The Sunday is named from the first word of its entrance antiphon, Laetare Ierusalem — "Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning." The text is from Isaiah, and it interrupts Lent at roughly its midpoint with a promise of consolation. The season does not end, but the Church lets the coming Easter show through. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal permits rose-colored vestments on this Sunday, where it is the practice, as on Gaudete Sunday in Advent. Two other Lenten restrictions are relaxed on this day alone: the altar may be decorated with flowers, which is otherwise forbidden during Lent, and the organ and other instruments may be played rather than used only to support the singing. The Sunday belongs to the first class in the Table of Liturgical Days and may not be displaced by any celebration. In Year A the Gospel is the healing of the man born blind, one of the three great baptismal Gospels of Lent. Where the elect are being prepared for the sacraments at the Easter Vigil, the second scrutiny is celebrated on this Sunday and this Gospel is used even in Years B and C, since the scrutinies belong to the Sundays with their proper readings. The image is exact for the season: Lent is the Church's journey from blindness to sight, and baptism has been called illumination from the earliest centuries. A long papal custom of blessing a golden rose on this Sunday gave the day its other traditional name.

Liturgical season

Lent

liturgical_season