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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Offertorium – 25 The Fourth Sunday in Lent is known as ‘Laetare’ Sunday, from the first word of its Introit. Like the Third Sunday in Advent (‘Gaudete’ Sunday) it has a more cheerful tone than the Sundays coming before and after, in token of which rose coloured vestments are often worn on this Sunday instead of the more sombre purple of the surrounding Sundays. As we shall see, ‘Laetare’ is not only the opening word of the Mass, but echoes through it, being taken up in several of the other chants. I shall capitalise the echoes for ease of observation. The Antiphon to the Introit, then, is Isaiah 66, verses 10 and 11: LAETARE Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum LAETITIA, qui in tristitia fusitis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. Notice that Jerusalem is portrayed as a mother, from whose consoling breasts we are filled. As we shall see, this idea is taken up from the Epistle. The psalm is no. 121, verse 1: LAETATUS sum in his, quae dicunt sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. The psalm appears to have its ‘sitz in leben’ from the custom of pilgrims reciting it as they approached Jerusalem. Jerusalem, our mother, is very central to this Mass. The promised Epistle is Galatians 4:22-31, in which Paul makes an allegorical comparison between the two women by which Abraham fathered sons. Indeed I think this is the only place in the Bible (unless you know better) where the term ‘allegory’ is used: ‘quae sunt per allegoriam dicta.’ There are indeed two allegories: Mount Sinai allegorically represents the earthly Jerusalem, and both represent Hagar, the slave-girl who gave birth to Ishmael; but the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, represents Sarah the wife of Abraham: ‘Illa autem, quae sursum est Jerusalem, libera est, quae est mater nostra.’ All of which, I am fairly certain, is why we call the Fourth Sunday in Lent ‘Mothering Sunday’. Other explanations have been offered, but none seem to have been devised by anyone familiar with the liturgy for the day. Paul continues, with the familiar theme: Scriptum est enim: LAETARE, sterilis, quae non paris. Which no doubt was the starting-point for the antiphonist. The Gradual is again taken from psalm 121, verses 1 and 7: LAETATUS sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Fiat pax in virtute tua: et abundantia in turribus tuis. The Tract, psalm 124:1-2, continues the Jerusalem theme: Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion: non commovebitur in aeternum, qui habitat in Jerusalem. Montes in ciccuitu eius: et Dominus in circuitu populi sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. The Offertorium, Ps. 134 verses 3 and 6, bids us ‘Laudate’ which is not quite the same as ‘Laetare’ but again imparts a cheerful and positive theme, which may be seen as a response to the Gospel (John 6:1-15), the story of the feeding of the five thousand: Laudate Dominum, quia benignus est: psallite nomini eius, quoniam suavis est: omnia quaecumque voluit, fecit in caelo, et in terra. And the Communio returns to the theme of Jerusalem with more verses (3 and 4) of psalm 121: Jerusalem, quae aedicicatur ut civitas, cuius participatio eius in idipsum: illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, ad confitendum nomini tuo, Domine. Altogether one of the more attractive Masses of the Church’s year, with some evident thought and care having gone into the selection of the various antiphons. Bill. ___________________________________________________________ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html