Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is the midpoint and known as Laetare Sunday. Laetare means “rejoice” and the Church expresses hope and joy in the middle of our penitential Lenten practices.

I ask Mary Most Holy to pray that our Lenten celebration will open our hearts to hear God’s call to be reconciled to himself, to fix our gaze on the paschal mystery, and to be converted to an open and sincere dialogue with him. In this way, we will become what Christ asks his disciples to be: the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13-14).” —Pope Francis, Message for Lent, 2020