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ermingarden"Gaudete!" means "Rejoice!" Advent - the four Sundays leading up to Christmas - is a penitential season, a time for solemn contemplation. But Gaudete Sunday is a day of what might be described as anticipatory joy, a foretaste of Christmas celebrations.
I feel the spirit of Gaudete Sunday this year more than ever before. The vaccine approval is a spark of light in the darkness of our COVID world. The pandemic is far from over, but the news is a reminder that it will end someday.
I love Gaudete Sunday for another, more ordinary reason, too: it shares a name with my very favorite Christmas carol! "Gaudete, Christus est Natus" is a carol dating from the 16th century. It's one of the songs on Anúna's album "Christmas Memories," which my mom played every year when I was a kid. Different artists interpret the song in many different ways, but in my opinion it should be sung fast and loud. My mom had to remind me on multiple occasions not to jump up and down next to the stereo when it came on - I was making the CD skip! Perhaps the best recommendation I can give for the song is that, even though little me demanded we play it multiple times a day for most of December, it's still one of my mom's favorites, too!
This is the version I listened to as a kid:
My favorite version these days is by The Sixteen, from their album "Christus Natus Est: An Early English Christmas." In my opinion, every track on that album is well worth listening to - it's one of my go-to Christmas albums.
These are the lyrics: [Chorus]
Gaudete, gaudete!
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine,
gaudete!
Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born of the Virgin Mary; rejoice!
Tempus adest gratiae
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina laetitiae
Devote reddamus.
The time of grace is here, what we have been wishing for. Let us faithfully offer songs of joy!
Deus homo factus est
Natura mirante,
Mundus renovatus est
A Christo regnante.
God is made human, and Nature marvels at it. The world is renewed by Christ who reigns.
Ezechielis porta
Clausa pertransitur,
Unde lux est orta
Salus invenitur.
Ezekiel's closed gate has been passed through; salvation is found where the light has risen.
Ergo nostra contio
Psallat iam in lustro;
Benedicat Domino:
Salus Regi nostro.
So may our congregation sing in brightness; may it bless the Lord: Salvation to our King.
I should note briefly on the translation:
On the last verse, I defer to the consensus of other translators and render "in lustro" as "in brightness." However, if I were approaching this text without knowledge of other translations, I would have taken "lustrum" as "wilderness," so the congregation sings in the midst of the wilderness. (Frankly, I think I would prefer that translation - it reflects the idea of John the Baptist's voice crying out in the wilderness [itself a reflection of Isaiah].) If anyone has any insight into why "lustro" is translated the way it is, I'd appreciate it!
Amusingly, looking up the text of the lyrics to paste here led me to realize that the subject in the last verse is not "cantio" ("song") as I had always thought, but "contio" ("assembly").
