Laetare Sunday

The incipit for the Gregorian chant introit from which Laetare
Sunday gets its name.

The Anglican Bishop of Willesden (London), wearing rosepink vestments on Laetare Sunday, accompanied by three of his
priests, also in rose-pink stoles, at North Acton parish church.

The full Introit reads:

Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite
omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia,
qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis,et satiemini
ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. Psalm: Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus.
Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together
all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that
have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and
be lled from the breasts of your consolation.
Psalm: I rejoiced when they said to me: we
shall go into Gods House!"

The Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Roman Catholic auxiliary

bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, vested in rose-coloured chasuble for
Laetare Sunday.

Laetare Sunday (/litr/ or /latr/),[1] so called

from the incipit of the Introit at Mass, Laetare
Jerusalem (O be joyful, Jerusalem) (from Isaiah
66:10, masoretic text), is a name often used to denote 2 Alternative names
the fourth Sunday of the season of Lent in the Christian
liturgical calendar.
This Sunday is currently also known as Mothering Sunday, Refreshment Sunday, Mid-Lent Sunday (in French
mi-carme), and Rose Sunday (either because the golden
rose sent by the popes to Catholic sovereigns used to be
1 Origins
blessed at this time or because the use of rose-colored
The term Laetare Sunday is used by most western rite vestments instead of violet ones was permitted).
liturgical traditions (including the Roman Catholic and
Anglican churches), and by some Protestant denominations with western-rite origins. The word translates from
the Latin laetare, singular imperative of laetari to rejoice;
a word that opens the traditional mass introit of the day.

Historically it was also once known as the Sunday of

the Five Loaves, from the traditional Gospel reading for
the day, the story of the miracle of the loaves and shes,
which was, before the adoption of the modern common
lectionaries, the Gospel reading for this Sunday in the
1

Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Old Catholic

churches.

Laetare traditions

In the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Old

Catholic, and some Protestant traditions, there may be
owers on the high altar, the organ may be played as a
solo instrument, and priests are given the option to wear
rose-coloured vestments at Mass held on this day, in place
of the violet vestments normally worn during Lent.[2][3]
In the western liturgical system, purple is the colour of
Lenten penance, and white is the colour of feast days.
Rose-pink is the colour of Laetare as the colour obtained
naturally by mixing purple and white.
The day is a day of relaxation from normal Lenten
rigours; a day of hope with Easter being at last within
sight. Traditionally, even weddings (otherwise banned
during Lent) could be performed on this day,[4] and servants were released from service for the day to visit their
mothers (hence 'Mothering Sunday').

Date of Laetare

Laetare Sunday can fall on any date between March 1 and

April 4. The following are the dates on which Laetare
Sunday falls in recent years:

See also
Gaudete Sunday

References

[1] Laetare. Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford

University Press. September 2005.
[2] The traditional use of rose-pink vestments on this day by
Anglican clergy is suggested in the liturgical colour sequence notes of Common Worship of which an on-line
version may be found here (see near bottom of page).
[3] The traditional use of rose-pink vestments on this day by
Roman Catholic clergy is recorded in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) which may be viewed on-line here.
[4] See for example, Laetare Sunday extract

Catholic Encyclopedia: Laetare Sunday

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Laetare Sunday Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetare%20Sunday?oldid=651206555 Contributors: Bryan Derksen, Edward, Mxn,

Dwo, Wetman, Rholton, Wereon, TOttenville8, Tom harrison, Bkonrad, Robert Weemeyer, PFHLai, Arcturus, JTN, Kwamikagami,
Lima, AnyFile, Robotje, Alansohn, Zeborah, Angr, Colin Watson, Steinbach, Dodo78, Frednikov, FlaBot, DTOx, Carolynparrishfan, Asarelah, David Underdown, SmackBot, Radagast83, Cor anglais 16, Myopic Bookworm, Joseph Solis in Australia, Vanisaac,
Rwammang, Arthurian Legend, Keraunos, Alphachimpbot, MrSeanBrook, Can-Dutch, Deective, MER-C, Rkeditor, Cynwolfe, Bpmullins, Magioladitis, 1995hoo, Mcginley1, Timothy Titus, Stephenpirrie, STBotD, VolkovBot, SieBot, Seedbot, Vanished user ewsn2348tui2f8n2o2utjfeoi210r39jf, ClueBot, Parkwells, Trivialist, Feran, Daniel.mcgirr, Kbdankbot, Felix Folio Secundus, Addbot,
Mlorfeld, Labour Lawyer, AnomieBOT, Glenfarclas, Jayarathina, RibotBOT, Clementone, Wiseoneishere, December21st2012Freak,
PFAStudent, EmausBot, ZroBot, Gray eyes, Jace3349, Marcocapelle, Everymorning, Ryanafromthehizzay and Anonymous: 27

7.2

Images

File:Bishop_Binzer_vested_in_rose-colored_chasuble,_Laetare_Sunday,_2012.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/3/3e/Bishop_Binzer_vested_in_rose-colored_chasuble%2C_Laetare_Sunday%2C_2012.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Photo taken after Sunday Mass at St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral, Cincinnati, OH Original artist: Mcginley1
File:LaetareIncipit.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/LaetareIncipit.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
? Original artist: ?
File:Rose-vestment-bishop-willesden.jpg
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/
Rose-vestment-bishop-willesden.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Timothy Titus

7.3

Content license

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