Laetare, Jerusalem: 4th Sunday of Lent

Laetare, Jerusalem

Laetare, Jerusalem, “Be glad, Jerusalem!” has long been the beginning of the introit for the 4th Sunday of Lent. That’s why we call it Laetare Sunday. In much the same way way Gaudete Sunday in Advent opens with Gaudete in Domino semper! “Rejoice in the Lord always!” We are just past the mid-point of the penitential Season of Lent. This Sunday gives an  opportunity to pause and remind ourselves that the austerities of Lent are preparing us for a joyful conclusion.

Laetare Sunday has taken a number of other names as well over the centuries. It’s Mothering Sunday in England, for example. A long-standing tradition there has been to visit the church where you were baptized, your “mother” church, on this day. The 4th Sunday also goes under the name Rose Sunday. There has been a tradition since at least the Middle Ages that the Pope would send a gold rose to selected Catholic sovereigns on this Sunday.

This last practice led to a tradition in the Roman Church for wearing rose-colored vestments on Laetare Sunday. The use of the rose color eventually became general throughout the Church. In time it also extended to Gaudete Sunday as well. Whenever you light the rose candle on your advent wreath, remember it started on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem.

Important Markers

Again, we are just past the middle of Lent. Originally, the Laetare theme appeared at the actual mid-point, the Thursday before the 4th Sunday. The Church decided a Sunday would be more appropriate. Even Sundays in Lent, after all, are primarily celebrations of the Resurrection. As we saw previously, they are not counted among the forty days of Lent.

The Sundays, however, are important markers in the journey of Lent. On the first Sunday we started at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, with the Forty Days in the Desert. The Gospel for the Second Sunday is the Transfiguration, where Jesus reveals what he’s really about to only his closest few disciples. Last week we saw his encounter with the Samaritan woman. His mission has begun to spread beyond the bounds of his own people.

More than a Break

Next week, on the Fifth Sunday, we’ll see a further development. The fifth used to be Passion Sunday, featuring a reading of the complete Passion Narrative from one of the Synoptic Gospels. The two weeks following leading into Good Friday were The Passiontide, and featured a more direct focus on the suffering and death of Christ than had the previous weeks. Passion Sunday has now been combined with Palm Sunday on the Sixth Sunday, but the Fifth still reflects a deeper and more intense focus on the Passion of Jesus Christ. We’ll take a closer look at that next week.

Given all that, Laetare Sunday represents more than a break midway through Lent. It’s a demarcation, showing us that something is changing. It’s a last breath of fresh air and a final glimpse of sunlight before plunging into the depths of Passiontide. We have a reminder of God’s promise as we walk with Jesus on the Way of the Cross.  

We might say that our situation is a little like David’s in today’s first reading. The promise has not yet come to fruition. Samuel has anointed David the next King of Israel. King Saul, however, is still sitting on the throne. In the eyes of the world, David is no more than the youngest son of Jesse, a little shepherd boy from the little town of Bethlehem. He still needs to confront the giant Philistine Goliath. Beyond that, he has to undergo a long series of persecutions at Saul’s hands before his kingship becomes concrete.

Rejoice!

Saint Peter could have been addressing the young David when he wrote:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. (1 Peter 1:6-9)

That is the message of Laetare Sunday for us as well. Laetare, Jerusalem! There is truly cause for rejoicing, because God will be true to his promise.

Featured image top of page: Prophet Samuel anointing David, by François-Léon Benouville, 1842 (Public Domain via Wikipedia)