Ever
heard of Laughter Sunday? I hadn’t until just yesterday.
The
idea of setting aside one Sunday each year to celebrate God’s gift of laughter
and joy may be new to me, but it’s got a long and rich history in many
congregations around the world.
Laughter
Sunday (also
known as Holy Humour Sunday, Hilarity Sunday, God’s Laughter Sunday,
Bright Sunday or Holy Fools Sunday) has its roots in a
number of different Christian traditions.
Churches
in 15th century Bavaria used to celebrate the
Sunday after Easter as Risus Paschalis (‘God’s Joke,’ or ‘the
Easter laugh’). Priests would deliberately include amusing stories
and jokes in their sermons in an attempt to make the faithful laugh. After
the service, people would gather together to play practical jokes on one
another and tell funny stories. It was their way of celebrating the
resurrection of Christ – the supreme joke God played on Satan by raising Jesus
from the dead.
The
observance of Risus Paschalis was officially outlawed by Pope
Clement X in the 17th century. Perhaps people
were having too much fun.
In
the Orthodox tradition, people would gather on Easter Monday to tell jokes and
funny stories, and to dance and eat together.
Other
traditions celebrate Laetare Sunday (also known as
‘Mothering Sunday’) on the fourth Sunday in Lent. “Laetare” simply
means ‘rejoice,’ and comes from the opening collect for that day: ‘Rejoice
with joy, you that have been in sorrow.' On this Sunday, the
usual Lenten purple vestments and altar cloths are replaced by rose-coloured
ones instead. Flowers (not normally present during Lent) are also
brought into the sanctuary.
In 1988,
the Fellowship of Merry
Christians began encouraging churches to resurrect some of these
Christian traditions—to celebrate the grace and mercy of God through the gift
of laughter and joy.
If
this is something you might want to explore with your congregation, here are a
few resources which might be helpful:
You’ll find lots of articles and ideas for how other
churches have celebrated “Holy Humour Sunday” in the Joyful NoiseLetter.
The Kir-shalom
website has information on the history of Laetare Sunday, along with
worship resources and sample sermons.
Paul Thigpen has written a wonderful article called “God has Given Me
Cause to Laugh: Toward a Theology of Humour.”
Thom Shuman has posted a sample
liturgy for Holy Humour Sunday on his blog.
There are lots of other ideas out there—have fun!
G.K.
Chesterton once wrote:
“Angels
can fly because they take themselves lightly.
Never
forget that the devil fell by force of gravity.
He
who has the faith has the fun.”
