Red and black combined were the colors of purgatory and the Devil. “ Blue , or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament, truth, constancy, fidelity. Christ and the Virgin wear the red tunic and the blue mantle, as signifying heavenly love and heavenly truth. 2104 The same colors were given to St. John the Evangelist, with this difference⁠—that he wore the blue tunic and the red mantle; in later pictures the colors are sometimes red and green. “ Yellow , or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness of God; initiation, or marriage; faith, or fruitfulness. St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, wears yellow. In pictures of the Apostles, St. Peter wears a yellow mantle over a blue tunic. In a bad sense, yellow signifies inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to the traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow. “ Green , the emerald, is the color of spring; of hope, particularly hope in immortality; and of victory, as the color of the palm and the laurel. “ Violet , the amethyst, signified love and truth; or, passion and suffering. Hence it is the color often worn by the martyrs. In some instances our Saviour, after his resurrection, is habited in a violet, instead of a blue mantle. The Virgin also wears violet after the crucifixion.