Liturgical & Blog Colors

Today is Good Friday in the Church Calendar. Most people keep sense of time through seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, seasons, etc. Some Christians attempt to keep time differently with the intention of orienting their life around the life of Christ. Some keep time during the day by praying at certain times of the day (the Liturgy of the Hours) and some keep seasonal time through the church year. Today we remember, celebrate and mourn the death of Jesus of Nazareth, who was fully God and fully human, who was crucified for our sake for the forgiveness of sins, that all who would believe in him would receive life. Many churches change the color of their altar linens, called paraments, and the color of their clergy's garments, called vestments depending on the season. In some traditions, today is one of two days in the church year that Red is used. Thus the color of my blog. (The other would be Pentecost.) Other traditions use purple or black. A couple of years ago when preparing a multimedia Stations of the Cross service I came across this piece entitled, Flagellation de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ [The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ] by William Bouguereau (1825-1905), a French Academic Classical painter, frescoist, draftsman & teacher. I was enthralled and began to search other works by Bouguereau, which led me to the Art Renewal Center, an online art museum. My favorite Bouguereau paintings are in the side bar on the left of this blog, of which this is one of them. Flagellation de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ [The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ] by William Bouguereau (1825-1905)