Gaudete Sunday takes its name from the Epistle reading proper for that day, which is Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice! ..." In Latin, this starts, "Gaudete semper in Domino"
The 4th Sunday in Lent is called Laetare Sunday and is similar to Gaudete. The proper liturgical color for Laetare, like Gaudete, is rose, or pink, although rose vestments are rarely seen, since few churches could afford a special set used only twice a year. In Anglican churches, blue vestments are often used in Advent in lieu of violet.
[rant] Helen, the color used in Advent and Lent is not purple; purple is a color proper to Bishops and is more red than blue. What you are talking about is correctly called "violet", which is more blue than red. [/rant]
While I'm ranting, here's another one. I hate it when people, merchandisers in chief, refer to the period from roughly Thanksgiving to New Years as the "Christmas Season". Strictly speaking, (ecclesiastically, that is) we are now in the season of Advent, which begins on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30) whether before or after, and goes to Christmas Eve. On Dec. 25, we begin the season of Christmas, which lasts exactly 12 days (the 12 Days of Christmas) to Jan. 5 (12th Night) and is followed on Jan 6 by the season of Epiphany.
