Some updates and Lenten trivia

Hi all,

First of all, an announcement about our upcoming Seder Service:

If you have not heard, we are asking that people sign up for the Maundy Thursday Seder Service so that we know how many to prepare for. The deadline is Palm Sunday. This is especially important since the Seder involves certain specific types of food used in the ritual, and we need to know how much to provide. Otherwise, bring your own dish to share. The actual Passover meal can be as simple as the soup and sandwich Lenten dinners we're having on Wednesday nights. And be prepared to go through the bulk of the Seder service BEFORE we eat, and to finish the Seder service AFTER we eat. Once the Seder is concluded we will go upstairs for the formal stripping of the altar.

Our Seder service will be a little abridged and adapted for use by a Christian gathering. The traditional Seder can last quite a long time, with guidelines for its length and actual enactment set forth in Jewish Law, the Halakha. We don't want to spend all night at the Seder, so we are abridging it somewhat.

We may serve wine or grape juice, either is appropriate for the three ritual cups that we will drink during the service; we may even serve both.

Next, an announcement about the Cub Scouts:

Our Church Council decided to let the Scouts use our facility through the end of this year at least. So we are happy to announce that the Cub Scouts will start meeting at Salem today, and will meet every Thursday night 6:00 - 7:30 pm, pending changes in Salem's schedule. (Maundy Thursday is a possible exception to this schedule.) Let's welcome the Scouts as our new partners in mission in Parrottsville!

And finally, here's some Lenten trivia for you about the 4th Sunday in Lent:

The fourth and middle Sunday in Lent is traditionally known as Laetare Sunday. For those who feel the pronunciation is important, that's Laetare as in "LIE - tar - ay." That's "lie" as in telling one, "tar" which goes with feathers, and "ay" as in day (or as in "good day, ay! if you're Canadian). I'm sure my Classical Latin bias is showing here; I can tell you all about Latin diphthongs and the antepenultimate rule if you really have to know more about the pronunciation and the accent on the first syllable. In some circles the name is pronounced a little differently, either because people are using "Church Latin" (which all of us with a Classical bias detest!) or they are using one or another "English" pronunciation of the word. I'll stick to "LIE-tar-ay."

Laetare means "to rejoice" in Latin. The name comes from the first words of the introit (entrance psalm) for this Sunday in the old Latin mass, "Laetare Ierusalem," "Rejoice, O Jerusalem..." Its earliest documented use is the year 714.

Traditionally, Laetare Sunday has had other names, such as the Sunday of the Five Loaves, and Rose Sunday. This was becuase of the traditional Gospel reading for the day, in which Jesus took five loaves of bread and fed a multitude, and because this Sunday was the day on which the Pope would bless golden roses sent to European monarchs.

In the Anglican tradition Laetare Sunday also came to be called Mothering Sunday since it was the Sunday on which people sent their offerings to the local Cathedral, or "Mother Church." More recently it became known as Refreshment Sunday, indicating a break from one's Lenten fast is appropriate on this day.

We Lutherans no longer use the traditional lectionary - we use the Common Lectionary, nor do we bless golden roses to send to world leaders, nor do we send offerings to a "Mother Church," nor do we seem to have any awareness that we can take a break from our Lenten fast (and we aren't even sure we should have a Lenten fast), so all the names and uses for this Sunday have pretty much been forgotten by Lutherans - except at my old intern church where they hang on to everything liturgical.

So, even though Laetare is still a major part of the Roman Catholic and Anglican worship tradition, for most Lutherans the use of the word has fallen by the way side. Even so, it helps us to remember our roots in the greater church, and to be in touch with our tradition and history which has shaped us and made us what we are today.

One may find out more about Laetare at these websites or just enter the word Laetare into your search engine:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08737c.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-LaetareSunday.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757379,00.html
http://www.fisheaters.com/customslent7.html
http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/f/Laetare_Sunday.htm


Peace be with you always,

Pr. J