It is fairly common for students of the Bible to think that Greek and Hebrew are the important ancient languages. After all the books we call the New Testament were originally written in Greek. The parts we call the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew. Furthermore, the early church used a version of the Bible called the Septuagint, which is the entire 66 books, including the Old Testament translated into Greek. The Septuagint is still in regular use in the Greek Orthodox Church. For Western Christianity, however, there is a third language that is very important in the understanding of scripture and tradition: Latin. In the fourth century, Jerome prepared a translation of the Bible into Latin, which, at the time was the common or colloquial speech of many within the church. The Vulgate underwent a major revision in 1592 and was the principle bible of the majority of Christians until the late 20th century. All of those centuries of having the scriptures read in Latin and developing liturgies and traditions around that language have had a huge influence on Christianity. Even though our traditions come from the Protestant Reformation and the adoption of common languages for Bible reading, we share a common heritage with the Roman Catholic church and Latin words and phrases turn up in the life of the church on a regular basis.

Today is one of those days that have been shaped by the use of Latin. Its name in the church calendar, Gaudete Sunday, is Latin. The name comes from Philippians 4:4, which begins: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!” That verse is the common Introit or first words spoken in a liturgical congregation on this day. For congregations that use the Revised Common Lectionary, the words are part of the reading of the Epistle for the day. In Latin, the phrase is “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.”

The tradition of Gaudete Sunday dates back to the fifth century, when Advent, like Lent, was a six-week season with a primary mood of penance and fasting. It was determined that the long seasons of expectation and preparation for membership in the church created a need for some kind of a break. Studying the texts read on those Sundays, church leaders came up with Gaudete Sunday. The companion festival or feast day in Lent is Laetare Sundy, the fourth Sunday of Lent. Laetare aslo comes from the Latin Bible: “Laetare Jerusalem” - “Rejoice, O Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:10). In the ninth century, when Advent was shortened from six to four weeks, Gaudete Sunday was moved from the fourth to the third Sunday of the season.

The observance of Gaudete Sunday in local congregations varies widely. In congregations with a more liturgical bent, the color of the Advent candle and sometimes the vestments worn by clergy changes from the purple of penance or the blue of Mary to pink or rose. In those congregations, the candles of the advent wreath reflect the colors, with three purple and one rose colored candle.

In his 2014 Gaudete Sunday homily, Pope Francis said that instead of fretting about all they haven’t done to prepare for Christmas, people should think of all the good things that life has given. That advice rings especially true for pastors serving congregations. It is at this point in Advent every year that I begin to feel overwhelmed with all of the things that need to be done. In our congregation, we have a Christmas pageant that will be presented next Sunday. We need to get out all of the costumes, call the children and youth who will be leading the pageant, prepare for a rehearsal including a re-write of the script, coordinate with parents, and the list of things to do goes on and on.

Of course the week will unfold and Christmas will come whether or not we get all of the things on our list accomplished. The reminder to pause and think of all the good things that life has given is especially relevant to me as I approach worship today.

One of the joys of this Advent for me is that I have begun to ring handbells in our handbell choir. Handbells are among the instruments that we have been able to continue to play during the pandemic, when vocal singing has been curtailed and our vocal choir is not currently singing. I’ve loved handbell music for all of my career and especially enjoyed it during the 25 years we served in Rapid City with a long-standing and rich handbell tradition both in the church and in the community handbell choir. I served on the board of directors of Bells of the Hills for about a decade. But I never actually rang bells in a choir, except briefly during Music, Arts, Dance and Drama camp. The required rehearsals simply took more time than I was able to give during my years as a senior pastor. Retirement, however, has freed up time so that I am able to take up a few bells. Because I haven’t been ringing, I don’t have muscle memory and I have to rehearse a bit more than the other members of the choir, so it is convenient that I work at the church and can slip up into the choir loft to get a couple of extra rehearsals.

Today we will be ringing bells during worship to offer a musical meditation to the congregation. So there will be an early rehearsal before worship, ringing during the service, and another rehearsal after the service to work on our Christmas Eve music. I’ll be able to feel the workout in my hands and arms by the end of the day. I am, however, looking forward to all of the ringing with joy. It is part of my expression of Gaudete.

We lit our Gaudete candle early as our grandchildren were at our house for supper last night. After a meal of tacos and while the children nibbled at the remains of their gingerbread houses, we told a bit of the story of Advent and explained why one candle is pink. A relaxing supper with our grandchildren is another joy of this phase of our life. Despite the long “to do” list, there is much for which I am able to give thanks and reason to rejoice again and again.