As always, we are very grateful to all everyone who has shared their photographs of their churches veiled for Passtiontide, and two very nice sets of rose-colored Laetare vestments. We are looking forward to see pictures of your Palm Sunday liturgies. Please send them in to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org, and remember to include the name and location of the church, and any other information you think important. Keep up the good work of evangelizing through beauty!
Christ the King – Sarasota, Florida (FSSP)
Chapel of the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot – Parris Island, South Carolina
Before veils...
and after.
Oratory of St Stanislaus – Milwaukee, Wisconsin (ICRSP)
The fourth Sunday of Lent treats of the heavenly Jerusalem, and because we come into that land on the day on which the sons of Israel came into the Promised Land … therefore Exodus is now read (at Matins, chapter 3, 1-15) where the Lord says “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have gone down to deliver them from the hands of the Egyptians.” And just as the Lord liberated his people through the plagues sent against Pharaoh, so also through plagues does He liberate us from the hand of the devil, who does not wish to let us go unless he is forced to by the Lord’s mighty hand … The first plague is the conversion of the waters into blood, by which is signified the sin of infidelity. Through the other plagues, it is signified that a man is forced to return to the Lord through many tribulations and pains which he has while he abides in sin… Therefore, Exodus is read, because one departs from the devil through Faith, through baptism, which is signified by the Red Sea, and through the fulfillment of the commandments. (Referring to the Tabernacle of the Covenant described in detail in the book of Exodus) In this way, a man makes himself a Tabernacle unto the Lord …
The Crossing of the Red Sea, by Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, 1540; from the Chapel of Eleonora of Toledo in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Durandus now looks back to the Gospel of Septuagesima Sunday, Matthew 20, 1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Following the common interpretation of the Church Fathers the hours at which the workmen are hired (first, third, sixth etc.) taken to be symbols of the various ages of the world.
… the first age is from Adam to Noah; the second from Noah to Abraham, or according to others to Moses; the third from Moses to David; the fourth from David to the Babylonian exile; the fifth from the Babylonian to the coming of the Lord; the sixth from the coming of the Lord until the end of the world, and the seventh likewise to the end of the world, for the sixth and seventh run together: the one in those who keep watch and labor, the other in those who sleep and take their rest where the souls of the elect rest, between the breasts of their nursing mother, the Jerusalem which is above.
This seventh and last Sunday (counting from Septuagesima) signifies the Sabbath of the world, in which the souls of the Saints rest. There does that Jerusalem which is above, which is free, who is our mother, rejoice … for this Sunday represents the liberty granted to the sons of Jerusalem to return from Babylon in the 70th year. Therefore, all the day’s liturgy is about rejoicing, to represent their joy, and also ours, since, when the six ages of the world are finished, we will be in the seventh, liberated from the exile of the world, and and shall enter the heavenly paradise which is our fatherland.
Introitus Laetáre, Jerúsalem, et conventum fácite, omnes qui dilígitis eam: gaudéte cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultétis, et satiémini ab ubéribus consolatiónis vestrae.
Ps. 121 Laetátus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Dómini íbimus.
Gloria Patri. Laetáre...
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all you who love her: rejoice with joy, you who have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. Ps. 121 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, We will go up to the house of the Lord.
Glory be... Rejoice, O Jerusalem...
Therefore today is sung the introit Rejoice, O Jerusalem, to show that, like those who with great rejoicing came from Babylon into Jerusalem, so also we shall come rejoicing from this world into the heavenly Jerusalem. For the name Babylon means, “confusion”, and therefore, it signifies either the world or hell: in this world, the confusion of the vices, and in hell the confusion of torments. It is also called the Sunday of refreshment, because on it, the Lord refreshed and satisfied 5000 men, or because on it is shown the heavenly Jerusalem from which comes all that refreshment in which the Church rejoices… and where eternal rest is promised. … “from the breasts of her consolation”: these words signify the two Testaments from which are taken the sweet promises in which our consolation lies.
