Joy in an Unexpected Place
As a season, Lent is often associated with themes like repentance, self-denial, and sorrow over sin—and with good reason. After all, these great forty days remind us of our Lord’s forty days in the wilderness and end with a remembrance of our Lord’s crucifixion and burial.
But on Lætare, the fourth Sunday in Lent, the Church focuses instead on the theme of joy! From the first words of the Introit—“Rejoice with Jerusalem”—we get the feeling that this day is different from the other Sundays in Lent.
On Lætare, the Church has given us a day of joy in a season of repentance, teaching us what it is like to live in Christian joy, even when we are surrounded by the difficulties of living in this fallen world.
In the middle of the wilderness of Lent, we hear our Gospel lesson of Jesus providing a heavenly meal to the crowd that followed him into the wilderness near the Sea of Galilee. In this way, the Church gives us a brief respite on journey through the wilderness to teach us to live in the joy of our salvation—given to us in the heavenly meal of the Sacrament—even as we journey through the remembrance of our Lord’s Passion.
A Brief History
Historically this Sunday was a preview of Easter, a day when the Church could not hide her anticipation of Christ’s resurrection and thus would relax her fasting traditions–more on that to come in our recipe post for this Sunday. Because the Introit speaks of Jerusalem as a mother, it has also been known as Mothering Sunday and was a day when people would traditionally visit their mothers.
While celebrating this Sunday, think about the feast of Christ to come. Not only the feast that he is about to establish for the Church with the giving of his blood and body during Passiontide but also the eternal feast that he will celebrate with his Church during life everlasting. Consider how you might celebrate your own mid-Lent feast through the propers and resources below.
Collect
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God: that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Lessons
Resources
Traditional Lætare cake recipe
Issues, Etc. interview with the Rev. David Petersen on Lætare
Blog post by the Rev. William Weedon
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
Images:
1. Miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes, Lucas Kilian, Germany, 1602
2. The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti), Italy, 1545-50
3. The Feeding of the 5000 from Das Plenarium, Hans Schäufelein, Germany, 1517
[…] Kingdom during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the dessert began to be prepared on Lætare, the fourth Sunday in […]