Black Stoles?

In Wednesday's post, I noted that the clergy presiding over the post-inaugural prayer service for Trump's second inauguration wore black stoles. This puzzled me, because I was an Episcopalian for over 30 years, and I've been a Roman Catholic for a dozen, and the liturgical colors for The Episcopal Church follow those of the Catholic Church. The current Catholic liturgical season is "Ordinary Time", for which the color is green. The Episcopal Church regards this season as an extended "Epiphany" that lasts until Ash Wednesday, but its liturgical color is also green.

Thus a priest or deacon presiding over a normal eucharist or prayer service at this time of the year would wear a green stole, not a black one, and black isn't normally listed as a liturgical color -- just red, white, purple, rose, or green.

According to Wikipedia, in Roman Catholic practice, which Episcopalians have followed since the Oxford Movement,

For the celebration of the Mass, the principal celebrant as well as concelebrants wear the stole over the alb but under the chasuble. Likewise, the deacon wears the stole over the alb but under the dalmatic. The stole is also worn over the surplice or alb for the distribution and reception of Holy Communion.

The priest or deacon who presides in paraliturgical celebrations, such as the Stations of the Cross, usually wears the stole over the surplice (or alb), and always under the cope.

As far as I understand this, backed up by a fast-forward review of the service on YouTube, this was an Episcopalian Morning Prayer service that did not include a eucharist. Thus the priests who presided over it were wearing surplices, not chasubles, with stoles worn over the surplice. But as we see in the photo above, the stoles were black, not green, as would be appropriate for the liturgical season. I was a little surprised that there was even such a thing as a black stole, but I found at stoles.com:

Mourning is symbolized by the color black. Contrary to popular opinion, black or purple uniforms may be dressed at funeral Masses.

Except that this wasn't a funeral mass; liturgically it was Morning Prayer. I briefly thought the clergy might have been displaying some sort of mourning over the inauguration of Trump, but then I looked for photos of prior post-inaugural services and found this one above left of the 2009 service for Obama (click on the image for a larger copy). Yup, black stoles, even for a liberal Democrat. However, the clergy representing other faiths on the dais are wearing either red stoles or no stoles.

I found this at a commercial vestment site:

The Importance of Black Vestments: Black is one of the most powerful, yet underrated, colors in Christian tradition. It’s not just about mourning—it’s about reflecting on the deeper mysteries of life, death, and redemption.

. . . Black makes a statement without needing to shout. It’s timeless, solemn, and speaks to the gravity of the moments it’s worn. It serves as a visual reminder of Christ’s sacrifice, the reality of our mortality, and the hope we find in resurrection.

. . . Fun fact: Did you know that during the Reformation, black became widely used as a liturgical color in some Protestant denominations? Reformers like John Calvin favored black vestments to emphasize simplicity, humility, and repentance, stripping away the more elaborate colors and fabrics of the Catholic Church.

So all I can tentatively conclude is that the black stoles here are an area where the Episcopalians are asserting their Protestantism despite otherwise affecting Catholic liturgical forms, and the black is intended to emphasize the solemnity of the occasion. It isn't meant to disrespect Trump, even though the context of Bp Budde's homily may have led some to believe it might have been.

I'll greatly appreciate corrections and clarifications via e-mail or in the comments -- this was a strange rabbit hole. I'll post any corrections or clarifications here.