Blue or Purple? That is the question...
I believe that my family was the only one in our neighbourhood who celebrated the season of advent. At least that's how it felt! But our traditions both at home and at church did not change at the beginning of December--except the colour of the cloth coverig the altar (called a frontal) was purple, instead of green. We said our prayers and grace as always. But it wasn't until I was in my 20's that the tradition changed. The tradition now included the making of an Advent wreath and then the altar frontal became a blue colour instead of purple. I could tell a big "story" about the significance of blue--but I think in reality, the colour blue was chosen to make a difference with the season of Lent (purple). So now we light four candles: 3 blue and 1 pink (remembering Mary), with the white"Christ candle" in the centre.