Burying the “Alleluia”

There is a lovely custom attached to Septuagesima Sunday and Pre-Lent: burying the Alleluia.

At Septuagesima we stop, in the traditional rites, singing an Alleluia after the Gradual and, instead, sing a Tract.  The Alleluia isn’t heard in Masses of the Season until after Lent.   Because of that – long ago people engaged their imaginations and, from a good Catholic spirit and world view, had a little ceremony to “bury” the Alleluia, or a little scroll or plaque, until it would rise from the dead at Easter.

Will your traditional parish or chapel be doing this on Sunday?

Here is something fun.  The wonderful Benedictine Sisters of Gower Abbey in Missouri buried the Alleluia a few years ago and sent photos.

16_01_24_Alleluia_01 16_01_24_Alleluia_02 16_01_24_Alleluia_03 16_01_24_Alleluia_04

“Here lies Al”

 

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6 Comments

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  2. Ipsitilla says:

    Well, I’ve heard there was a prayerful word
    Before the Gospel often heard
    That brings a sense of awe and worship to ya
    And its syllables flow off the tongue
    It soars to heaven when it’s sung
    Of course, I’m speaking of the Alleluia

    Alleluia…

    Now our faith is strong, but flesh is not
    We sin in action, word, and thought
    The world, the flesh, the devil all pursue ya
    In the penitential time of year
    There is a word we will not hear
    For Lent we must give up the Alleluia

    Alleluia…

    So many people think that Lent
    Is not a season to repent
    But love to flash that ash at all who view ya
    You might think fasting is passé
    But if you go to Mass and pray,
    The faithful won’t be saying Alleluia

    Alleluia…

    Now the page that it is written on
    Is buried ‘neath the church’s lawn
    (Bet you don’t know of that tradition, do ya?)
    And we wait for Easter, when the word
    Is gloriously disinterred
    Till then we must refrain from…hmhmhmmhmm

    Hmhmhmmhmm…

  3. Danteewoo says:

    “Burying the Alleluia.” A delightful custom. I don’t think the Traditional Mass parish I attend will be doing that, but at the Eastern Rite Ukrainian parish I also attend every Sunday, they will be singing the Alleluia all the way through Lent. Before the Passion is read on Good Friday, you hear the Alleluia. It is a different world in the East.

    A few years ago Good Friday fell on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. And my Ukrainians celebrated Mass in the morning, dropped the fasting and abstinence requirement, and then had the Good Friday service as usual in the evening. I have been to Mass on Good Friday — as I said, it is a different world in the East.

  4. I’m pretty sure that the wonderful parish I belong to in Tiverton RI will, if not physically burying the Alleluia, mention its absence during Father’s homily tomorrow.

    The other parish I attend when I’m down in central NJ? Pretty sure the usual OF amalgam of OCP show tune hymns, green vestments, and nary a mention of the ‘closer than you think’ season fast upon us.

  5. Iacobus Mil says:

    I’ve never heard of this before, but it sounds like a great way of making the experience of Lent a little more tangible. I’ll make a point of mentioning it to our pastor.

  6. Iacobus Mil says:

    I’ve never heard of this before, but it sounds like a great way of making the experience of Lent a little more tangible. I’ll make a point of mentioning it to our pastor.

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