| Fourth Sunday of Easter | |
|---|---|
| Also called | Good Shepherd Sunday |
| Observed by | Christians |
| Observances | Church services |
| Date | Three weeks afterEaster Day |
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TheFourth Sunday of Easter (or theFourth Sunday of Eastertide) is the fourth Sunday of theEaster season, being the day that occurs three weeks after theChristian celebration ofEaster.[1]
In thehistoricalRoman Rite of theCatholic Church, this day was officially known as theThird Sunday after Easter. It was also nicknamedJubilate Sunday due to theincipit ("Iubilate Deo") of theintroit assigned to this day.[2] The full text of the introit in its originalLatin was: "Iubilate Deo, omnis terra, allelúia: psalmum dícite nómini eius, allelúia, allelúia, allelúia. Dícite Deo, quam terribília sunt ópera tua, Dómine! in multitúdine virtútis tuæ mentiéntur tibi inimíci tui."[3] This introit is based onPsalm 65:1–3 (which is now more commonly calledPsalm 66 in accord with the Hebrew numbering used in modern Bibles).
For a brief period of time (1847–1911), this Sunday was also celebrated as theSolemnity of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. In 1911, this feast day was moved to the following Wednesday, where it remained until it was suppressed altogether in 1955.[4]
In the1970 revision of theRoman Missal, this day was designated the "Fourth Sunday of Easter," and the "Iubilate Deo" introit for this Sunday was swapped with that ofthe preceding Sunday.[5] The preceding Sunday's Gospel reading was likewise moved forward to this day. Because this Gospel reading is the parable of theGood Shepherd, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is now also known asGood Shepherd Sunday (a name formerly given to theThird Sunday of Easter to which the reading was originally assigned).
In 1964,Pope Paul VI established aWorld Day of Prayer for Vocations[6] to coincide with Good Shepherd Sunday,[7] now celebrated on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. For this reason, this day is also known in the Catholic Church asVocations Sunday.[8] TheChurch of England also celebrates Vocations Sunday on this day.[9]
Johann Sebastian Bach composed threechurch cantatas for theLutheran celebration of Jubilate Sunday. These cantatas incorporated the readings traditionally prescribed for this day: the epistle (1 Peter 2:11–19) and the Gospel (John 16:16–22).
In theRevised Common Lectionary currently used by many Lutherans, the Gospel reading is theGood Shepherd passage.
In theGreek Orthodox Church, this day is called theFourth Sunday of Holy Pascha, and is also called theSunday of the Paralytic due to the Gospel passage (John 5:1–15) read on this day.[10][2]
Holweck, Frederick (1913)."Paschal Tide". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. RetrievedApril 10, 2021.| Sundays of theEaster cycle | ||
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| Preceded by | Fourth Sunday of Easter May 11, 2025 | Succeeded by |
