A Reflection on When Alleluia Is To Be Said
From the Rule of St. Benedict

For Benedict the whole liturgical life turns on the hinge of our Lord’s mighty resurrection. The use of ‘Alleluia’ is a sign of this emphasis. During Lent the alleluia is dropped completely as a sign of austerity, as a liturgical sign that we are going through the valley of temptation with Christ. Then on Easter day as Christ bursts from the tomb the great mysterious ‘Alleluias’ surge from the liturgy. The word ‘alleluia’ is Hebrew for ‘Praise Jahweh’. It comes straight to us through Greek without being translated, and it is found in the Bible only in Revelation 19 where the multitudes in heaven give the victory shout of praise. So ‘Alleluia’ if you like, is the very language of heaven.
Benedict’s words in this chapter seem dry, but beneath them runs a fervour which ought to inspire us with pure joy and exhilaration. We are so timid and cynical, so shy of being triumphalist, and yet Christ has shattered the power of hell. He has defeated the powers of death forever. We are right to shout ‘Alleluia!’ with all the saints and angels because our God reigns supreme. This eternal Easter is at the very heart of Benedict’s whole Rule. This is the victory we are running for, and this is the victory which gives us power to run on the path. So with the little word ‘Alleluia’ sprinkled throughout the liturgy between Easter and Pentecost, and then less so from Pentecost to the beginning of Lent, we are brought back time and time again to the power of Christ’s victory alive and working through our lives with a dynamic force. Each Alleluia we utter, whether under our breath or at the top of our lungs, should be an intense and profound affirmation of the Easter victory at work in the world.
This element of praise should be a cornerstone of the Christian life. We should enable our families to see the Christ-life at work at all times blessing us, providing for us and bringing us together in love. Times of prayer should therefore include times of praise too; and as prayer needs practise to make perfect, so too we should practise praise— not just thanking God when we feel like it, but learning to thank him throughout the day. This will help us and our children very naturally to see his mighty hand in all his works.
Note: The Wednesday Study group is reading the meditations from this book on a daily basis.