Gaudete Sunday: Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

Gaudete Sunday: Good Christian Men, Rejoice! December 11, 2011

Today is Gaudete Sunday in the church season of Advent. Our family attends an Anglican church, and each week of Advent we light a candle and pray the appropriate collect from the Book of Common Prayer. Here is today’s collect:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Most of the candles are purple (the color of penitence), but this week’s candle is rose, the color of joy. Our joy heightens as we approach Christmas. “Gaudete” is Latin for “rejoice.”
So rejoice. (Linked is my favorite version of the carol, by the Haven of Rest Quartet. It’s short, clean and uplifting. Take a couple minutes to enjoy it today.)
[Update: It took me a little longer than usual to embed this song because Grooveshark has changed their code. Somebody gave me a new model and it’s all good.] [gigya src="http://grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" width="250" height="40" wmode="window" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&songIDs=31473102&style=metal&p=0"]


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