Laetare Sunday (

Church Latin Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration to the present day, especially in the Catholic ...

: ;

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

: ; English: ) is the fourth Sunday in the season of

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, in the

Western Christian Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic Ch ...

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obs ...

. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration within the austere period of Lent. This Sunday gets its name from the first few words () of the traditional Latin entrance verse (

Introit The Introit () is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and '' Gloria Patri'', which are spoken or sung at the ...

) for the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

of the day. ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem") is Latin from

Isaiah 66 Isaiah 66 is the sixty-sixth and final chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.Th ...

:10.

History

The term "Laetare Sunday" is used by most

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches. The Latin is an imperative: "rejoice!" The full

reads:

Psalm:

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her, all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations. ''Psalm'':
I was glad 'I was glad' () is an English text drawn from selected verses of Psalm 122. It has been used at Westminster Abbey in the Coronation of the British monarch, coronation ceremonies of British monarchs since those of Charles I of England, King Charle ...
when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord.

Alternative names

This Sunday is currently also known as

Mothering Sunday Mothering Sunday is a day honouring mother churches, the church where one is baptised and becomes "a child of the church", celebrated since the Middle Ages in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries on the fourth Sunday in ...

Refreshment Sunday The Refreshment Sundays or Rose Sundays are Sundays within the two major fasts observed in Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is ...

, mid-

Sunday (in French ) and

Rose Sunday The Refreshment Sundays or Rose Sundays are Sundays within the two major fasts observed in Western Christianity, Lent and Advent. On these days, the fast was allowed to be relaxed, hence the name "Refreshment Sunday". Correspondingly, the liturgi ...

(either because the

golden rose The Golden Rose (, ) is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, mili ...

sent by Popes to Catholic sovereigns used to be blessed at this time, or because the use of rose-colored rather than violet

vestment Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...

s was permitted on this day). Historically, the day was also known as "the Sunday of the Five Loaves", from the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Before the adoption of the modern " common lectionaries", this narrative was the traditional

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

reading for this Sunday in Roman Catholic,

, and

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great C ...

churches. The

station church Station days were days of fasting in the early Christian Church, associated with a procession to certain prescribed churches in Rome, where the Mass and Vespers would be celebrated to mark important days of the liturgical year. Although other citi ...

at Rome for this day was

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme () is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. According to Christia ...

, one of the seven chief

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

s; the

Golden Rose The Golden Rose (, ) is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, mili ...

, sent by Popes to Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time and for this reason the day was sometimes called ''Dominica de Rosa''.

Customs

On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

. In Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic churches flowers may appear on the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

and the

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

may be played as a solo instrument. Priests are given the option to wear

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

-colored

vestments Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; amo ...

held on this day in place of the violet vestments normally worn during Lent. The term "rose" is used to describe this lighter shade of the color violet in the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

. The Sunday is considered a day of relaxation from normal Lenten rigours; a day of hope with

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

at last within sight. Traditionally, weddings (otherwise banned during Lent) could be performed on this day, and servants were released from service for the day to visit their

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

, the place in which they received the sacrament of baptism (hence 'Mothering Sunday'). Laetare Sunday is the date on which the recipient of

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the ar ...

is announced.

Date

Laetare Sunday is exactly 21 days before Easter Sunday, a

moveable feast A moveable feast is an observance in a Christian liturgical calendar which occurs on different dates in different years. It is the complement of a fixed feast, an annual celebration that is held on the same calendar date every year, such as Chri ...

based on the cycles of the moon. The date can be any between 1 March and 4 April inclusive; occurrence in April is considered to be uncommon; the last occurrence was on 3 April 2011 and the next will be on 4 April 2038, after which it will not occur again until 1 April 2057 – occurrences in April are printed in the below list in . The earliest occurrence of Laetare Sunday in the twenty-first century was on 2 March 2008, and the latest will be on 4 April 2038. Laetare Sunday occurs on these dates in the twenty-first century: *2001 – 25 March *2002 – 10 March *2003 – 30 March *2004 – 21 March *2005 – 6 March *2006 – 26 March *2007 – 18 March *2008 – 2 March *2009 – 22 March *2010 – 14 March *2011 – *2012 – 18 March *2013 – 10 March *2014 – 30 March *2015 – 15 March *2016 – 6 March *2017 – 26 March *2018 – 11 March *2019 – 31 March *2020 – 22 March *2021 – 14 March *2022 – 27 March *2023 – 19 March *2024 – 10 March *2025 – 30 March *2026 – 15 March *2027 – 7 March *2028 – 26 March *2029 – 11 March *2030 – 31 March *2031 – 23 March *2032 – 7 March *2033 – 27 March *2034 – 19 March *2035 – 4 March *2036 – 23 March *2037 – 15 March *2038 – *2039 – 20 March *2040 – 11 March *2041 – 31 March *2042 – 16 March *2043 – 8 March *2044 – 27 March *2045 – 19 March *2046 – 4 March *2047 – 24 March *2048 – 15 March *2049 – 28 March *2050 – 20 March *2051 – 12 March *2052 – 31 March *2053 – 16 March *2054 – 8 March *2055 – 28 March *2056 – 12 March *2057 – *2058 – 24 March *2059 – 9 March *2060 – 28 March *2061 – 20 March *2062 – 5 March *2063 – 25 March *2064 – 16 March *2065 – 8 March *2066 – 21 March *2067 – 13 March *2068 – *2069 – 24 March *2070 – 9 March *2071 – 29 March *2072 – 20 March *2073 – 5 March *2074 – 25 March *2075 – 17 March *2076 – 29 March *2077 – 21 March *2078 – 13 March *2079 – *2080 – 17 March *2081 – 9 March *2082 – 29 March *2083 – 14 March *2084 – 5 March *2085 – 25 March *2086 – 10 March *2087 – 30 March *2088 – 21 March *2089 – 13 March *2090 – 26 March *2091 – 18 March *2092 – 9 March *2093 – 22 March *2094 – 14 March *2095 – *2096 – 25 March *2097 – 10 March *2098 – 30 March *2099 – 22 March *2100 – 7 March

References

''Catholic Encyclopedia'':
"Laetare Sunday" {{Liturgical year of the Catholic Church Lent Christian Sunday observances March observances

History

Alternative names

Customs

Date

See also

References