Are You Familiar with Gaudete Sunday?

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I’ve celebrated the Advent season my whole life and have spent a good portion of my church-going life (which has been my whole life) in liturgical churches, but I only recently learned about Gaudete Sunday.

According to this Christianity.com article:

Gaudete Sunday, celebrated on the third Sunday of Advent, holds a significant place in the liturgical calendar, marking a joyful midpoint in the season of anticipation before Christmas. The term “Gaudete” is derived from the Latin word for “rejoice,” taken from the entrance antiphon for the day, which begins with the words “Gaudete in Domino semper” or “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Are you familiar with this word and part of the church calendar? Does your church use this term? I’m so glad I discovered it just in time for the third week of Advent!

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I actually wasn’t very familiar with the term Gaudete Sunday until recently either, even though I’ve celebrated Advent for many years. I love learning that the word comes from “rejoice,” especially since the third week of Advent really does feel like a little shift toward joy and anticipation.

My church doesn’t use the term specifically, but we do light the rose-colored candle on the third Sunday, and I’ve always appreciated how it marks a different tone in the countdown to Christmas. Now that I know the meaning behind Gaudete, it makes the tradition feel even richer.

It’s really beautiful how the church calendar has all these layers that some of us are only discovering later in life!

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