A blessed Laetare Sunday to all our readers! This Fourth Sunday of Lent is named after the Introit, Laetare Ierusalem marking the halfway point through the Lenten pilgrimage, where the Church exhorts us to gaudete cum laetitia – to ‘rejoice with joy’. The colour of the vestments is softened from purple to rose, and we can play instrumental music at Mass.
Here is the chant, since most readers will not have heard it at Mass:
And for a bit of rejoicing on this day, with a glimpse towards Easter, here is Palestr’s Exultate Deo, Exult in God, first published in 1584:
And since we can play the organ, why not a bit of Bach? Here is his prelude and fugue in G major, composed sometime between 1707-1718:
