for the rescue of people. Lord Jesus said about himself: "I am alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, the first and last" (Rev. 22, 13).

The godfather death of the Savior was the rest of the Lord Jesus Christ from His Affairs of the Salvation of Man in the Earth Human Nature. It corresponds to the rest of God from the work of the world's creation in the seventh day, after the creation of a person. Purple color - the seventh in a row from the red, from which the spectral gamma begins. Inherent in the memory of the cross and crucifixion purple color, containing red and blue color, indicates, in addition, a particular presence of all the Holy Trinity's Ipostasses in the gloor of Christ. And at the same time, the purple color can express the idea that death defeated Christ's death on the cross, since the connection together two extreme colors does not leave any place in the resulting color of the column, as a symbol of death.

Purple color affects the deepest spirituality. As a sign of the highest spirituality, in combination with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe godniegency of the Savior, this color is used for the bishop mantle, so the Orthodox bishop as it were to have the whole to the gloor feat of the heavenly bishop, and the imitator of which the bishop is in the church. Such semantic values \u200b\u200balso have premium purple skuffi and clergy clergy.

The holidays of martyrs are absorbed by the red color of the liturgical closers as a sign that the blood spilled by them for faith in Christ was evidenced by their flame love to the Lord "with all the heart and all souls" (MK. 12, 30). Thus, the red color in church symbolism is the color of the infinite mutual love of God and man.

The green color of the clouds on the days of the memory of devotees and the pretext means that a spiritual feat, killing the sinful beginnings of the lower human will, does not kill the person himself, and comes to his combination with the king of glory (yellow color) and the grace of the Holy Spirit (blue) to life eternal and updating all human nature.

The white color of the liturgical closings is accepted on the holidays of the Nativity of Christ, the Epiphany, the Annunciation because he, as noted, marks the unoccupied divine light, coming into the world and sanctifying the creation of God, transforming him. For this reason, in white riza serve on the holidays of transformation and ascension of the Lord.

White color is also accepted to commemorate the deceased, because it is very clear expresses the meaning and content of the funeral prayers, which are requested to rescue from earthly life with the saints, in the villages of the righteous, clothed, according to Revelation, in the kingdom of heaven in the White Rhea of \u200b\u200bDivine Light.