"Laetare" Sunday: "Rejoice O Jerusalem!

Yesterday was what we used to call "Laetare" Sunday. The Latin term "laetare" means something like "rejoice," and seems to derive from the entrance antiphon which begins, "Rejoice, O Jerusalem!." In a few weeks, we'll sing the words of an Easter song, "Christ is risen from the dead, laetare alleluia . . . ."

One of the readings yesterday (I think the responsorial psalm) recounted how "by the streams of Babylon we wept, remembering Zion"). This made me remember the Negro spiritual, "By the Rivers of Babylon," which was sung so beautifully by Linda Ronstadt. The line from Psalm 137:1 goes, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion" (American Standard Version).

The congregation at St. Mary's in Painesville sang a beautiful song during the mass, "What Wondrous Love Is This." This song is a standard in the Appalachian Mountains, where it is sung in a modal style (a style often called "Mountain Minor"). There is hardly a more beautiful song, and the most beautiful version of this song is by the American treasure, Jean Ritchie, of Viper, in Perry County, Kentucky. Our recessional hymn was another standard of Appalachia, "Amazing Grace." In Appalachia the sung is sung somewhat differently, often in a mournful call-and-response style that makes our northern Catholic style look so stiff.

All in all, the mass yesterday, celebrated by Fr. Joseph Callahan, was very beautiful.