As part of the Church’s symbolic language, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM 346) establishes a fixed system of colors: white, red, green, violet, black, and rose as regulations. Although used by those with the cerulean indult or what is often referred to as the Spanish privilege, conspicuously missing from the list is blue, a color traditionally acknowledged in sacred arts as a representation of purity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Heaven.
With some tracing it as far back to the time of Pope Clement XIII in 1760, the origin of the cerulean privilege is deeply historical and theological. Centuries before its dogmatic definition in 1854, Spain was a principal defender of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. As a recognition of their consistent Marian devotion, Pope Pius VII in 1817 granted an indult to Spain and its former territories (example is the indult granted by Pope St. Pius X to the First Provincial Council of Manila for their use in the Philippine Islands on February 11, 1910) around the 19th century for the use of cerulean (blue) vestments for the celebration of the Immaculate Conception.
Later, the indult was reaffirmed by Pope Pius IX in 1864, not as a universal Marian option or innovation, but as a “legitimate particularism”; precise and limited privilege granted the geographical Spain and her former Spanish territories. It may therefore be improper for a priest or territory without the indult to use the cerulean.
Even though some argue its use on Popular devotion, Marian symbolism, and aesthetic, it may have to be understood that liturgy is not governed by private symbolism, but by ecclesial authority. As it were, privileges are exceptions, not precedents, and the burden of proof lies not in justifying prohibition, but in demonstrating lawful permission.
On March 29, 1994, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments clearly stated that “concessions granted to one region cannot be extended to other regions without the necessary authorization, even if an episcopal conference considers that there are sufficient reasons for adopting such measures in its own area” (Varietatis Legitimae, 37).
In 2004 under the Prefectship of Francis Card. Arinze, the same Roman Congregation in Redemptionis Sacramentum (127) stated: “A special faculty is given in the liturgical books for using sacred vestments that are festive or more noble on more solemn occasions, even if they are not of the color of the day. However, this faculty, which is specifically intended in reference to vestments made many years ago, with a view to preserving the Church’s patrimony, is improperly extended to innovations by which forms and colors are adopted according to the inclination of private individuals, with disregard for traditional practice, while the real sense of this norm is lost to the detriment of the tradition.”
Until the appropriate authorities help get the indult, whenever necessary, white vestments with blue motifs or trimmings can be used.
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