ich vary in color with the Church Season. As
commonly used at the present time the Church colors are five in
number, viz., white, red, violet, green and black. Their use may be
briefly set forth as follows: _White_ is used on all the great
Festivals of our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, and of those Saints
who did not suffer martyrdom; it is also the color for All Saints'
Day, and the Feast of St. Michael and All {59} Angels; white is the
symbol of joy and purity. _Red_ is used on the Feasts of Martyrs,
typifying that they shed their blood for the testimony of Jesus; it
is also used at Whitsun Tide, symbolizing the cloven tongues of
fire in the likeness of which the Holy Ghost descended on the
Apostles. _Violet_ is the penitential color and is used in Advent,
Lent, the Ember and Rogation Days, on the Feasts of the Holy
Innocents, etc. _Green_ is the ordinary color for days that are
neither feasts nor Fasts as being the pervading color of nature; it
is chiefly used during the Epiphany Tide and the long period of the
Trinity Season. _Black_ is made use of at funerals and on Good
Friday. This use of the colors applies to the stole as well as to
the Altar hangings. The black stole is always out of place,
incongruous, except at funerals and on Good Friday. Where they are
used, the cope, chasuble, maniple, dalmatic and tunic also vary
with the Season in the same manner. The use of the Church colors,
besides "decking the place of His Sanctuary" is also most helpful
to the devotions of the people, in that it teaches them by the eye
the various Seasons of the Church's joy or mourning.

Church Congress.--An organization of the Clergy and Laity in the
American Church having for its object the general discussion of
living questions of the day and the application of Revealed Truth
to the needs of our modern life. It was organized in 1874 on the
model of the English Church Congress which, no doubt, suggested
such an organization for the Church in the United States. It is
not a legislative body, but rather an "Open Court" for the free {60}
exchange of views. Meetings are held annually and an elaborate
programme of subjects is prepared for each meeting, with appointed
essayists and speakers, and volunteer speakers are permitted. The
proceedings of each Congress are published in book form, of which
the Rev. Dr. Wildes for so many years the General Secretary says,
"The proceedings, addresses and speeches of the several sessions
embodied