But the verse of the Psalm which speaks about the Jerusalem above is of the fifth tone because of the five thousand men whom He refreshed; or for this reason, because those who check and restrain and order well the five senses of the body will have refreshment and consolation of that very sort which is spoken of in the introit, and which is asked for in the collect: “Grant, we ask, almighty God, that we who deservedly are afflicted for our deeds may find relief in the consolation of Thy grace.” …
There follows the epistle (Galatians 4, 22-31), “it is written that Abraham had two sons”, which goes on to say “that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother,” … so that we may serve the Lord not with the fear of slaves, but with love. …
The gradual is in the seventh tone because of the seventh age in which we shall be in rest, but because we are still labor (in this world), therefore there follows the Tract, but it is very sweet: “They who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion”, in which it is shown that they who hope in the Lord alone will have that same refreshment.
Graduale Ps. 121 Laetátus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Dómini íbimus. V. Fiat pax in virtúte tua: et abundantia in túrribus tuis. (I rejoiced in the things which they said to me, ‘We will go unto the house of the Lord.’ V. May there be peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers.)
Tractus Ps. 124 Qui confídunt in Dómino, sicut mons Sion: non commovébitur in aeternum, qui hábitat in Jerúsalem. V. Montes in circúitu ejus: et Dóminus in circúitu pópuli sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in sǽculum. (They who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion; he shall not be moved forever, who dwelleth in Jerusalem. V. Mountains are round about it; and the Lord is round about His people, from henceforth and forever more.)
There follows the gospel (John 6, 1-15), “Jesus went across the sea of Galilee”, in which the five loaves of bread with which the Lord refreshed us are the five books of Moses, and the two fishes are the psalms and prophecy… and this did He refresh all. The Offertory is in the second tone, to show that we must praise the Lord for refreshment of both body and spirit. (Rationale Divinorum Officium, book 6, 50, excerpta)
Praise the Lord, for He is good; sing praise to His Name, for He is sweet; all that He wills He does in heaven and on earth. (The Offertory of Laetare Sunday)
Offertorium, Ps. 134 Laudáte Dóminum, quia benignus est: psállite nómini ejus, quoniam suavis est: omnia, quaecumque vóluit, fecit in caelo et in terra.
Once again, our thanks to everyone who sent in these pictures; along with the rose vestments used on Laetare Sunday, we have a few pictures of the feasts of St Joseph and the Annunciation as well. Our next photopost series will be of Passiontide veils, so a reminder will be posted tomorrow. Keep up the good work of evangelizing through beauty.
Church of St Anne – Vilnius, Lithuania
A private chapel
St Dominic’s Church and Shrine of the Holy Rosary – London, England
Our own Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P., celebrating the Dominican Rite on a beautiful sunny day.
Laetáre, Jerúsalem, et conventum fácite, omnes qui dilígitis eam: gaudéte cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultétis, et satiémini ab ubéribus consolatiónis vestrae.
Ps. 121 Laetátus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Dómini íbimus.
Gloria Patri. Laetáre... (The Introit of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, here sung in a polyphonic setting by the Italian composer Andrea Gabrieli, 1532-85.)
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all you who love her: rejoice with joy, you who have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. Ps. 121 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, We will go up to the house of the Lord.
Glory be... Rejoice, O Jerusalem...
Our next major photopost will be for Laetare Sunday, the second Sunday of the liturgical year when rose-colored vestments may be used. Please send your photos (whether of the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form, Ordinariate Rite etc.) to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org for inclusion. Photos of Vespers and other parts of the Office are always welcome, as well as those of the recent feast of St Joseph, tomorrow’s feast of the Annunciation, or any other recent liturgical events. For our Byzantine friends, we will be glad to include photos of the Veneration of the Cross on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. Please be sure to include the name and location of the church, and always feel free to add any other information you think important. Evangelize through beauty!
From the second Passiontide photopost, the feast of the Annunciation at the church of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces in Cebu City in the Philippines.
Qui confídunt in Dómino, sicut mons Sion: non commovébitur in aeternum, qui hábitat in Jerúsalem. V. Montes in circúitu ejus, et Dóminus in circúitu pópuli sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in sáeculum. (The Tract of Laetare Sunday, Psalm 124, 1-2)
Tract They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth in Jerusalem. V. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever.
As Charles Cole noted in his post yesterday, there is a particularly nice word-painting effect in this tract, in the way the notes are arranged to rise and fall on the word “mountains”, similar in spirit to the one we noted last week in the Communio of the Third Sunday of Lent.
The same text set as a very nice motet by the Slovene composer Jacob Handl (1550-91), also known as Jacobus Gallus.
