Gaudete Sunday

"Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete." "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice." Paul's admonition to the Church at Philippi is heard in the Entrance Antiphon (Introit) for the Third Sunday of Advent, giving this day the name "Gaudete Sunday." Amidst this season of somber preparation, the violet vestments are exchanged for a brighter rose (a color similar to pink, but not quite, as Father Zuhlsdorf explains), and the anticipation of the Birth of Christ takes on a renewed urgency.

"Renewing the Mystery of Advent" is a video series produced by a team of Dominican Friars, from both the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and Saint Vincent Church and Priory in New York City, for the Catholic Exchange. Father Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, is a Dominican Priest and a Friar of the Province of Saint Joseph. The complete Advent series is also available at dominicanfriars.org.

Here at "Chez Alexandre," we anticipated Gaudete Sunday the night before, by putting up the lights in the window, and setting up the three-foot artificial tree on the chest by the stairway. No lights on the tree yet, though. Those, and the decorations, wait until Christmas Eve.
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