2/18/09

Burying the Alleluia


Photo by ConcordPastor

This weekend at all our liturgies we will "bury the Alleluia" in anticipation of Ash Wednesday and the silencing of the Alleluia until the Easter Vigil.

In the Middle Ages, faithful Christians would go to the parish cemetery just before Lent began with an image bearing the word Alleluia and singing the word they carried. There the image would be buried, a vivid reminder that during the Lenten season we "fast" from this word which means, "Praise the Lord."

The "burial" of our Alleluia banner wont take us to the cemetery, however. The banner will be taken down at the end of Mass as we sing our last Alleluias before Lent, and then carefully placed in a box covered in purple cloth. The box is then retired to a resting place just in front of the tabernacle.

For some last minute Alleluias before Ash Wednesday, feast on these beautiful sounds...



-ConcordPastor 2009LentPostCollection

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for this feast. I once had the honor of meeting Ms. Popp when she was in town for a concert. Her personality was as bright and lovely as her voice.

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  2. Thanks for the virtual feast...sadly we cannot be with our Concord community for the real festival of Alleuias this week-end... so the virtual one is even more greatly appreciated! No other parish I have ever attended does it as well as Concord!

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