Last year, Laetare Sunday was on March 22, as churches were closing all over the world for the pandemic, and so we didn’t do any photoposts for Laetare Sunday, Passiontide, Holy Week or Easter. Now that a measure of sanity is returning to many parts of the world (alas, not all), it is time to get back as much as possible to the good work of evangelizing through beauty, so, please send your photos of liturgies celebrated tomorrow (whether of the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form, Ordinariate Rite etc.) to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org. Photos of Vespers and other parts of the Office are always welcome; for our Byzantine friends, we will be glad to include photos of the Veneration of the Cross on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. Please be sure to include the name and location of the church, and always feel free to add any other information you think important.
From our first Laetare photopost of 2019, the golden rose of the collegiate church of St Just, the home of the FSSP apostolate in Lyon, France. (The rose was given to the church by Pope Innocent IV in 1251, and had just been restored and newly blessed.)
From the second post, Mass at the cathedral of the Holy Rosary in Vancouver, British Columbia.
From the third post, Vespers at the church of St John Cantius in Chicago, Illinois.
Bartolomé Estaban Murillo, The Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes, 1667-1682
Lost in Translation #42
Everyone knows that Laetare Sunday is one of the two “pink” Sundays of the year, and that it is a somewhat joyful interlude during the austerity of Lent, one meant to afford a breather, so to speak, during a six-week marathon. But what precisely are we rejoicing about? The Collect affords us a clue:
Concéde, quáesumus, omnípotens Deus: ut qui ex mérito nostrae actiónis afflígimur, tuae gratiae consolatióne respirémus. Per Dóminum.
Which I translate as:
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God: that we, who by the merit of our actions are crushed down, may by the consolation of Thy grace breathe again. Through our Lord.
Most hand Missals translate affligimur as “afflicted,”and they are correct. But since affligere is ultimately derived from a root that means “to crush”, it forms a natural contrast with respirare, to breathe again or to revive. One recalls the terrible torture inflicted on St. Margaret Clitherow who was crushed to death while pregant by large stones under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I on Good Friday for refusing to renounce the Catholic Faith. In this Collect, we acknowledge that our own actions bring with them the heavy weight of death, and we pray to have the weight lifted and breathe again. Breathing again also reinforces the idea of Laetare Sunday as a breather in the midst of the ardors of Lent.
Further, we pray to breathe again or be revived by the consolation of God’s grace. The appeal to consolation brings us back to the Introit of the day:
Introit: 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 filled from the breasts of your consolation. Ps. 121, 2 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: ‘We shall go into the house of the Lord.’ ℣ Glory be to the Father.
What brings consolation are the breasts of Jerusalem. The traditional Roman rite is wonderfully concrete: if Jerusalem is a mother (and she is, and as the Epistle reading confirms), she has breasts that console us like a mother quieting her crying infant. But what precisely are the breasts of our heavenly mother, the Church? The Gospel answers that question. In the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, we are given a type for the Eucharist, the Bread of Life that defies the laws of space, time, and matter by mystically multiplying our spiritual food. It is this sensibility that led Blessed Julian of Norwich to compare the “sweet open side” of Christ’s crucified body, from which His Precious Blood and water poured, to a mother’s breast. (Revelations of Divine Love 60)
In England, Laetare Sunday is “Mothering Sunday,” the original Mother’s Day. In medieval times, schoolboys and apprentices were allowed to visit their “mother church,” the church in which they were baptized. And since they were visiting home, they visited their earthly mothers and brought them gifts. Simnel cakes are a tasty vestige of this ancient tradition.
The rejoicing of Laetare Sunday, in other words, is the joy of knowing that our Holy Mother the Church, despite whatever scandals or corruptions may rock her, still has the breasts of Eucharistic consolation that feed and nourish us. And how appropriate is Holy Communion when it is done kneeling and on the tongue. Granted, it is not the exact position of an infant being nursed, but it betokens an attitude of supplication, helplessness, and receptivity. And as Blessed Julian explains, Jesus wants us to have the trusting and dependent nature of a child. (Ibid. 61)
We conclude this year’s Laetare photoposts just in time to start in on Passiontide veils; don’t forget to send yours in to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org, and remember to include the name and location of the church, and any other information you think important. As always, our heartful thanks to everyone who contributed - evangelize through beauty!
