A Temporary Farewell to Alleluia

One of the customs that the Church practices during the season of Lent is the silencing of the alleluia. The word alleluia is from the Hebrew hallelujah which means “praise the Lord”. It is “a very ancient liturgical acclamation of jubilation used in the Psalms”, and now used in the Mass and in the Divine Office (Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM, Dictionary of the Liturgy (1989), p. 12).

In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the alleluia was bid a fond farewell at Vespers on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday, the first day of the ancient pre-Lenten season of preparation. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the alleluia will be solemnly used for the last time on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, though it remains in both Mass and in the Divine Office on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

The absence of the alleluia is most notable during the Gospel Acclamation at Mass, which precedes the Gospel reading and follows the Responsorial Psalm (or the Second Reading or Sequence when there is one). The Gospel Acclamation “is directed to the Gospel, honoring Christ Who will ‘evangelize’ the assembly. It enshrines a short Biblical sentence, praising Christ in His function of Teacher and Revealer, or it recalls a Scriptural axiom characteristic of the feast or the day” (Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM, Dictionary of the Liturgy (1989), p. 12).

During Lent in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the alleluia of the Gospel Acclamation is replaced by one of the following texts:

• Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
• Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus!
• Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
• Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
• Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory!

The Gospel Acclamation may also be replaced entirely by the Tract found in the Graduale Romanum (cf. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 62b). The Tract is a psalm or verses of a psalm and is so called because the Tract is drawn from a psalm and executed by the psalmist in one movement, without interruption or response. Chanting the Tract is considered a preferable alternative, as most of the five texts that replace the alleluia in the Gospel Acclamation are saying the same thing as alleluia: “praise the Lord”.

On the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we are encouraged to sing the alleluia with gusto: “Since today is the last time the Sunday assembly sings alleluia until the Easter Vigil, this acclamation might be enhanced through hymns, refrains, and other festive musical settings” (Ordo: Order of Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and Celebration of the Eucharist, 2023, p. 67).

There exists a little-known hymn which is all about biding a temporary farewell to the alleluia. Composed anonymously in the 10th or 11th century, the Latin hymn Allelúia dulce carmen (Alleluia, song of sweetness) can be sung to the same tune as the Pange lingua or Tantum ergo, making it very easy for congregational singing. It can easily be sung at Mass on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday as a hymn of praise following Holy Communion (cf. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 88). In the ancient liturgy, it used to be sung at Vespers on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday.

Prayerfully meditating on the temporary silencing of the alleluia during the season of Lent can help us to feel the great joy of the whole Church when it triumphantly returns at the Responsorial Psalm that immediately precedes the solemn proclamation of the Gospel at the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night. What follows is the original Latin text of the Church’s ancient hymn bidding farewell to the alleluia, along with the English text, translated by the Anglican priest, scholar, and hymnwriter John Mason Neale (1818-1866).