Q: When choosing the optional memorial for the celebration of Mass, do I have the option of choosing either the vestment color appropriate for the season or the color appropriate to the optional memorial? The USCCB website seems to say so: “In the liturgical calendar, the color for each day corresponds to that day’s main liturgical celebration, even though Optional Memorials (perhaps with a different color) might be chosen instead.” (https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/understanding-the-liturgical-colors).
If the memorial is for a saint to whom I might wish to call more attention I might chose the color appropriate to that saint. Otherwise, I might choose the color of the season. Do I understand correctly? Are there other considerations that would be helpful?
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A: That part of the USCCB website concerns “prayer and worship” and does not always have the clearest liturgical advice.
When you decide to adopt an optional memorial, you treat it as a memorial, complete with the appropriate vestment color of the saint. So, in Ordinary Time you wear white or red for that Mass, not green.
However, for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, it’s acceptable to use the presidential prayers while wearing the color of the liturgical time (GIRM 347).