Church of the Sacred Heart - Copenhagen, Denmark
First Mass of Fr Marcin Goral of the Berlin-based Institute of St Philip Neri
Since our first Laetare photopost was pubished on Wednesday, we have received enough new submissions to make two more posts, the first year we get up to the three for Laetare! We begin with a solemn Mass held on the Annunciation at the church of St Michael the Archangel in Leawood, Kansas, in the archdiocese of Kansas City, the first such Mass held in the church; we are glad to hear from the celebrant, Fr Shawn Tunink, that it was very well attended! I am also including a video from a local news channel in my hometown, Providence, RI, about the church of St Mary, recently taken over by the FSSP; the former superior general, Fr John Berg, is now the pastor there, and the community is flourishing. The footage of the Mass which they included was filmed on Laetare Sunday.
St Michael the Archangel - Leawood, Kansas
Feast of the Annunciation
The thurifer (also seen in the sixth photo below this one, leading in the torch bearers) is Mr Harrison Butker, the place-kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. The team’s punter is currently in RCIA; he and his sons will soon be joining Harrison in the sanctuary.
Our first Laetare photopost of this year begins with something quite special from the Fraternity of St Peter’s apostolate in Lyon, based in the collegiate church of St Just. In the year 1251, the church received a golden rose from Pope Innocent IV, an ornament which is traditional blessed on Laetare Sunday, when rose-colored vestments are worn, and given by the Popes as a mark of esteem or devotion. The church’s rose was recently restored, and newly blessed this past Sunday. As is customary, we join to this post images of the recent feasts of St Joseph and the Annunciation, and the Veneration of the Cross in the Byzantine Rite. Our thanks, as always, to everyone who sent these in, continuing the good work of evangelizing through beauty.
Collegiate Church of St Just - Lyon, France (FSSP)
The newly blessed rose placed on the altar.
Prayers of thanksgiving after Mass - tradition is for the young!
Laetáre, Jerúsalem, et conventum fácite, omnes qui dilígitis eam: gaudéte cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultétis, et satiémini ab ubéribus consolatiónis vestrae.
Ps. 121 Laetátus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Dómini íbimus.
Gloria Patri. Laetáre... (The Introit of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, here sung in a polyphonic setting by Andrea Gabrieli, 1532-85.)
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all you who love her: rejoice with joy, you who have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. Ps. 121 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, We will go up to the house of the Lord.
Glory be... Rejoice, O Jerusalem...
Our next major photopost will be for Laetare Sunday, the second Sunday of the liturgical year when rose-colored vestments may be used. Please send your photos (whether of the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form, Ordinariate Rite etc.) to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org for inclusion. Photos of Vespers and other parts of the Office are always welcome, as well as liturgies of the recent feasts of St Joseph and the Annunciation; for our Byzantine friends, we will be glad to include photos of the Veneration of the Cross on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. Please be sure to include the name and location of the church, and always feel free to add any other information you think important. Evangelize through beauty!
From our second Laetare photopost last year, Vespers at the church of St Trophime in Bourme-les-Mimosas, France, celebrated by our friends of the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian.
From the first post, the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross at St Peter Eastern Catholic Church in Ukiah, California.
The church of St John of the Cross in Vero Beach, Florida, will have a Missa cantata in the traditional rite on Laetare Sunday, starting at 12:30 p.m. The church is located at 7590 26th Street.
We finish up with your photos of Laetare Sunday liturgies just in time for Passion Sunday and the putting up of the veils; a request for the latter will be posted later today. Many thanks to everyone who sent these in; you are doing important work in encouraging Catholics throughout the world to a great love for and appreciation of our liturgical tradition. Evangelize through beauty!
Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini - Rome, Italy (FSSP)
Our Lady of Mt Carmel - New York City
Santissima Trinità - Pordenone, Italy
From the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France
We had a good number of submissions for Laetare Sunday this year, so there will be two photoposts this time. This one starts with something very interesting and unique from Douai Abbey in England, a vestment with pieces of 15th century embroidery, remounted in 1963 on a dark rose-colored cloth. (Special thanks to Dom Hugh Somerville-Knapman!) We also have photos of the Byzantine Third Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, which might broadly be seen as the Eastern equivalent of Laetare, and a blessing of golden roses. Thanks as always to all our readers who sent these in - evangelize through beauty!
Douai Abbey - Upper Woolhampton, England
St Paul - Birkirkara, Malta
St Peter Eastern Catholic Church - Ukiah, California
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