This coming Sunday - the third Sunday of Advent - will be Gaudete. The vestments will be rose-colored and unlike the rest of Advent, altar flowers will be permitted. Gemma's post on rose Sundays provides images of various rose vestments and is a good source of ideas for floral arrangements if the arranger wishes to present an elaborate display.
Update - 12-8-2025:
Today's Mass liturgy can be found at Usus Antiquior here.
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Tomorrow we honor the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. As I mentioned in the post on Advent flowers, the general rule is that there should be no altar flowers during Advent except for Gaudete (third Sunday). But, as far as I've been able to determine, there is no prohibition on altar flowers for Immaculate Conception.
While there is much to be said for a restrained arrangement of greenery in keeping with the penitential nature of Advent, if an arranger wishes to do a floral display, many ideas can be found in Gemma's post on altar flowers for Marian feast days.
You will find there several photos of Gemma's past floral arrangements for Our Lady. I posted the above image of the hydrangea arrangement because I think it is especially good, although it might be difficult to find hydrangeas this time of year. There are a few blue flowers that do bloom in the winter such as blue primrose.
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| Madonna Lily |
In many local churches it is customary to fill the sanctuary with red poinsettias for Christmas. This post is for those who may wish to depart from that custom.
The liturgical color for Christmas is white. That means that the priest's vestments and the altar frontal will be white. Accordingly, white flowers can make a stunning church flower decoration for Christmas.
Here is what my favorite church flower writer, Katharine Morrison McClinton has to say on the subject:
"Liturgical usage calls for a white frontal for Christmas, and thus it seems that white flowers are also appropriate at the altar to carry out the symbolical purity of the occasion.
A plan of decoration which uses white on the altar and green for the rest of the church illustrates the rule of placing your decoration so that the attention is drawn to the eastern end.
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| White Poinsettia |
"If we decide that altar flowers should be white on Christmas there are none more appropriate than Madonna lilies. Their stately dignity and well-defined form carry at a distance. However, the calla lily, or almost any other white flower in season, maybe used, providing it is arranged so that it carries as a mass arrangement and may be seen at the far end of the church. White roses or carnations may be massed in oval bouquets and outlined in a fan of green foliage. White gladioli, when their stems are cut down, are also effective. Other white flowers for use at Christmas are cyclamen, white azalea, white primroses, and white poinsettias. Two vases of flowers are sufficient if they can be arranged to carry at a distance. If not, four vases may be used, or, in the case of the liturgical altar with its six decorative candlesticks, a vase of flowers may be placed between each candlestick, and vases of flowers may also be put in the niches of the reredos."Patteson-Knight and St. Claire have this to say:
"Tradition dictates the use of broad-leaf or needled evergreens in the church on Christmas Day. Holly . . . is especially preferred. More recently this tradition has been extended to include poinsettias or, lacking them, a wealth of red flowers. Even so, white is still the sacred color of Christmas. No greater effect is needed that day than a white frontal and white flowers in white or gold vases besides gold candlesticks on the altar.
"The choice of red or white flowers and the number of containers depends on the arranger. Two vases should be sufficient, however. If other containers are desired, they may be placed at the altar ends or on pedestals at either side.
"The choice between red and white flowers may also depend on the coloring of the dorsal or reredos. Red is complementary to and blends well with dark tan interiors. Any other color but white tends to thin out unless its mass is considerable. In larger sanctuaries this is also true of white flowers, unless they are built up and backed with evergreens."I think that for a Traditional Latin Mass in a small chapel, McClinton's idea of placing small vases of flowers between each of the candlesticks on the altar shelf is most appropriate.
